Art Studio Relocation
Cedar Lee February 9th, 2009
Over the past couple of years, my art studio, which I run as a home business, has gradually taken over more and more of my house.
Besides the spare room that has been officially designated as the studio, I use another large room in the back of my house for storage of inventory, supplies, drying racks and tools, as well as other parts of the house for construction and workshop space when I need a larger floor area to work. My lack of space has led to unfortunate situations like this one, where paintings and supplies are overrunning our guest bedroom:
When people come over for a studio visit, the lines between work and home are blurred out of necessity–because of my limited wall space, I have no choice but to display my paintings for customers on every wall in my house. (Which is actually not always a bad thing, because I’ve found people like seeing the art in a home setting.)
But there’s no question that my needs have outgrown the space I originally allocated for my art. I’ve been working on new paintings for the past couple of weeks, but if my progress on new artwork seems slow, here’s why. I’m made the decision to move my studio downstairs, taking over the entire basement of my house. With the gracious help of my husband (who will be moving his home office from the basement into my old studio) I’m fixing the place up with a fresh coat of paint and some new lighting.
Meanwhile, I’ve begun the moving process and my studio is in complete shambles!
Most of the basement is finished with a carpeted floor and old wood paneling–you know the stuff–picture any finished basement in a single family home built in this country in the 1960′s. The part of the basement that isn’t finished, which we fondly refer to as “engineering,” has a half-bathroom, which is nice–we were joking that if we installed a kitchenette down there, I’d never have to go upstairs again! “Engineering” will also be useful to me as a back storage room, and best of all, it has a shop sink! No more oil paint in the bathroom sink upstairs!!
As I eagerly await the completion of my new studio, my art supplies, tools, office equipment, and especially paintings, are stacked on every surface where we can find a bit of space.
I think the ambiance in the basement will be much more cozy, inviting, and conducive to work once the ugly walls are painted in nice bright colors. We’ve been working around the clock, patching, priming and painting, installing new outlets, switches, and light fixtures.
My new studio is going to be a huge, open area–tons of wall space for displaying art, tons of floor space for stretching canvases, working on large paintings, or taking yoga breaks in the middle of the day. I can hardly believe I’ll have so much space! It is chilly down there in the winter, and I’m thinking about getting a space heater. But I know I’ll be glad in the summer, since it is always several degrees cooler downstairs.
My only lament is the loss of natural sunlight. There are 2 small windows in the basement, and not much sun gets in. But I figure that I’ll end up painting outside quite a bit in the spring and summer anyway (I always do) and if I ever feel the need for some sun, I can always just paint upstairs in the guest room, which has a nice window. I’m hoping it won’t affect me all that much, since, nocturnal creature that I am, I work a lot at night anyway.
Please forgive me if I seem preoccupied or absent for a little while–I’m trying to get some work done in between everything else, but as you can imagine, everything seems to take longer while I am temporarily displaced. Wish me luck for the transition!
Hi Cedar, boy does this sound/look familiar! I seem to have outgrown my studio space as well, and considering it also doubles as our office for our farming business and i have to share it with our book keeper when she is here, it is less than ideal. i hope to one day purpose-build a studio that is not another room in the house but that is a long way off financially at the moment. good for you and 3 cheers for your husband, he obviously respects you and what you are doing. i wish i had the support of my husband, but he seems to think my painting is not a ‘real job’, oh well, one day he might have to concede that it is if I can make it a sustainably profitable operation. here’s hoping and also, good luck in your new space! georgia
Thank you Georgia! I also have dreams of someday having a studio that’s on my property, but in a separate outbuilding–but that’ll have to wait until after we move to our next home, whenever/wherever that might be. For now, I will take the basement!
I’m sorry to hear that your husband isn’t supportive of your work–I know this is a problem for a lot of visual artists, as well as musicians, authors, and other creative entrepreneurs. Even with the full support of our families, this is a tough business to be in. My husband’s respect and his faith in me have helped me through hard times. I know I am so lucky to have that type of encouragement from my spouse.
But, even if you don’t, it doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish your goals. Just keep your courage and your perseverance, and always remember your vision. Good luck to you, and thanks!
Hi Cedar!
You are a lucky artist to have all that available space to spread out and work! I am SOOOOO envious…. !
My workspace is only 9′x15′ but I share it with the stairs to the attic, water heater,door to garage, door to office, electrical box.There is one small window that faces east I have two stainless racks to keep supplies on, and under the stairs are two shelves for storing paintings. My supply of paintings has definitely outgrown that space ( I have over 100 framed pastels) and now are stashed in corners of the living room. Our attic is not heated /cooled so cannot store anything but empty frames there. I have a 6 foot framing table, an “H” floor easel, a large taboret(40″x32″), a drawing table, a file cabinet, a chest of drawers that is an extension of my taboret … all crammed into this space. It gets cluttered quickly. Fortunately the office has room for my desk and computer, and tall bookcase for my art book collection. I read your blog regularly… so interesting and inspiring!
Hi Julie,
Thanks so much! I enjoyed your description of your studio. Here’s something to put it in perspective for you–The studio I’m moving out of is a spare bedroom in my house, about 10′ x 14′ with 2 windows and a closet. I had it set up just how I liked it and really loved the room, but I’ve outgrown it and it was starting to get ridiculous. Luckily I also had the use of a “sunroom” (actually the shadiest room in the house) in the back of the house for storage.
My studio before that one was an even smaller room, about 8′ x 10′ with a little closet and one window. There was just enough space for my computer desk, my easel, and one small shelf with some supplies. I had no additional storage.
Before that, in our first home, I didn’t have a studio. I set up my easel (at that time, just a rickety portable metal one) in the middle of our bedroom, and my paints and canvases (cheap ones!) were piled on the floor and in cardboard boxes.
Throughout all of those transitions, I have always made art and done the best I could with both the space and the money I had available to me. Only in the past 4 years have I begun to use artist-grade materials and take professional-quality photographs of my work.
Even now, moving to a studio with much more space, it’s still not ideal…I’m trading wood floors and windows for a carpeted basement. No more natural sunlight, and I won’t be able to hear the birds outside when I’m working. But, we have to work with what we have at the moment. I see my studio situation the same way I see my artwork–there is a progression over time that happens organically if you just keep working towards your goals. If you can envision your dream studio, you’ll get it eventually, even if it takes time, and even if it happens in unexpected ways!