Slippers or shoes?

Elizabeth Schott · 03-21-2003, 05:45 PM

I was just admiring the lovely tour of Karin's studio and it reminded me of a question I have always wanted to ask.

Is your studio part of your home? If so did you custom build the space or adapt existing?

Is it on your property and again did you custom build or adapt the space?

How many of us here put on shoes and have to travel to a studio space we either rent or own? Does this interfere with your family life by having to

Mike McCarty · 03-22-2003, 12:37 AM

I just finished my first full week of painting in public. My new digs, Windsor Market designers showcase, are about two miles from my house and across the street from the art supply store. They are also on the other side of the wall from a restaurant with home made chocolate cream pie.

Lon Haverly · 03-22-2003, 01:08 AM

Way to go, Mike! I cannot resist the Cinnabon, myself. But Chocolate cream pie could do it, too.

I prefer working at my mall studio than at home. I have fewer distractions there out in the middle of the mall than I do at home! I rarely paint at home anymore. I work from 10 am until 6pm. I don't take it home with me, or work late. I don't even have any art materials at home.

I paint in my dress clothes there at the mall. (I have learned to paint clean!)

Mike McCarty · 03-22-2003, 09:15 AM

I have a pretty nice space with a 15 foot north window wall, one 8 by 13 and one 8 by 18 foot wall to display my paintings on. This "booth" if you will is open on the forth side to all the traffic.

I'm not completely settled into my space and routine yet. I don't have the means to lock up my materials yet so I have been bringing my paints and brushes home at night.

So far I think I'm going to like it and the exposure is great. This traffic is there specifically to look for upscale home furnishings, or chocolate pie.

Leslie Ficcaglia · 03-22-2003, 05:38 PM

My studio is a remodeled cottage which was the original dwelling place on our property when we moved down here thirty years ago. (Actually the cottage was preceded by a very old structure which is referenced in local historical maps and deeds. We've found traces of bricks and other signs of previous colonial occupancy just behind where our present home is located, as well as a wide range of native American artifacts dating back to 8000 BC.)

We changed the floor plan of the cottage and bumped up the walls so that there's a partial loft upstairs, and we also added a wall of windows overlooking our small river. We left room for a small refrigerator and relocated the sink, but removed the stove so that no offspring could decide it made a perfect home - although our daughter did live in the loft for awhile while she was going to college.

The wall of windows faces southwest, and on the western wall adjacent to them is a sliding glass door out to a small deck with a metal cafe table and chairs. Over the sliding glass door is track lighting, which I can brighten or dim, and I also have an Ott light attached to my easel. I paint facing the windows, with masonite behind the canvas so that light doesn't come through.

The place is warmed by a vented wall-mounted propane heater; it's not the most attractive solution but it seemed to be the most practical and efficient. I've got a CD player that I turn on when I come in, and a bed by my taboret for our Great Dane. I had a small office area off to the left as you enter, with my old 7500 Mac, but found that I don't like doing left-brained work in my studio, so that's in the loft for my husband and maybe someday it will be set up to work with an archival printer.

The little office has a closet with shelves for supplies, and there's also a closet under the steps that's perfect for storing unused canvas. And the walls of the entryway and wherever possible in the rest of the downstairs are covered with either originals or copies of my commissioned work.

Before we did all this, my studio was my son's old bedroom upstairs in our house. It was as large as I felt I needed and had the added convenience of often drawing me in as I walked past it, and I'd find after several hours had elapsed that I'd spent the evening painting.

As it is now I have to make a conscious decision to go over to the studio, sometimes running in first to heat it up, so it creates a slight barrier, but the space is wonderful and it's also a very impressive place to bring clients.

Carolyn Ortiz · 03-23-2003, 05:02 PM

Flip flops, and barefeet. And soon tennis shoes.

Right now my studio is in the basement, also known as the computer room, guest bedroom, study, etc., etc. I wear flip flops when painting because I have plastic covering the carpet since it's an apartment. And when I'm at the drafting table no shoes at all. It's pretty dark down here, just one tiny window so my art production has decreased and my computer time increased!

In just a little over a month I will be living in Spain, and I want to do much more plein air painting, so I imagine my studio space will be on side walks, in museums, in bars, and cafe's, everywhere but an actual studio.

It is great seeing and hearing about the spaces other's work in. And helps me dream about what my own space will be some day.

Michele Rushworth · 03-23-2003, 05:47 PM

My studio is in a large alcove of the upstairs of our house, with a North-by-Northwest facing window.

I paint in stocking feet and my painting clothes, which I also wear when I paint rooms in the house. The clothes are therefore very splattered, so my daughter calls them my "food fight clothes".

Timothy C. Tyler · 05-24-2003, 10:30 AM

I think I've had 2 studios apart from my home. I could walk to both. When I was there I was at work and then I was home and off duty. That was a the big advantage. The other is the quiet and isolation. In the house, you feel you must say Hi to all company, help the children, answer the phone etc. You can skip that if you're apart from the home.

I wear very comfortable shoes and lose the wallet, keys and change.