An average art day in the tiny trailer

Gypsy Stew

I recently had a cold and this is a super Chicken Stew to help the lows  that come with a  cold.
I rarely  eat meat and when I do it is fish and organic free range chicken ONLY . I have a hard time eating another creature that  has given its life so I might  have a meal. I also will not eat any animal that has suffered the cruel forms many companies use to raise and butcher  the animals we eat.  I research the companies  I buy from and stores I buy from too. WALL MART IS A BIG NO NO FOR MEAT as  they buy from  cruel processors.  OK  my rant is over.) Here is the recipe for my "Gypsy Stew" it is from the restaurant  'The Pink Adobe"  in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

2-4 = breast  free range organic chicken  cut up into  large bites
1-2=cartons free range organic chicken stock. You may need to add water too as all the ingredients need to be covered with liquid
3-4=yellow onions chopped into in chunks
4-6=small red potatoes  cut into  small chunks
3/4 cup cooking sherry
Salt and pepper to taste.

Place these items in a pot and  slowly  cook for an hour. Try not to boil.

1-2= 16 oz can diced tomatoes.
1=13 oz.  frozen  tub green hatch fire roasted chiles, more if you like it very spicy  !!
Put these  2 ingredients in  a bowl and marinate them together while the top ingredients simmer.

 Once the stew is done , add the  tomatoes  and chiles  then simmer for another 1/2 hour. Just before serving add another 1/2 cup of cooking  sherry and DO NOT  BOIL.

Serve in bowls adding diced Monterey jack cheese and sour cream . Also serve  with warm tortillas  on the  side. YUMMY !

A lemon desert such as key lime pie  or lemon sorbet is a perfect after treat.

Plans in the works ....

After posting on  face book and getting positive feedback. I am working on creating ongoing  watercolor  journal workshops. My first  step is to create an online  class  in the basic  how too's  which would be a highly recommended pre course to the actual live walking and painting  on site workshop. I will  also offer an online class in making  a suggested journal for your water colors. I hope to entice other teachers to offer their version of a watercolor  journal to go along with my classes   so student have a variety  of journals they can pick from to make as they develop their skills and fill each journal ( I life long process) .
When this is done  I will go on to post the places I will be  traveling to  in my  little  travel  trailer  I have named " Peanut ". I will also post the workshop time frame and links to suggested lodging for each place I visit. All travel arrangements  will be up to the individual. Workshops will be from 2-5 days depending on your mood. Does it sound  like  FUN?
 I hope to launch the online classes on May .

Thanks for visiting ! Xo julie 

The journey begins!

This is the start of a new  chapter in my ever evolving  life and as  life evolves , so does my blog. It has seen many changes  in the years I have been posting. When I set out to document this new adventure I toyed with the idea of starting a  new blog that would be   just about my life in the trailer, but then I rethought  that idea as  this blog is for me too and it is about my life's  journey. So it is also about the past ,where I was and how I got to where I  am  now.
Thus this new tale is just a continuation of my life's  journey  now told   from   inside   my  tiny trailer which is  7' x 13' . A 1966 Aristocrat Low liner  travel trailer that I dug  out of the  desert over a year ago . The refurbishing   took  over  9 months . I  paid  as a worked , thus it may have gone faster if the money had flowed in at  a faster pace but all in all  I was very happy  with the process and over joyed at the support I received. You all know who you are and I give a BIG THANKS to each one of you!!
My goal was to add  all the latest amenities I could squeeze into the space plus my studio AND my Etsy supply shop goodies .  I managed to do all of this and the pictures will show you how  this was  accomplished.
 As time goes on I  will be posting how too's and  helpful  hints if  any of you set out to  redo I trailer of your own. My tale  will unfold as I live  an artist  life  in a  tiny space on wheels. Below are some  images  of the trailer when I first brought it home and how it looks today. I have been  in it  one month . Please  enjoy the tour !

Scooty's , Dixie's and my space. ( Dixie  is taking a nap  on the bed). 

Old dining area.

New  dining, studio space  and Etsy store supplies . 

 This space holds ALL my art  supplies and a small  printer too. The white box on the ceiling is a 1100 BTU AC/heat pump.

Close up of my  tool box and Etsy sale items in cubby drawers. 

Everything is labeled and marked for easy locating .

The cubby drawers  are mounted  on a solid  wood panel. They cover  the front  and back  windows too. The trailer had many windows, but for full time  living it felt a bit like a fish bowl so I did not mind covering  several  up.  

Even in doing this I still have 7 windows,  a sky light, and the front door with a screen door .

Future post will show my solution for the wood  panels viewed from the outside. 

The trailer holds over 500  Etsy items and extras are stored in the back of my pick up truck. 

Light over my shoulder while I work . I picked high end small scale  1" faux  wood blinds for the windows . I did not want an RV look as I wanted to use as many 'homey ' items  as I could to give the trailer a real feeling of a home. I did use Sunbrella fabric for the cushions as I did not want fading and  I knew the material would  hold up to heavy use and my doggies . Note the doggie door I added to the door.

 The old Kitchen . I LOVED the robins  egg blue appliances, 

however  they were not safe and  added a lot of weight .

 The  new appliances weigh much less and are  safer.

New Kitchen, Another weight splurge was the style stone counters and the river pebble back splash .  Once again the trailer is my home and so  in order to feel like a home, I found certain splurges necessary  as to NOT  feel as if I was 'camping out'. 

Under the 3 burner gas  range is a back up propane heater hidden behind a tin door . 

New two way  refrigerator . 

It works on both propane and electric and keeps things  icy cold. 

 It even keeps ice cream frozen solid!

 I was able to  customize the front  panel so I used old punched tin  cupboard panels . 

Old closet door (now home to my  new wet bath ).

New closet door, now door to wet bath and  also creates  room to display art work,

plus  the side wall  holds spices  for  cooking and more Etsy  supplies .

New wet  bath .  A splurge on weight was the river pebble floor mounted  on a custom made  steel shower pan.  This gives the tiny bath a real  solid feel for its size.  The walls where done  in  new galvanized tin panels that I  aged with muriatic  acid  then coated  with a vinegar solution to make them  rust.  The wet bath is  a ' step up ,then  sit down ' as it is only 4 feet in height.  It  has a window and  I added a sky light which makes it feel roomer  and adds head room  from beyond the 4' . I am only 5'3" so it works very well. It  was mandatory to have a real  flushing  toilet and  a hot shower. The toilet has a real ceramic bowl and  flushes to a black water holding tank under the bed,  then  it leads  out to a sewer  dump outlet.  The showers hot water is provided by an on demand small hot water heater that is mounted to the  front of the trailer and directly connects to the dual  propane tanks.  Extra special thanks to Terri !!!!

Wet bath door  detail an  old victorian door handle .  God IS in the details. 

Old Bed nook.

New bed nook. I  cut down the full size bed and made it an  extra wide twin so that I had more room for the wet bath . It has windows at either end so you do not feel confined .  The step up to the bed also serves as a sitting  area when you add a cushion and pillows. A great place for coffee or to relax and watch a movie on the computer.  I belong  to Net flicks so I  always have a movie or TV series to watch in the evenings. Along  the bed side is also a small book case for evening reading. 

My private  RV hook up rental space  allows me to have my own internet service.

You can see I divided  the bed space  from the kitchen space  by using   a hand made pot rack .I  made this from an old dresser mirror  frame. It keeps the pots  from taking up room in the cupboard too.

                                                                    Old floors .

New Bamboo   floors ,very hard and durable . The entire trailer had vapor barriers and extra insulation added when the outside was  resealed   and wood rot  replaced .All new plumbing and a 50 amp service was added too. This I hired done  as I wanted to be sure it was safe. 

 The floor has the highest quality  underlayment I could buy. 

The entrance way is another place to display art .  Having room for art work was another 'must' as it would NEVER feel like home without art and books. 

Art work is hung and also  glued  in place with E6000. 

Red velvet cup cake and coffee in bed . More Etsy supplies in storage cubby drawers . The bed space is extra wide to make room . Clothes  are stored above the bed and a  clothes hook on the   left wall  at  the foot end  of the  bed nook holds about 6 hang — ups. 

Thanks for stopping by-  XO Julie

  

1966 aristocrat low liner travel trailer 

Say Good by to the Frenzy Stamper in Scottdale with a class by Me!

To all those who live in the Scottsdale area and  it’s  vicinity, the beloved Frenzy Stamper in Old Town Scottsdale  is closing her doors for good Dec.24th . Debbie Bick the owner is moving on to  new and exciting things. We all wish her the best . The shop has been a premier mixed media shop and has served the area for over 12 years . In honor of Debbie for her service to the mixed media  community and to say A HUGE thanks to Debbie for giving me my start in teaching and luring me in with M& M’s ,I am teaching ……

“ Caption Nemo’s Lover”  a 2 1/2 day class for  $235.00, includes a deli lunch and all materials needed to make the project . bring you won scissors . and anything YOU may want to add to her to make  her extra personal .Only a few spots in the class  remain!!!! 

  

The class starts -

*Dec 5  2/1/2 hours  (Friday evening) Dec.-6 hours , Dec 7 - 6 hours. ending at 4:00 pm  . For those that can not make the Friday evening class . I am shooting a  how too video  for the that part of the the class .It will  posted on Vimeo. Sat morning I  will have  pre made your parts from the evening class that you missed .So Sat.   you can step right in line  with everyone else  and watch the video  on my computer during class  break  or later on .

If you wish to  come in from out of town, Debbie or I can recommend a  hotel and and the airport  is a short 15- 20  ride from Old Town Scottsdale ,an area filled with wonderful shopping,  restaurants and hotels, all walking distance form the shop.

my email for questions  is  -juliehayamker@me.com

the Frenzy Stamper  web site for  all info  http://www.frenzystamper.com

My tiny house on wheels

I thought I would show a few pictures of my trailer project .It does not look like much but let me tell you a lot has happened to this little baby  since we literally dug it out of the desert earth, it had been sitting in for years. We then had it towed  to the house on a flat bed . All the  outside rim trim was taken off so the metal "skin" could be removed and wood rot replaced on the  frame. That included every  bit of trim removed,the windows ,vents,  major frame work  etc. All the hatches and doors need readjusting too.

I hope when I get the funds I can take my dead computer to a service center and have them see if the hard drive is ok and hopefully  salvage all my pictures ( I have older ones of the trailer )The  Apple store would not touch it as  they said it could have toxic damage??!!! so what good is the $350 warranty I MISS STEVE JOBS!!!

If the trailer had not been a free gift -Bless Linda for this !!!!! it would not be worth it I am sure . But it was a blessing , one meant to be and so I embrace dearly  as such. 

After  the wood rot was replaced and the metal  "skin" put back on, new water seal tape was added and  the trim put back on ,over 1000 new stainless steel screws  where used .On  the inside all new plumbing  all new electrical service, was added  upgrading from 20 amp to 50 amp service so the trailer can handle the new roof top ac unit, heater, computer  ( and creative power tools of course) re-fridge  and added lighting . We also  added a tiny bathroom as you can see with the custom made steel shower pan. The toilet will be real ,no porta potty for me -yuk  and a tiny hand  held shower . To add head space to the bathroom that had to go over well well , a skylight will be  added over the bathroom to give it 10 more inches of head room. It is tough to squeeze this all into a 13' x 7' trailer and add nooks for  all my art supplies .Plus a nook for the Doggie's  water bowl and food bowl and they get a doggie door in the front door too. 

So to make room  I took out the full size bed  and am making a "ships captions twin bed" raised and  with curtains and tons of pillows will a be part of the cozy plan . I loved the  old vintage appliances  and formica  and the whole vintage look ,but in the end opted for a new contemporary style by using left over materials from the house remodel ,thus repurposing and saving money ( the old appliance were going to cost  an arm and a leg to repair and still they would not have safety equipment them ) .So  we added a piece  of stylestone counter top with and it will have  river rock back splash left over from what  we used in the house . Then I  bought new new state of the art appliances for the kitchen. MUCH SAFER for full time living and lighter for pulling with a V6 truck engine. I bought them on eBay so it took many auctions and losses  to get the right price.  It still is very scary to  make this huge leap in lifestyle ,but every time  I  see a little more done ( as I get the money) I get a little more comfortable that it will work for me. . So that is my share today. 

Lost love, found again !!!

Years ago I   headed back to college in my thirties. I already had a degree in Illustration  and had been   using it for over ten years . But something was missing . So after much research I picked  what was then called  CA college of Arts and Crafts . I intended  to explore a second degree in ceramics and this was the perfect college to do so  as it had been the  teaching home of  the great ceramic artist Robert Arnison  who founded the ceramic art movement  of taking a ceramics from functional  craft forms  to fine art.  I studied   ceramics their  in in doing so I became  a part of this  generational movement ( 3 times removed ) . But alas while their on a whim  I took a metal smithing  in course and feel in love. But I also fell in love for real with Mark and after 2 years of study made the choice to move to southern  CA and marry Mark. A choice I will cherish all my life as he gave me the BEST 12 years of my life. But now 22 years later I find myself exploring  my lost love of metal again  while  added mixed media elements  in  hidden ways. I hope  these pieces  find their way to a future  teaching venues so I may pass on the fun I am having getting to re know my  lost love.