Notes from 1 full year in this studio
I’ve officially passed the one year mark at the new studio! (I guess it’s time to drop the ‘new’?)
I’ve already rearranged once, (twice if you count moving the fridge, which I’m inclined to do because of how heavy it was…) We’ve added two relatively major features; new lighting and new moving walls, and I’m about 1/5th of the way through painting the floor.
I think I’ve found my groove in this space. And Chewy has definitely found his favorite nap areas.
In thinking about the past year (taxes will do that to a person) I thought I’d compile a list of a few notes that have occurred to me since that first day painting at Studio 133.
As much as I love the studio, I NEED TO LEAVE IT OCCASIONALLY AND TALK TO HUMANS. I have to remind myself that a lot of being an artist happens *outside* the studio. It’s talking to other artists, seeing shows, being a human adult in the midst of other human adults. It’s so easy to slide into hermit mode and just paint every day and forget there’s a world of art outside.
WASH MY BRUSHES. When I worked out of the little room in my house my brushes were right in front of my face at most times. It was easy to see them and wash them. Now that I’m painting upstairs but regularly go downstairs mid-project I have forgotten about brushes sitting in water more times than I’d like to admit. I’ve put a little sign at the door to the studio to attempt to keep me from leaving and returning to dried bristles - it works 75% of the time.
Headspace is everything. If I come into the space to work and I’m nervous, anxious or jumbled nothing good is going to happen. I can clean, organize or work on inventory - but no good artwork is going to be made. This was true in my other spaces as well, but I think I feel it more acutely here. Ways I can correct a weird mental flow; walk the dog, look through old sketchbooks, pull up Artwork Archive and add work, sit and write about why I feel the way that I feel. These things usually help redirect my focus and get me recentered enough to make things.
I also need materials at home. Just a few paints and a sketchbook or two. Leaving the studio doesn’t mean I turn off as an artist and it took me a few months to figure out why I was so antsy at home. I still had ideas to sketch out. Every so often I’ll take a pile of papers to cut up at home too. Nothing is better than getting into the studio with a fresh batch of papers waiting to be collaged.
Snacks are very necessary. I get peckish when I work and if I try to ignore it my work suffers. My current favorites are mixed nuts, dried cranberries and little packets of miso soup.
I’m sure more things will become apparent as I embark on year 2 in this space and I’m sure by this time next year I’ll have rearranged again.
