Sunday, February 27, 2011

Evolving studio photos...




















I find it difficult to somehow convey what life is like right now and to show you what I want to. There is a lot going on now what with my developmental psychology class and the unfolding spring with its tricksy weather and, of course, the progress of the studio remodeling. I will simply do my best to show you what is going on and hope that you will find it interesting. The photos I will show you are of my mom's studio just after she ( and I helped a bit!) finished the primer coat on the walls. She showed me her sketches of the mural she wants to create on the walls too. I also took photos of her lovely artwork and the views around my parents' house that inspire her. I couldn't help following the beginnings of new flowers peeking their leaf tips through the soil past dead growth as well as the chickens nibbling in the yard. Each spring seems like another triumph and its amazing that it never fails to delight me. I also love seeing the growing hope in my mother as she proceeds to change her studio space. She has longed for a room of her own to do with just how she wants. Like most of us though, she has that other voice that says ' why do you have to use THAT color? why can't you just use white?' I try to remind her to not listen to that unhelpful voice but she is the one in the end that must battle it. Maybe that's why spring seems even more meaningful this year to me; new growth is a battle against the past and the negativity that can stop us. I will have more pictures soon of the ongoing progress!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Remodeling a studio...what to consider?














This is a post that I've been thinking about for awhile that hopefully will help some of you who have a studio; be it a small corner or an entire garage. I have the great fortune of getting to create in clay due mostly to sharing a studio with my Mom. It is about the size of a two car garage. Recently, she decided it needed bigger windows--and boy is there more natural light! so while the new windows were being put in why not insulate and paint too? Now we have a great excuse to re-organize the entire studio to maximize space; I will take pictures of how it evolves. I have done some research into how other artists organize their spaces, whether they are large or small. I found some pictures of creative ways that they've found to organize tools, books,etc. On this post I'll show you some cool ways to organize tools and some of the studios. It was difficult to find good closeups so I hope these will give you a general idea at least. I'm hoping to make this an ongoing project so let me know what you think!
The tool holders were made by etsy sellers: Designer's Embellishment Tool Form Size Medium by Evertale, Artist's Brush Rest or Holder by GeorgiesWarehouse, Desk Organizer by lessandmore, and Handmade Artist Caddy by kissesfromana