February 17, 2008

Studio Tour

When I first started writing this blog, I was using it as self-encouragement to do a painting every day. After all, there is no better way of improving one's art than to paint every day. I thought that the public commitment of promising to paint every day would be a strong incentive. Turns out I was wrong and it seems to be a common misconception. Not because any of us suffers a lack of commitment to our art. It is just that life gets in the way.
Creative Every Day is a commitment to just do something creative every day, and to recognize that creativity is a part of daily living. No obligation to create a finished painting every day - just to do something creative, instead of scurrying through life head down. That I can do, even if it just means that I spent 15 minutes working out the subjects of the chapters in a book I am writing, and even if the book never gets anywhere other than my imagination.
BWO is a little bit different twist - it stands for Blogging Without Obligation. No more guilt because I haven't lived up to my obligation to paint every day and post something.
It is early in the day, and I have no obligations to do anything today other than paint until supper time. However, I thought that you might like to see my 'studio' space. For most of my adult life, I didn't have a dedicated space where I could leave everything set up, and drop in to paint or glue when I had a few moments. I finally live in a house that is big enough to provide such a space, although I have to share it with our library. I have two large portable tables that, when put together, form a 4'x8' work space.
This picture shows the left corner of the table and my easel:

And since I like to work in a variety of media, I have created work stations around the table where I can leave the supplies for a particular medium. I know it looks like a bit of a mess, but there really is a loose form of organization to it. This is the encaustic station:


And the watercolor station:

This is the area next to my easel where I was painting with purple:

and this is another acrylic station, with two oil paintings in progress (there isn't quite enough room for all the stations I need):


I also have a huge storage area where I keep all my supplies (like wool for felting, and collage papers, and polymer clay and beading and ... you get the picture), and a spare bedroom where I store all my finished works.

2 comments:

Leah said...

i love the set-up of your studio! that table is such a great size for lots of creative fun.

i'm loving the little encaustic piece you just decided is finished. it's lovely.

Susan Shaw said...

Thanks Leah. It also works well for cutting mats and framing (when I can clear a large enough space).