Inventory of a Studio

First, views of the empty 9 x 9 space:





Then, objects arrive, starting with the easel:

This is a nice sturdy metal easel which I've had for several years. Provenance: art supply store in the dunes.
Next in is the studio chair:
It was a very expensive and substantial chair at one time, but is missing a bolt or two, so got it used and for a song at the same art supply store in the dunes as the easel. The hydraulic lift still works great and it is very comfortable, if noisy.

Next come shelves, "floating" type shelving. Provenance: our old gallery. I save everything and schlep it from place to place, room to room as needed:



Next is the ratty old cart, a Cosco-type metal kitchen/pantry cart ca. 1982. Squeaky, rusty, and yet still usable:


Buckets of gesso and medium are great for ballast on the bottom shelf of the ratty old cart:

The palette is a butcher tray from Utrecht in Chicago; the paint bin is a red livestock pharmaceutical bin from a resale shop for 50 cents:

More crap: glass peanut butter and pasta sauce jars, old lint-free dishtowel, brushes both cheap and expensive:

Then a simple bookcase. Provenance: my son's room during his grade school years. There's another one like it in my husband's office. Ca 1990 from some long-departed discount store:


Old table with new printer. $8 side table from Goodwill a couple of years ago; printer is Canon MX310 which is probably the only printer I've ever owned that I've ever actually enjoyed using. 2-level table has enough room for paper and various Avery products, as well as a place to plug in the laptop for print jobs:

Small jute rug from some outlet store or other about 15 years ago:

Corner of rug has the word "sample" written on it, which is why i got it for $1.

Bullet can from son's old room during his high school years in his favorite color: black. Its a great can, tho, heavy plastic and sturdy and holds as much as a standard kitchen can:

The painting apron. Provenance: son's childhood cooking kit, ca 1991. Came with a chef's hat, too, which I still have, but don't wear when I paint.


Thinking Chair. Provenance: paternal great-grandmother, who gave it to grandma, who gave it to my mom, who then gave it to me when I was ready for a "big girl" bedroom ca 1962. It's been painted many colors, from white to pink to blue to yellow to black to white to yellow and then to a kind of faded green. Might paint it yellow again. Maybe.















Momcat on Thinking Chair. b. kliban cat pillow ca 1984. I like b. kliban cats. My current cat thinks it is a real cat:















Cat's Basket. Provenance: Crate and Barrel outlet, intended for magazines but co-opted by Tiger the cat ca 1999. Eventually co-opted by current cat Tabby.












Old table. Provenance: aunt and uncle. It's not a valuable antique, and can really use a paint job:















Beloved trivet. Provenance: son's kindergarten project, ca 1986. Have used it every day ever since:












Bunny Gates. View of the cookery garden from the new studio's window. Dad made the gates for me for my old house, and I couldn't leave them behind. Planted a pear tree out there this spring, but the little thing is hard to see in this pic:













In the next blog I'll show it all in action!

All Moved In

I can hardly believe that I am back in my old studio, typing this entry in the window nook. It hasn't really sunk in that I've got a room of my own again, one where I can go to think, to paint, to write, and even to shut the door and sulk if I want. It's not exactly the same as it was, which is good, because previously it also served as office and dressing room. Now it is just studio and retreat, there isn't as much stuff jammed into the 9 x 9 space, and a lot of things have changed in my life since I used it before.

I've taken pictures of each thing as I moved it into the empty space, and will post it later as a sort of personal studio inventory. This is going to work out very well.

Getting My Old Studio Back!

Finished a painting yesterday and started a new one while Steve was away at an art fair. I moved my easel and some paints up to the dining room for the day and felt so comfortable there that I was tempted to make it my new permanent studio, which would be disastrous for every other reason imaginable in this little house. After about an hour's discussion, Steve and I realized that it was time for me to have my old studio back, and I am so excited that my insides feel like a bunny dancing under a full moon.

I've tried and tried to work in the basement, and sometimes it was not too bad--there's room to spread out and have many projects on the go at once. But this summer it was always so cold down there, which is hell on the arthritis. And it is, after all, a basement, no daylight, no views, very isolated. If anything, I'm a treetops person and my first choice of a studio location would be a second-storey loft or attic. My second choice is right next to the garden. At the moment the cookery is the room right next to the garden, and it has to be there for health department regulations, unconnected to other living areas of the house. The next best room is the room I originally chose for an office/studio when we first moved here, a small back bedroom with a tiny window nook. I did some nice work in there, even though it could be a bit cramped.

I turned it over to Steve when his photography work expanded but his allergies and other health problems made working in the basement impossible for him. It is also next to his office where all the computers are, so it was a no-brainer to locate his digital photography space there. But now he has closed down his web development business and his office is more painting studio than anything else. He's also feeling much, much better than he did last year, in fact he is feeling better now than he has in the past six years. Swapping work spaces is reasonable now.

Can hardly wait to get it all set up!!! I love the little window nook and its tiny built-in desk. It's a warm and cozy room and I'm going to have my rocking chair and reading lamp in there, as well. It'll be a true "room of one's own."