Portrait Artist Forum - View Single Post

Debra Rexroat · 02-21-2009, 09:12 PM

My house is my studio I am afraid, which means two of us (and our fat cat) share a small 1910 cottage with colored pencils, watercolors, acrylics and pastels -- and all the different grounds and papers (oh how I love a good hand-made paper!) and then my finished, framed and stored works! My partner loves to shower me with new stuff all the time, but I have had to differentiate between "oh, look, I like this" and "I have been needing this" when we go to the art supply store.

Our guest room (we have a 2 br home of less than 900 sq ft) contains my drawing table and a storage bed I found at Ikea (much storage space underneath, but it needs to be cleaned and sorted badly) and and my studio easel sits between the dining and living rooms, with the taboret beside it. I have four bookshelves of art books, going all the way back to my childhood. My walls are floor-to-ceiling art hung gallery style in almost every room. I am sure the lack of space could share the blame for my inability to get creative at times.

Whenever I do get things more organized, it seems like all it takes is a brief creative spurt and it is a mess again. I think what is going to happen is that the closet in the guest room will soon be converted to well-designed storage so that I can get a little more streamlined in our living area. I see a new little five-drawer taboret in my future as well.

I have too many easels and will soon be listing those that just weren't a good fit on Craig's List or some such. I find frames and paper storage to be the most challenging, due to bulk and the need to be protected.

My pastels are in pastel drawers, my plein air case, and several cigar-box-sized containers. My acrylic paints are in plastic shoe boxes, and my watercolors are in the extra-long pencil boxes you get at Office Depot. Brushes are in jars according to type and size, except watercolor brushes are rolled in bamboo and muslin holders I made myself.

I will be curious what others who have such limited space do, and especially if anyone has figured out how to downsize and reduce without great pain.

02-21-2009, 09:12 PM	#3
Debra Rexroat Juried Member Joined: Dec 2008 Location: Auburn WA Posts: 44	My house is my studio I am afraid, which means two of us (and our fat cat) share a small 1910 cottage with colored pencils, watercolors, acrylics and pastels -- and all the different grounds and papers (oh how I love a good hand-made paper!) and then my finished, framed and stored works! My partner loves to shower me with new stuff all the time, but I have had to differentiate between "oh, look, I like this" and "I have been needing this" when we go to the art supply store. Our guest room (we have a 2 br home of less than 900 sq ft) contains my drawing table and a storage bed I found at Ikea (much storage space underneath, but it needs to be cleaned and sorted badly) and and my studio easel sits between the dining and living rooms, with the taboret beside it. I have four bookshelves of art books, going all the way back to my childhood. My walls are floor-to-ceiling art hung gallery style in almost every room. I am sure the lack of space could share the blame for my inability to get creative at times. Whenever I do get things more organized, it seems like all it takes is a brief creative spurt and it is a mess again. I think what is going to happen is that the closet in the guest room will soon be converted to well-designed storage so that I can get a little more streamlined in our living area. I see a new little five-drawer taboret in my future as well. I have too many easels and will soon be listing those that just weren't a good fit on Craig's List or some such. I find frames and paper storage to be the most challenging, due to bulk and the need to be protected. My pastels are in pastel drawers, my plein air case, and several cigar-box-sized containers. My acrylic paints are in plastic shoe boxes, and my watercolors are in the extra-long pencil boxes you get at Office Depot. Brushes are in jars according to type and size, except watercolor brushes are rolled in bamboo and muslin holders I made myself. I will be curious what others who have such limited space do, and especially if anyone has figured out how to downsize and reduce without great pain.