Importance of studio space for your art?

[john]

Maybe I'm just cranky today because I got my booster and flu shots yesterday, but this morning I walked into the office/studio and was just offended at the mess. Mess of my own doing. Things hanging off the wall. Paintings in limbo taunting me. Some paintings almost good but not. Visual and psychological clutter.

I must have a hundred brushes and a stupid amount of painting crap hanging around for all three medias. Almost no organization of them. I'm pretty sure I know which are the oil brushes. I'm in the middle of my purge as I write this. I think I need to take a step back. But I think I'm just going to just move everything down to the basement and then take back what's essential as I go. I think I need a blank slate.

I know I shouldn't complain and others have very limited space but I'm wondering if others get feeling like this, are always like this, or can just look past the mess and into the painting, which I suspect is how it should be. How much inspiration or the opposite do you get from your creative space.

and now, back to the purge,,,,

 

[Artyczar]

Yes, I get like this. It helps me to step back and organize and clean it all up before approaching the next piece. I need to have some control over the environment. It makes me calmer. I also hate having too many "things," but have to remind myself that art supplies are tools of my trade, no matter the medium. I keep them in separate areas. I don't work in acrylics, so I don't really have a problem with keeping those kinds of brushes intermingled, but I sometimes use them as underpaint. I use cheaper brushes for that and they are just shoved in a different coffee can.

If I have crap I know I won't use, I'll donate the stuff to an artist that could use it--make a box of everything as I declutter. I have limited space these days. I used to be able to spread out and have "stations" for oil painting, water media, and even installation projects! but not it's just a corner for oils and a table for both watercolor/drawing and I'll also use it for oils when I'm painting flat. I also have a table easel I'll use at one end of the drafting table if I want to work on several things at once and it gets very cramped, like right now.

I can get overwhelmed, but I'll try to finish something to give me a sense of accomplishment maybe before straightening up and sometimes that makes me feel better.

Does your basement have light?

 

[john]

Does your basement have light?

Yes, but the basement is another disaster area. It is good for throwing stuff in however. Don't remind me about the basement.

 

[Marksmomagain]

I feel rather same way. My little studio must be clean and organized or I get all verklempt. I experience not one iota of creativity in a messy environment.

 

[Triduana]

For the last year and a half I haven't even had a painting space. I had to re-purpose the desk that I normally use when I had to start working from home due to the pandemic, so my paints had to go out of the way and my desk now has a laptop, a monitor and a pile of work notes on it. I can paint in the kitchen but only in daylight (and Scottish winters don't have a lot of usable daylight), because the lampshade over the table has a copper-effect inside and makes everything very golden. This is probably the main reason why I'm starting to use ink more. But I can't paint in an untidy kitchen. I even have to make sure the bits I'm not using are tidy - I can't even have crumbs on the worktops.

I always like to arrive at a tidy workspace though. It might get messy while I'm there, but I always make sure I leave it tidy.

 

[Marksmomagain]

I worked for years from my dining room table. Then I graduated to a spot in the living room, and finally got a spare bedroom.

 

[Perry]

I have a large room in the basement that is a studio/work room/storage room.
It is messy most of the time and it doesn't affect me when I do art.
It's a concrete floor and I don't worry about spills or getting paint on the floor,
I just wipe it up. It's like driving an old clunker car....I don't worry about dings,
scrapes or it being messy inside.......and that's how I like it.

 

[Terri]

My little studio must be clean and organized or I get all verklempt.

Verklempt. I had to look that up. It's now my Word of the Day. Yiddish, of course. ❤ I think Yiddish has the best words.

I have a small bedroom, that is supposed to be a kind of guest room, that doubles as my studio. There's a daybed in there, and there was a small chest of drawers until I dragged it into the closet to make room for my drafting table. I can comfortably fit a table easel on it, and have my boxes of oil pastels stacked on shelves nearby.

I feel very cramped in there at times. Keeping it cleaned up and tidy between paintings is a way to also clear my mind, from the last one to the next. I always wipe down the drafting table surface completely.

The carpet underneath it doesn't look so good, though.

 

[Donna T]

I like hearing about the spaces where you all work and it makes me feel better that not everyone can work when things are messy. I wish I could ignore the mess I make but it distracts me. I'm fortunate to have a spare bedroom in this house which is an upgrade over my last unheated space but the nice, new beige carpet it came with is just waiting for me to dump oils or acrylics on. I should open a bottle of India ink just to get it over with.

 

[P. Barrie]

Yes, but the basement is another disaster area. It is good for throwing stuff in however. Don't remind me about the basement.

Ha, sounds familiar to me!

 

[P. Barrie]

I have a very cramped space to work in. It gets cluttered and I have to “clean up” when it becomes a hazard. My biggest problem with that space is painting from life ( still lifes) as the environment and lighting has become too familiar and i feel like I’m on a creative turnstile. The space is ok for working from pics, usually from my ipad propped up on a cabinet drawer next to my easel/taboret. One side of the taboret is for oils, the other for Watercolor.
Years ago I used to move my portable easel around the house painting different interior scenes with windows, tables, chairs, etc. I really miss that as it has been frowned upon by the boss . Maybe I’ll get one of those cheap 5’x7’ rugs (to catch drips) and set up my small plein air rig at different places around the house? If I lived alone I would have a rig in every room of the house
Here’s a couple of paintings of our kitchen table I did back in the seventies.

 

[AES]

My "studio" is my bedroom/office/workshop/labspace/sewing room/insertrandominteresthere room too, so yeah limited space. I dont even have a real bed, i have a couch
I may not have 100 brushes, but it certainly feels like it sometimes.

I'm just going to just move everything down to the basement and then take back what's essential as I go. I think I need a blank slate.

I do this every few months it seems. I blame the ADHD lol. Right this moment I'm excavating my graphite pencils from wherever I last exiled them because I (yet again) have decided I need to suck it up and learn to shade in pencil before I can do it properly in paint.

Btw I reuse ALL my brushes between mediums. Even if I could afford a seperate set for each, I would never be able to keep them segregated for long. I just clean them thoroughly with soap and water after each use, so they're ok for whatever I use next. Oil, watermedia, whatever.

 

[Hawkmoth]

I'm lucky enough to have a dedicated art/craft room, which I use for several crafts as well as painting. I have to clean it spotless every time I switch from painting to sewing (I don't want any trace of paint on a table where I'm cutting white fabric). I therefore chose glass worktops and wipe clean storage units so it's very quick to clean. I've got so much stuff for all my crafts that I have to be organized with storage, or I wouldn't be able to move. I have regular clear-outs but still have tons of supplies and equipment, all of which I do use at least a few times a year.

Sometimes when I don't feel like painting, I quite enjoy just cleaning the craft room. It's very calming and satisfying when it's all spotless and full of possibilities for new projects.

 

[Artyczar]

I'm lucky enough to have a dedicated art/craft room, which I use for several crafts as well as painting. I have to clean it spotless every time I switch from painting to sewing (I don't want any trace of paint on a table where I'm cutting white fabric). I therefore chose glass worktops and wipe clean storage units so it's very quick to clean. I've got so much stuff for all my crafts that I have to be organized with storage, or I wouldn't be able to move. I have regular clear-outs but still have tons of supplies and equipment, all of which I do use at least a few times a year.

Sometimes when I don't feel like painting, I quite enjoy just cleaning the craft room. It's very calming and satisfying when it's all spotless and full of possibilities for new projects.

I find cleaning and organizing very calming too, and if it weren't for proper storage of things, I also would not be able to work in my room either.

 

[bethany]

After so many years of painting in a small dining area- this year I have a dedicated studio!
My husband had the double garage that is part of the house for his motorbike repairs etc. We built him a shed in the back yard so I could have the garage. We painted it, put down laminate flooring and added glass doors and windows (free from a local renovator) in front of the roller doors. It is amazing! Most storage has been thrifted or from local garage sales/market place.
I now have dedicated space for everything! Just about to finish my first portrait painted in the studio. I want to invite others to come and paint in the space as well. (anyone want a free fridge?)
I have track lighting ready to install and if I can afford it, a ceiling fan. Still a bit of organising to do- but already it is such a beautiful space to be in!

.

 

[Terri]

This looks fantastic, Bethany! How wonderful to be able to re-imagine the garage into such a lovely, well-lit studio. I wish you many years of happy creativity in there! ❤

 

[john]

Congrats Bethany! Looks great. I'm sure many great paintings will be made there.

My studio clean up is going well. I still have way too many brushes hanging around. But I realized today that I can install a drawer under my painting table to hold them. Getting them out the way will neaten things up a lot.

The other problem with my studio is the list of things I need to do before I get painting. Like cleaning up the leaves in the yard. We have big beautiful oak trees but this time of year I like them a little less.

 

[Hawkmoth]

Wow, that looks great Bethany, so much space and loads of light! Lovely!

 

[Artyczar]

Great news bethany! It looks amazing! I jealous of your smooth flooring. I wish you many happy art-making years there.

John-I'm glad things are starting to look up for you. You'll get there.

 

[laf.art]

What a gorgeous studio Bethany. I'm sure that space will fire up your creativity.
I've stopped painting cos after years of having small, medium and one decent sized studio, I now have none and for the first 2 years here I just moved everything around and although I am pretty tidy these days I found that having to get everything out every time I have an idea has just been too frustrating and sometimes I've forgotten the idea by the time I'm set up, also now my other half is working permanently from home(which I'm happy about) I can't be moving things around all the time as it is too distracting for him