Artist name: Patti Kimle
Location: Iowa
Website:
Do you have a dedicated studio/artistic space? Yes. Two years ago, we remodeled our house to convert the attached garage to more kitchen and a new dining room space. The old dining room is now my space exclusively.
Where is it located? Directly off the kitchen, so I can start dinner and keep working if I want.
Is it a large or small space? It’s about 10’x12’; although the amount of counter and cabinet cuts into the available floor space considerably.
What medium(s) do you work in? Do you have a separate area for each? Polymer and metal clay. Both take place all around the room. The work counter over the blue drawers is where I do most of the work. At the white cabinet area sits my oven, a sink, and over the drawer is my temporary benchpin for filing, etc. I torch fire the pmc there by the sink as well.
What one word would you use to describe your studio? functional
What do you think is the best feature of your studio? The door! I’m never organized when I’m working. That desk doubles as the family center and my work/business center, so it’s always piled high. And though I picked up most of the floor to take pictures, there’s usually all sorts of stuff in piles around the room. So it is wonderful, after 15 years of being in the open in some area of the house, to have a door I can close when I don’t want guests to see the mess!
What would you change if you could? I need to utilize some of the upper wall space and get some shelving in.
Describe the usual state of your work table? Chaos. At least 8 projects in various stages of satisfaction/completion laying around; plus piles of clay and molds; plastic boxes that were packed for some talk/demonstration or other and never unpacked; books or magazines; and all those doors and drawers are usually hanging open!
Does your work table face out into the room or toward the wall? Wall, but to the right of me are full glass patio doors onto the deck and our creek and woods beyond.
What’s one drawback of your studio/artistic space? I could use just a bit more square footage, but I suppose I would only clutter it up.
Do you have any studio mascots? My dog is an outdoor dog, but she spends a few hours everyday lying by the patio door keeping an eye on me. In nice weather, I open the door and talk to her through the screen.
Do you listen to music in your studio? What kind? I-tunes or other internet radio. All kinds, much Christian, sometimes 80s rock, folk, or solo piano.
What’s one quirk or unusual feature of your studio? The sink is within 8 feet of the kitchen sink on the other side of the wall, and the bar sink just beyond the door. I had the white counter/cabinets installed with the remodel. When they were done, the plumbers asked why I needed so many sinks (they also installed one in the mudroom between the new garage and dining room). I told them I had a water fetish!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Anonymous 04.14.08 at 10:13 am
Love those stacked drawers (appears to be 3 sets) under the white worktable. Did you have those custom made or did you purchase them? Where, where, where?
pat 04.16.08 at 11:52 pm
I really love peeking into these studios! I envy Patti her lovely glass doors, deck, and view.
Patti 04.21.08 at 1:01 pm
Welcome home, Libby.
I think I answered anonymous directly, but will answer again just in case.
Those drawer units were unfinished pine from the diy unfinished furniture store. They were in the bedroom furniture area and are originally intended as closet furnishings. The sales guy said they were for lingerie, etc. They are perfect height for bottles of paint and ink and such. Only drawback is they are only about 14″ deep, so there is empty space behind them because the countertop is 24″
Patti