Studio Siren Call

My studio is calling out to me. But I must look away because I pulled a damn muscle yesterday. I think it was all the moving of heavy things and cleaning of storage closets that did me in. On Sunday I gave my little studio space a total overhaul. I was there for ten hours and every single square inch is organized, clean and pretty now. Wanna see?


I really wanted my sofa/coffee table to be a part of my "painting station" as I call it. Actually I call it my joojoo, cuz this area has the best energy, and I wanted it to have even better flow. I like to paint several pieces at once, in various stages of progression, so I need:

1. Easel in great light to hold large pieces.
2. Central paint mixing station that doesn't feel cramped.
3. Bench for laying pieces on, or propping up pieces on the floor so that light hits them squarely.
4. Plenty of wall space for leaning pieces on to dry in between layers.


I have a real problem when people visit my studio because I don't have an easy way to store large paintings and make them easy for people to look at. I am working on that. For the moment I have different sized pieces in different places, so they don't all hulk together. This sofa just slides away form the wall and you can look through the larger pieces easily.

I bought the sofa thinking of having an area for clients and designers to come and hang out and view paintings. Instead, its a place I hang out and sometimes sleep. So I integrated it into my favorite area, and I like it so much better.


Here I make prints in bulk, but its only the digital processing area. I write blog posts, and check email and print shipping labels. Prints are stored here, and medium sized paintings too. I had to hang Bailey, which I think is about to sell, because its my favorite one!


Now that I am processing and packing up the paintings myself, its important to me that everything be very neat! I use my kitchen to store all the supplies I need, like drills, and electric stapler and blah blah. Now all of the print cropping, signing, rolling and form-filling-out happens on the work table. The small prints are stored over there too, so its all done together. I pack up paintings here too, and because of my easily tired out neck/back muscles, I need a high work surface.

Today I am in bed though. Such a freaking bummer! I woke up at 10 am and everything, its a total lazy bones-high-on-Advil-laptop-in-bed-with-the-puppies-day.

P.S. People who follow me on instagram got to see these photos yesterday, so why aren't you stalking me like you know you want to?

Comments

  1. envy...the studio, not the pulled muscle. Nothing more motivating than seeing where creative work. Beautiful workspace

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    1. ....said the woman with the most beautiful, light filled, cozy studio ever! Wanna swap for a few days :)

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  2. It's all so pretty and inspiring. I can see how you get a lot done with such great light. Can you tell me where you bought your mixing table?

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    1. Hey, it is from Ikea. Originally I got it, form the "as is" section (its broken) when we first bought our home. But now we have a table, so I got to keep it for myself at the studio! LOVE!

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  3. I loved the sneak peak on instagram. The studio is so beautiful, a total dream space to create in. I'm in the middle of a purge and clean up of mine too. I haven't been following you very long, so you may have given a glimpse into your process before, but I was wondering what your weekly schedule is like. Do you paint everyday? Do you take on a lot of commissions? Do you set monthly goals for how many pieces you'd like to create? A lot of questions, I know :) Thanks again Michelle, you are really inspiring!

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    1. Hi Karina, Thanks for your comment. My weekly schedule varies a ton. I have a lot of appointments, because of some health issues I have, and I go to the gym a lot too. So most days I come to the studio for a few hours only. Some days I will be there all day. I ship three times a week too. I don't paint every day, but I do have another painting space at home. So late night, if I feel like it, I can paint at home and it helps me be more productive. I don't take on a lot of commissions. I used to, like seven going at one time! Now I charge a large fee to do them because they are very hard work, and I want to feel like its worth my time to do them. Now when I paint on commission, its rare, but very fun because I get to focus on it a lot more than before. I don't set monthly goals, but I do set goals when I have a lot going on at once time, like a show. Right now I have a show, a major retailer and another retailer/gallery space all wanting paintings at once. So, I have to sit down and figure out how many, and how long it will take. I get super frustrated when I am in bed and can't paint when I know there is work to do!

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    2. Thanks Michelle for the glimpse into your work life. It sounds like you have a really good schedule and some exciting projects. Can't wait to see all the new work! xx

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  4. I seriously loved this look at your studio, it is so incredible to see where you work! It really shows the scale of how large your paintings are, I had no idea they were that big! I'm shocked that you do all your own printing, that must be so time consuming! (I'm in the process of framing two prints I recieved from your store, I love them!!!) Do you mind me asking how you make prints of such large paintings, so curious about the process, I'm having a hard time getting quality scans of my small water colors?!

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    1. Hi there. Thanks for your kind comment. I scan my paintings, or rather, pay a lot of money to have them scanned. I use the largest, flat bed fanciest scanner in the city! There are lots of places to do this, also there are places that will take super high res photos and give you a disk. I haven't tried that yet, but I may.

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