Shared Art Studio

Earlier this year, I had been working toward fixing up an art studio at my house. You can see in these past Home Art Studio Project posts I was going to make the space in the backyard, up against the cottage wall. Long story short, I ran into some issues with uneven floor and a falling apart fence, so all summer I worked in a corner in the house and in the backyard. 

Then fall arrived and I felt ongoing anxiety about turning a corner of the living room into a workspace and never dealing with this room. It had been an office for my boyfriend, then what felt like a storage room/work space for for me (see photos below) and now I love that it is a place we can both work in. I was insistent that I don't want to take it over as my own since he shoots photos and draws too. 

Just looking at this wall makes me shudder. What a disaster it became. It's pretty embarrassing to share this, but this is the state it turned into at the end of the summer. Because the room gets pretty warm in the summer, I basically didn't work in here and it was like a neglected storage room. 

This isn't a great photo, but you can see how dark the sandy brown walls made it look. The piles, oh the piles. 

The aftermath of painting. My speckled phone and encrusted hands. 

I think I was getting a little crazed by this point. 

Art studio at the Linea de Costa art residency

So first off, I'll show you my inspiration for the room. And yes, I understand that this is the prettiest picture in this whole post. Last November, while on a residency in Spain, I had the world's most beautiful art studio. It had an ocean view, was pristinely white, plants everywhere and hints of blues. While my results weren't exactly the same, I knew that I wanted to paint the new workspace white, to be a lot less cluttered and have plants. 

And here it is. The new studio has bright white walls, empty surfaces to work on and one hanging plant (planter by RossLab). Now, you might want to compare this with the first picture. BIG DIFFERENCE, huh? By the next post, I'll have worked in here for a bit and will give more details on what was done. Thanks so much to Bryan for the help in making it look like this. 

For now, I am ready to be productive in this clean, bright new shared space. 

Playing in Spain

I was looking for a photo on my phone and came across a group of photos from Spain that stopped me in my tracks and made me say 'duh'. Time created some distance from some ideas I had out there and it was nice to see them again. They reminded me of a few projects I still want to try out. I had all day to play with materials and just have fun experimenting while working out there. I had not looked at these since I shot them and I think there's such interesting stuff happening in these photos (of course, maybe just interesting to me!). Since I've been back, I've been focusing on smaller paintings (with a focus on the 'product' not the process), moving the studio and a variety of other things. I had almost let some pretty cool ideas fade from my memory. 

Paint test sheets, cut shapes, ink drawings and watercolor paintings.

I had a ton of ideas there. Too many. A month was definitely not enough time to carry out all of them, but there are at least elements of these ideas that I want to use in current and future projects since there isn't an expiration date. 

Strips of cut watercolor paper placed in front of two different paintings. 

The juxtaposition of certain pieces together was really interesting to me. I had painted strips of paper and layered them in front of two different paintings, which gave me all kinds of ideas for dioramas and other three-dimensional work.

A sort of watercolor landscape lit from behind.

A mock-up for a lightbox.

Using cheap roll paper, I drew and painted without a care since I didn't feel precious about this inexpensive material. I tested out lighting it from behind, thinking I would create an installation that used this idea. It is something I would still like to try. I have used a light before, but hanging rather than behind the art. 

Experimenting with "gotas" or blobs piled along the wall.

One of the first things I played around with were cut watercolor shapes I called 'gotas' (or blobs in Spanish). Each day, I made anywhere from several to ten. This ended up being included in the final exhibition which you can see here. 

Sketchbook brainstorming

Second fireplace sketch

An early version of the flooding room. 

Stone and rug large ink drawings.

Playing around with color in the installation.

Here are some ideas I had for the fireplace installation I did. You can see the final installation here. The idea behind the piece evolved to be about states of static versus flow. How we can become stagnant or try to achieve a firm stance in life when it is constantly in flux and moving around us. 

My work piled up.

Cut paper plants with window reflection.

Whether getting caught up in a routine or having too many deadlines or goals, we can forget about concepting, sketching, playing, experimenting, making mistakes, making a mess. By working with these materials in different ways, I explored light, shadow, scale, dimension, pushing the idea of a two-dimensional painting. I was so excited while working in Spain, being inspired by a different landscape and surroundings, and I'd like to keep that going here. 

I am currently working on dioramas with cut watercolor paper for a new project. I'll keep ya posted on how that goes!

This Week's Progress on the Home Studio

Last week, I did a Rooftop Cleanup to allow more light and clean the roof of the new studio space. The corrugated plastic has multiple cracks in it, so it will have to be replaced. I did the math and it looks to cost $159 + tax. This week I have worked on cleaning up the area below it. It's amazing how huge the space looks now that all that junk is gone. I really have no idea what I'm doing, but it's really fun to just clean everything up and dream about what I could do.

New problems

When I headed out back today, I noticed two fence panels had toppled back onto the neighbor's land. I think the new fence needs to come sooner than later!

This is the SECOND pile of stuff that had to go.

Everything in the back was water damaged, rusty or just nasty. Except for the cooler, everything is going. There were even two fenders back there from a prior tenant. See those bags of cement? They actually became cement from the rain earlier this month. Lots of rusty nails, rusty screws, PVC pipe, rusty tools, rusty razor blades, gross tape and other weirdness. Good riddance to this stuff!

In cleaning out the back, it made me realize I wanted to trim down my other belongings as well. I have decent-sized collections of records, books and art supplies. This all adds up. Not to mention a couple boxes of childhood toys and mementos. I also had a lot of clothes. 

Look at all those empty hangers!

I have been reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo. Her approach is to touch everything you own, rather than just look at it when sorting. She thinks you should focus on what you want to keep, not on what you are getting rid of. Marie's method is different from a lot of approaches because rather than room by room or in small bits, she wants you to go through EVERYTHING  and by category, pulling every item within each category. You start with clothes, then books, papers, komono (miscellany - CDs, DVDs, electrical cords, kitchen goods, and on and on) then you move on to sentimental items last. By focusing on clothes first (she calls these the least sentimental), it makes it easier to move through each category. I am not that great at following things exactly, but so far, I have gone through clothes and books and it feels really great. 

So clean now! 

Anyway, back to the space. Look at it now! So much cleaner than when I started! You can see before photos in the Art Studio Move post. I think I can clear out my studio in two more trips (mostly because of the furniture and large art). I have been thinking about the design of the studio. I want it to be a lean to. I would like the corrugated roof to stay to allow a lot of light in. I also want walls on three sides and a door on one side to enter. This project is going to take some time. I don't expect to be done with it until at least summer.  For the time being, I am going to work on the table on the back patio and use the office inside for shipping, photo scanning and editing. The space in back will be for supplies and I can work back there, but I will have to bring art projects on paper inside each day since the overnight moisture in the air will cause the paper to buckle. 

I am so into getting rid of all this stuff. I know it will allow me to focus way more on things I want to be doing without all this junk to think about in the back of my mind. 

Next steps: 

• Move my art desk, shelf, chairs and large artworks back from the studio (still need to sort through)
• Organize art supplies on shelf
• Hang pegboard for tools
• Purchase a flat file
• Talk to the neighbors about their invasive trees and vines (that are ruining the fence)
• Level the foundation (there's a giant root under one of the concrete panels)
• Replace the corrugated roof

Art Studio Move

It was a tough decision to make, but I decided to move out of my art studio space and make a new one at home. One of the biggest reasons is the studio has been taken over by more musicians than visual artists lately and I if you are going to have an art studio, you may as well have other visual artists around, right? It's always great to bounce ideas off each other and just have that camaraderie.  At the current studio, I formerly had access to the alleyway to shoot photos or let projects dry and now it's a driveway. The bathroom is a lot cleaner at my house. I have also found myself working at home more frequently than at the studio. I have a fridge full of good, fresh food here and space to be outdoors. The weather in California is nice enough to work outside so I often set up on the covered patio in the backyard. The power tools are here, cats are here, it's easier to care for the garden and who really wants to leave their house anyway?!

Of course I have to justify it because the studio has been my favorite spot for 4 years. It has an awesome brick wall and a huge storefront window. It was home for the last four years, but I think it's time to move on. 

 I have been dreaming of using this space as a studio workshop. It has a bench and storage, opaque corrugated roof that lets in lots of light and at 16' x 7'9", it beats my 10x9 size studio any day. It also has electricity. This is my new pet project.

A little rough around the edges

As you can see, there is a lot of work to do. Old, rotten pieces of wood, home maintenance materials and just filth. This space is behind the cottage in the back (where we have a tenant). 

So much stuff!

There's a lot of random stuff back here: a bike, a scooter, plant cemetery, dried cans of paint, a door, etc. You may not be able to tell here, but the foundation is uneven as well. That's something I can deal with and worry about later. It will be a big undertaking, but I think totally worth it.  If we can make it waterproof, give it some decent walls, it would make a great space for woodworking  and bigger projects. 

Piles, just piles

Do you see those shadows on the roof? I need to get up on the roof of the building and sweep the leaves off to let in more light. The above roof will be temporary since we need a new fence and the roof will need to be replaced when the fence does. 

See this wood? I already cleared it out!

Lots of wood that has been getting wet for a few years. I moved all of this to the front part of the yard to an area piled with stuff ready for the dump. You can see the sad state of the fence here. 

The north-facing view.

The new studio view. My current studio looks out on cars on a busy street, a big van and trailer that always blocks my view,  plus has an ugly industrial fence in front of the window. I think I like this view a lot better. Isn't that wall amazing? I love that peeled paint and boarded up window.

I can hang out with this guy and my other cat more often. 

In moving my art studio home, I know I will be working in different places. The printing/shipping area will be in the office inside and I will likely spend a lot of time painting on the table below since it is more out in the open. 

Laura and Elissa

Recently, I had a couple of friends over to paint together. The backyard made a really nice setting and it got me thinking I can not only have artists over to make stuff, but run workshops back here. I am really excited for this change. You can see some of my big ideas on this Dream Home Art Studio Pinterest Board and be sure to check back on the Home Art Studio Project blog category frequently.

The short list:

• Sweep rooftop  DONE!
• Waterproof rooftop
• Remove all old tools (rusted), old paint and random things that don't belong
• Install pegboard on the wall (maybe - I have a love/hate relationship with pegboard)
• Fix or sell the bike
• Fix the scooter
• Build a wall and new fence
• Replace or level the concrete (there's a big old root that's pushing it up)
• Get a flat file for the office space inside (have my friend weld a frame for it to sit on)

The rest of the yard

• Repaint the metal frame of the table and chairs on the patio
• Buy new cushions for the seats
• Put better lighting in on the covered patio 
• Build a fire pit with seating
• Buy more California native or drought-hardy plants
• Especially large plants that will provide privacy
• Get the spring food garden going

Staying Organized as an Artist

I thought it would be good to end this month with some tools I use to stay organized. Every January, I seem to go into hibernation to plan, organize and see what I can do differently. This year, I got started mid-December and I feel way ahead since I have been working through all the things I need to do, but didn't want to do. This includes editing photos, sales tax, updating descriptions for my art online and that kind of thing. 

Ever since I got back from Spain, I've been knee-deep in getting things done. My office and shipping area is so tidy now, I often walk past the room and stop to admire it these days. I also repainted my studio before my residency so it feels clean and fresh. My studio also has way less unnecessary things and is much less cluttered this year. It is now just a place to make art and my shipping area is at home. I am still working on it a bit, but I'll show you how nice it looks soon.

Let me tell you, it has taken me a long time to get as organized as I feel these days. Rather than go through all the trial and error I did, I thought I would share with you some tools I use to stay on top of things. A big part of organization is planning and doing small chunks at a time, to prevent being overwhelmed. I think it's really important to keep things as simple as you can. I hope the random piles are gone for good this time!

So, here are some simple ways to be organized that I've found work for me:

Day Designer  I am first and foremost a paper and pen person. I think it's because I am a visual person and want to see everything laid out, whenever I want. When I first heard about the Day Designer (somewhere on the internet), I was intrigued. After looking around their site, I felt it was EXACTLY what I needed to get my own act together. They have a fantastic blog where you can find articles like 7 Steps You Can Take to Make the Most of Each and Every Day or How to Schedule Time to Be Creative. I've been using mine for a week and I absolutely love the layout and using paper and pen to plan out what I need to do. The designer, Whitney English, includes a time schedule, to do list, what's due and more with this planner. It sells out frequently so get your hands on one before they are gone. Highly recommended! 

Evernote  For the longest time I was like "whatever, I use notes and reminders on my iPhone." The Evernote app makes it way easier than that. You can break projects down into smaller, more manageable tasks.  I am still very new to it and use the above Day Designer more for mapping everything out. 

Google Calendar  While there are a few things I would change about Google Calendar, it's my favorite digital calendar. I try to keep it updated alongside my Day Designer so that I can get reminders for the really important things. Google Calendar really helps me stay on top of future events and dates. I just can't keep it all in my head. 

Google Drive  I don't know what I would do without it. Google Drive allows me to work on any computer, anywhere. I keep all kinds of records here and it's a total lifesaver. One of my favorite ways to use it is my Workflow spreadsheet. This is where I keep track of client work (individuals and organizations) organized by due date. I can go to this sheet quickly to see who, when, where and also what I am getting paid for the commission or job.

January Cure  Apartment Therapy has been doing a January Cure to help clean and freshen up your home. I have not been following it religiously, but it has been hugely helpful and I refer back to days I missed. It's like spring cleaning in January. I really recommend checking it out. Hunkering down and donating, tossing, cleaning and organizing at the start of the year is already making such an impact on how I work. Here's the full January Cure list so you can get started at any time!

Good things come in 3's. Some other things to do:

• 3 things - try not to put more than 3 main things on your to do list. That way, anything extra you get done is a bonus!
• 3 pages a day - start your day writing 3 pages a day. Write what you did yesterday, what you want to get done today and maybe what you want for the future. By revisiting what you meant to do, you will start actually doing it. Writing one page is okay too:)

If you have any tips to share on staying organized, I'd love to hear about them in the comments below!