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.
First Open Studio Weekend
This weekend I opened the middle garage door, put out some signs, hung some new work, laid out some snacks and held the first open studio in the new space.
I kept it on the smaller end of attendance, just to make sure logistically I wouldn’t be bothering the neighbors too much. The alleyway can get a bit tight, so I wanted to make sure we could easily all fit inside if necessary.
It was such a great event. I met so many neighbors, saw some friends I haven’t seen since the early days of the pandemic, and a few pieces even found new homes. I love having people into the space, it’s always so great to hear what they see in the paintings, or how they interpret the work. Those conversations are my absolute favorite.
This was also the second event that showcased the new collage pieces. (The first one being the Rostrum 312 show ) so I was eager to hear the responses to the new work.
This was also the first time the Glyph collection was shown together. (All except the pieces mounted on paper) At the end of the weekend these will be boxed up and shipped down to Jenner McGinn Studios, where they will be a part of a pop-up at the end of the month.
Huge thanks to everyone who stopped by, next time I’ll get the word out a little far-er and wide-er, but this was a good run-through for a larger event. Chewy even made an appearance at the end of Friday night (see the chairs keeping him in the studio). I’m so grateful for this little art community, thank you so much and always for your support <3
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.
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!
Springtime Studio Notes
What does an artist do when she can’t find the right peel-and-stick wallpaper? She paints it of course. I began this project naively thinking I could wrap it up in one weekend.
(Cue obligatory Spongebob meme… 3 weeks later….)
It’s still not done. I took a little break as we had family in town and couldn’t have all the furniture in the middle of the room, but it’s been like 40 hours of dots. Everyone who comes in now says I should leave empty areas. That it makes it more of a mural and less of a painted wall paper. What do you think? Should I keep going?
We had our first beer (and wine for 3 of us) tasting event in the studio. I put all of my in-progress works up on the walls for the night to give everyone a look at the new work in it’s early stages. These are always fun nights for me, it’s a low pressure way to see what people think of these first layers. Sometimes this changes their direction, other times it just reinforces it. Either way, beer/wine and snacks are always a good combination when looking at art.
And thanks again to all who made it out for the Vyshavanka Day Art Auction on the 19th and StudioStudio and York. It was such a lovely day to celebrate and support Ukraine.
Check out this post for more photos from the day and for ways to donate if you missed the auction.
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And arguably the most important thing to happen this month….
I finally found my hammer.
Temporary Studio (so I can spread out without the construction dust...)
With The Other Art Fair quickly approaching I needed to get my potential work for the show all in one space together.
My in-home studio was definitely too small to get it all laid out and as we have houseguests for the next week-ish, I can’t realistically be taking up the living room + dining room and make them eat/sit outside.
(And the new studio is under an inch of sawdust, so that’s definitely out.)
So, I’ll be setting up a temporary studio in a dining room that is currently in-between renters a few streets over until I can get into my new studio.
Must protect the floors!
I didn’t bring everything over since space is still a concern in here. I limited the materials for what I need for Chicago, daily sketch materials and what I need to wrap up the last of the commissions for the summer.
(Side note - I’ve closed commissions for the remainder of 2021. Here’s why.)
A sneak peek at work for Chicago!
I’m really grateful to have access to this space for the summer/fall. As much as I truly enjoyed being able to work out of my house, it’s past time for more space. This should bridge the gap between these spaces nicely. (And let me finish the work for The Other Fair!!!)