State of the Studio

for the past i don’t know how long, i’ve used our old double wide as an art studio. i had soooo much ambition when i set it up too, y’all would have loved it! we had torn down the center wall so when you came inside you were basically in every room except the bathroom and master bedroom (kid had her own room but, being an infant, only 3 walls). i’ll describe the studio set up: the mudroom door is located on the long side of the double wide and houses the wood stove, so usually a nice cozy place to enter. also, the floor is hand lain tile so you can have wet muddy boots and drippy coats in this room. from this room you can see into multiple areas. in the most adjacent room i had set up a mixed media/collage room; a library of art and garden reference books to the left and multiple tables of found objects to the right.

continue straight through this room into the largest area in the trailer set up as a painting studio. a large glass topped table sits beneath two large windows with multiple canvas tacked to the wall, pieces in various states of progress. to the right is a smaller open room for print making with a large paper shelving unit in one corner while down the hall you have the master bedroom turned sewing room and the bathroom. sweet studio, right?!! space for everything!!

so, over the years i did my best to use the space. i created plenty and set myself up for future projects. but, do you remember that phrase “get a life?” sometimes you end up getting a life you hadn’t planned on and it takes over.

in art school i declared “I WILL NEVER STOP PAINTING!” but guess what? i got a life, or rather, a life got me. and i stopped painting. but i never left the studio.

dick olsen taught me about that. how the studio is always in your head and your head is always in the studio. keep your mindset and train of thought on that track and you will never leave the studio. keep scheming and calculating.

however, if you’re not physically in the studio for years it will get gross.

in an attempt to land this bird, i am cleaning out the studio.

for the past several months i have been going through every found object, every book, every fabric pile and sorting, packing up, and tossing out. it’s the hubs turn at some creative space. he has recently inherited a trove of wood working tools and welding equipment. i will still keep some creative space, and now that life is developing its own life, maybe i’ll get some studio time.

fall is a time of rebirth, the start of new adventures in learning. i never left the studio, and maybe i’ll even start painting again. i did clean my palette.