My New Art Studio

I'm exhausted.  My husband & I had two of our grandkids stay this past weekend while their parents went out of town.  What a whirlwind!  So I'm having a quiet (ahhhh, no commotion, just silence) day.  Last week, before the grandkids came, I painted my dining room white.  It was a pale yellow, but I got tired of it.  So, while I was paintng, a thought occurred.  This room has such great light - I rarely use it - this would make a wonderful art studio!  I had all of my art stuff in a spare bedroom, an office/studio type set-up.  But I actually thought I'd love to be in this room every day since the bedroom is small & has a tiny window.  Here's the dining room before:

Here's my new studio:

I love it!  I'm still getting organized.  I'm going to take down the chandelier - I keep bumping my head on it since there's no dining room table!  The large painting was done by my husband's uncle, an artist.  Maybe this is a bit unconventional, but I think I'll be glad to get lots of use out of this room.  Here's what I'm working on right now, one of my new landscapes:

Have you repurposed a room?

Nature Vs. Man-Made

I finished my painting of the St. Louis Gateway Arch and it got me to thinking:  do man-made structures enhance or detract from their natural surroundings in a painting?  Except for the top ten ugliest buildings in the world, I guess it depends.  If the structure detracts from the scene, but is essential, it's a moot point. In this painting, I wanted the Arch to be the focal point, but I could certainly have just painted the trees and pond.  I think buildings, interesting structures or people can bring life into an otherwise boring landscape painting. Unless the landscape has something going on like mood - dark stormy skies, crashing ocean waves, huge mountain rocks.

                                             Stand Tall (St. Louis Arch) 8 x 10 Buy This On Etsy

What's your point of view?