Switching Spaces in the Studio

When I had my parents into the studio for the first time after the construction was complete my dad asked why I hadn’t set up the painting space to be upstairs, you know, with all that natural light. At the time I wanted more space to spread out, I was working on multiple projects all with the same general deadline and needed a big space to let everything dry. After 6 months of working on the bottom floor and bringing visitors past all that mess to see the ‘gallery’ upstairs - I decided my dad was in fact, correct as always.

So I started swapping the spaces.

I budgeted 3 days for the full swap, like someone who had never moved around a studio before. 1.5 months later (thanks covid!) it was done.

Picking up wood for the walls!

Thanks Lowes for allowing pups!

Wall or giant canvas?

… i almost wish it was a stretcher

It's standing on it's own!

Wall #2 and the first sheets of drywall.

Snap-up/down casters.

These will let me move around the walls and change the layout, but will snap-up to allow the wall to sit on the ground (and be safe/stable!)

Tape and mud!

Bright white paint. It's starting to feel like a gallery!

Chewy approved.

The upstairs.

I moved all the storage and display to the bottom floor, so this space is 100% dedicated to making.

New paint lockers.

Woo Ikea!

Slightly more lived-in.

I adore it up here.

Still needed: a laser level

I’m waiting on a laser level before doing the first hang in the new space. If these are off I’m going to be annoyed, so will wait until I can do it perfectly.

The biggest additions were two new walls to display work on in the new ‘gallery’ area downstairs. Built by my husband and our good friend, these can be shimmied about on their casters and repositioned to change up the flow, or give me different sized areas for photographing work. I’m so thrilled with these.

Painting upstairs is a dream. Yes, it’s a bit smaller but it’s so much easier to manage the space mentally. I can move around the tables to separate different projects and it’s so perfectly bright up there.

I’ll be having my first open studio in the fall - stay tuned for more info!