studio

“You need a room with no view so imagination can meet memory in the dark.” - Annie Dillard

Cynthia Tinapple recently put up a page on her studio renovations. Her observations on her personal preferences in locating a creative space made me wonder about mine. I have a lovely large bright yet windowless studio in the basement of our current home. It’s not my forever studio though, because this is not our forever home. Eventually when my husband retires, we would like to move to a house with less upkeep. It’s not something that is destined to happen very soon, but it’s fun to think about what I would like in my ideal studio.

Studio design and location is a topic that really interests me. It’s one of the main reasons I started doing the Studio Snapshot series. I had written a post (lost in the great “poof” of server crashes at my old webhost) talking about the way your worktable faces. I prefer a table that faces out into the room with storage for supplies and tools next to and behind me. All three of the studios I have worked in have been in the basement. (You can see loads of photos of all three of the studios I’ve had so far on Flickr)

Reading Cynthia’s comments about feeling most at home in a studio right off the busy area of the house made me think instantly (and surprisingly) “I’d hate that!”. Whether it’s because it is what I have grown accustomed to, or because I like the solitude, I really need my studio to be a space apart. Sure, I love inviting friends in for some creative play, but I can’t really work in the company of others. I need the distractions to be of my own making, background music or audiobooks are fine, people popping in or breezing by all the time are too disruptive.

I have also begun to suspect that I don’t necessarily need a big picture window or tons of natural light. Thanks to the suggestion of a friend, I installed full spectrum lighting in my current studio. The difference it makes is palpable.

Artist name: Patti Kimle

Location: Iowa

Website:

Kimle Designs

Precious Text

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!

(ok, I really should be packing, but I am procrastinating)

I was listening to the CraftCast interview with Dayle Doroshow today, and I was struck by something. Dayle said that after talking to artists in various disciplines, she discovered that one of the things we all seem to have in common is a sorting activity. Sorting activities are often how artists begin their work. It struck a chord with me. I’ve just started reading Twyla Tharp’s book The Creative Habit, and she talks about the importance of establishing routine and a beginning ritual to put you in the right frame of mind. When I first read that, I couldn’t imagine what I currently do or could start doing that would be an appropriate creative starting ritual.

Listening to Dayle’s interview today, I realized I already have a creative ritual, and it could be described as sorting. Lately when I am ready to start a new project, I start by cleaning up my studio. Cleaning as a path to creativity, ironic isn’t it? Sorting through my supplies and putting things in their proper place quiets my mind and starts me thinking about the possibilities. I’m not a neat freak by any means, and my studio is generally on the messy side, but I find that I need to put away the debris from the previous project before I can start the next one.

That doesn’t mean I can only work on one project at a time, or that I finish every project before moving on to the next. Often the cleaning and organizing of a previous project simply involves gathering the essential elements of together onto one of the many cafeteria trays I keep around the studio and setting it aside for the time being.

Cleaning a creative path. Sounds kind of zen, doesn’t it.

I finished 2 more color collages on Sunday.

They are quite addictive. If we weren’t heading out on vacation, I think I’d keep making them. They’ve brightened up the walls of my studio quite a bit. I did try to mix some new colors last night, but I got a phone call from a friend so I didn’t get very far. Life just has a way of getting in the way sometimes. I’m looking forward to a week of family adventure. A break from the computer will be good for me too. I’ve got another Studio Snapshot set to post on Monday (I love the future publish feature on Wordpress!), but otherwise you won’t be hearing from me. Have a lovely week everyone.