It's Alive!

Thanks for taking the tour!

Now that the studio is built and functioning, it's taken on a life of its own.

Over the next couple of weeks I'll post some highlights of our life and work together so far and some developments of the building itself. Oh, and a rather unexpected surprise and addition.

I hope that this blog is of service to anyone who might want to undertake building a workspace on a low budget. If you ever have any questions you think I might be able to answer, please leave a comment on any of the posts.

Inner Sanctum

I thought about whether or not to post this part because it's really my private space but what the hell, you're all select and privileged readers and this is one of the most important parts of the studio. My fort.



I cannot tell you how much time I spend working on this day bed. I read, write and sketch here.  Sometimes I even paint here.   In fact, I am writing this to you as I sit here.   I think that this year I am going to try to take more naps here.

If you've ever been to Thomas Edison's house and studio or workroom or whatever he called it in Ft. Meyers, Florida, you may remember that he had a bed set up next to his work space. I understand that he used it quite frequently and took a lot of naps.



Sometimes I call this the back room but it's really the dream room and you can see why.



Above is the alcove over the plumbing box where I eventually got around to building book shelves



And here we are turned back towards the front of the building. You can really see the hand-mixed pink of the back room walls that I'm so proud of and pleased with.

First Objects

Objects and images are important in studios. Stuff we like to look at for various reasons. I made this cut out space for light, a design element to echo the transom and for psychological space. Naturally, as a flat surface, it immediately started to accumulate things.

What things? An early bottle of Canada Dry Ginger Ale (still sealed!) because it reminds me of comforting things from my childhood, a cow skull to remind me of death and for a student drawing prop, a favorite pitcher glazed in gold and cream parked temporarily because the light reflects on it beautifully, an architectural reference book because it found a flat surface and a Chinese bowl that was parked there temporarily because I had my hands filled with something else.

The first images that went up for reference were photographs of Easter Island from a NYT article because they were great photographs and the images were stunning and mysterious. Easter Island is one place I would really like to go. Before it becomes a casino.

View from the loft

This is fun. Straight out from the top of the ladder, past the fan, through the transom...



over the workspace...



Out the front door. (Hope you're getting a good look at my carefully arranged socks and sandals.)



and over the work table and media center.

The loft

Hey! Let's go up to the loft. It's the first place all little boys want to see.



Up we go.



To the left.



To the right. Basic storage and a fun place to sit for a while, not to mention great psychological space for the studio as a whole.

Supply Room

To the far left is the supply room. There's the stack of Indian Village paper I bought from Daniel Smith just after I'd unpacked it. You can see some of the paintings I've made on it here.



The sink and shelves. I've added a good dish drain - very important. You can't see from these pictures, but there's an awning window over the sink just like in the front room. If you go back to the plan elevations or framing (see sidebar), you can see it. I never have to turn on the light in this room during the day.



Here are the shelves for supplies and stuff.

Work Table

What? Not enough work space? Apparently not.

To the left is the place where I do administrative, matting, cutting, paperwork stuff, have meetings and so forth. I bought two low bookshelves and topped them with a nice piece of sanded wood. It's a good space and I love it.

Where I paint and draw

To the right is the area where I do my drawing and watercolor. Lots of light though sometimes a little too directly in late afternoon. I don't mind - I work around it.

This is the scene in September of 2006. At some point since, I found a killer drafting table (made when things were made to last) at a yard sale for $15. I could not pass it up. I'll post my current set up at some point in the future on My Great Day.



Less so now, but sometimes I drag the tables around for a change. All of the furniture I've brought in has been with that in mind — modular, easy to move around. You'll get a better view of this area from the loft.

Enter

Come up the path and in the front door.



This is the straight ahead view.

Come on in!

Welcome! I'm ready to bring you in and show you around. We'll take a look around inside over the next week. It's been one drama after another but the results are satisfying. Remember, just a little while ago this was the scene. One person said, "It looks like the Suzanne McDermott church!" Someone else said that it looked like a little school house. Well, there it stands - pretty simple and unassuming on the outside.