A Peek into my Art Studio
STUDIO CAT - Thunder
As an art collector have you ever wondered what an artist’s creative space looks like? As an artist yourself have you wondered what another artist’s creative space looks like? I have always been curious no matter whether an artists space is big or small. What in it makes their painting process successful? How do they organize their materials? Do they paint on a tabletop or stand at an easel. Perhaps they use a wall space now covered with paint drips from the bottom of different sized canvas or paper. (A great magazine to check out, In Her Studio, available by subscription or at your local bookstore).
I can’t speak for other artists concerning their studios but mine is ever evolving. At the beginning of a new year after all the Christmas decorations are stowed away to the back of a designated closet, I usually take about a week to do clean-up and rearrangement of boxes, drawers and jars of painting supplies that live on my 4x9’ vintage oak library table in my studio. Every jar and box is dumped upside down to remove dust and any little pieces of bug carcassa’s hiding in the bottom. Markers are swiped across paper to find those that may have dried up or are spent. Pencils are re-sharpened to fine points. Paint tube caps are cleaned and then properly seated back on their tubes. Collage papers are placed back into a beautiful figured cherry cabinet with drawer fronts made of Birds-eye maple, tiger maple and cherry that my husband, a Windsor chair maker, designed and made for me. I look forward to this “new beginning” each January.
This year I am replacing the transparent plastic sheet protector on top of a 1/4” thick sheet of solid white plastic purchased from our local building supply aka “toy” store. It is cut to the exact proportions of the table top. This takes place about every 2-3 years.
Will it stay clean? Absolutely not. I’m by no means the neatest painter or cook in the world so there could be colorful stains (I can see my daughters and granddaughters heads bobbing up and down in agreement). Besides, I like to think one must be messy during their creative process to to be a successful painter or cook. Okay, not every painter is messy but I definitely fit into that category. So this year I am also laying out a smaller sheet of kraft paper on top of the plastic sheet where I sit or stand to do most of my painting. Time will tell if this system works for me: ever evolving.
Clean kraft paper? It was for about a week.
Artist or Art Collector, I would love to hear about your workspace or studio. You can email me at katcoreystudio@gmail.com. You can also let me know if you would like to be added to my mailing list to be among the first to review my new works as the are posted.