Art Studio/art room

Can you even believe it?  This is what my art room looks like?  How could I?  I grew up OCD and so was my mom.  I didn't like being OCD and prayed that I would not be any more.  Did I have to go the opposite direction?  Oh well.  Enjoying myself more in my life and learning to let go.  My mom died five months ago, and again, having health problems...my husband too...and my daughter too.  My laundry looks the same.  So, every day, I set up a schedule, see if anything will interrupt it and go from there.  I finished my art room, and only have five more loads of laundry.  After my mom died, my husband and I travelled to see his mom and mother in law from his first wife, then we had to get caught up here with so many errands and then we took one week for vacation.  So things added up.  Now, after a week on my back from pulling my back out (last year the same thing happened mmm)   I am up and vacuuming, cleaning frig, drawers in kitchen, and laundry.  My art room will always be there, but people can see it right when they come in the house,  oh well!

How did I house clean this room.  I brought everything in the middle, heaps and all:)

I went through each box slowly, had another empty box to the side, what I did not want or need, I put in the empty box.  I made an area in the room for sewing, an area for beads, I made a couple of baskets for office supplies, and for a week I bit off a bit that I COULD CHEW and did it.  Much of it got done in two days, and piddly little stuff I did later.  Under my desk that is in front of the white chair, I had a huge basket under there filled with every sort of goody from papers to small art pieces, acrylic paints, plastic easter eggs, new supplies that I bought at Hobby Lobby by Claudine Hellmuth and I put the paints in the paint box, put the easter eggs in my three dimensional box, small art pieces went on the window sills so I could see them, Claudine Hellmuth paints on my desk to try out, papers went into a huge box because I love collecting all sorts of papers and cutouts for collage.

I will post up-dated pictures of how everything looks.

Journaling and Collaging

My favorite thing to do is to journal and collage in a combined method.

I decided to do a journal called "Women's Journal" and have it just be women photos, and portraits of women combined with every technique you can think of that can make a fabulous and many layered collage.

In the following examples, you will see that I used antique music, antique french papers, rub-ons, stickers, antique photo, gesso, snow white acrylic, antique white acrylic, black marker, water soluble pastels, and velvet paper.

the water soluble pastels were melted with a quilting iron. But learn this, if you melt your water soluble pastels onto your paper, they will not be water soluble anymore. You can drag the quilting iron over and over the pastels to spread them and add another color on top and spread that color.

I used a yellow ochre, a grape purple color, blue and white.

I also rubbed the water soluble pastels on other spots of the paper so that when I applied water, it smudged just nicely.

I watched a video by "Zin". it was not a teaching video, but just a video to watch her at work. I took notes as though I was taking a class. I tried to figure out various techniques and then go to my art room to work on my own with my own supplies. I added a couple extra ideas into mine. I really like Christina Zinnia Galliher.

Studio Lighting in your Art Room

I have two windows in my art studio, small windows that are set into the wall, so my lighting is very shadowed.

Lighting is one of the most important issues when doing your art work. An easel (of some sort) is very helpful, a table top of some sort, good brushes, pencils, gesso, gel medium, stamps, inks, and bees wax. Everything else, slowly comes, the collection of papers and ephemera. But lighting, if you don't have good lighting, you just can't see what you are doing. Your work becomes shadowed, and plays a role on your eyes.

If you want a really good light, look for iridescent light fixtures. AC Moore's, Michael's, JoeAnne's sell these great lights. Places like Big Lots, Building 19, Christmas Tree Shop or various warehouses get these lights at a much cheaper price, so keep a watch. Online coupons for AC Moore's, Michael's, JoeAnne's can be found by typing in the name of the store along with .com You can also go into the stores, give them your email address and you can receive the coupons directly to you to let you know when special sales are going on. I love the 50% coupon for a regular priced item. One time, I was blessed with money, and I went in everyday and bought an item that I wanted or needed. The coupons say one coupon per customer per day and sometimes the sales go on for a week.

The type of lights that I am talking about are approximately $60-$125.00 each. The coupon would come in handy. Do remember, the bulbs for these lights are approximately $35.00 each so find a coupon to pick up an extra light bulb.

I bought my light at a warehouse, and then have a floor lamp with a regular bulb, a table top lamp plugged in and a clip on light to one of the bureaus.

Home Depot also sells artistic type of lamps and the bulbs. There are bulbs that produce a day light appearance. It is good to have various types of light in your room.

The next type of light I am going to need is the one with the magnifying lens on top (haha).

Art Studio or Art Room

I have seen many peoples art studios or "art rooms" in their homes. I think it is one of my most favorite things to do and many artists to look at one anothers studios. There is something about looking at different supplies, mediums, paints, brushes, pencils, others art work, the way others organize their art supplies.

I have to clean and re-organize my room often because I am using everything, pulling out stencils, books, different brushes and never get to put them away. The other night I got up from the couch about 10:00 with inspiration. I painted, collaged, used bees wax and my brushes are still soaking in water. Have you ever noticed the terrible smell from brushes soaking in water for weeks? Terrible and not good for the brushes. I think every artist does it at one time or another. My children, when they see my brushes are in water for long periods of time, correct me and remind me what I taught them as an art teacher. Ooops, I feel ashamed!:) Little bits of papers and glitter on the rug and when I am working, I can't find a tool.

The other night, I wanted to poke holes, couldn't find my hole punch, so I used an awl with a hammer. I got a great hole that I wanted, but could I find the awl later, when I wanted to do it again. I try to put back my supplies as soon as I am done with them, but that gets tedious also, but where did that awl go? I still have not found it. Maybe I laid it down in an open drawer.

I do this time and time again with ink. I take the cover off, use the ink and then can't find where I put the cover. My surfaces are full with papers, and works that I am completing, that I end up working out of an opened drawer from the bureau I am working on. Then I move over to the next low bureau, open my ink drawer and begin working there, matching what color inks I want to use. By the way, I use black ink, white ink and distress ink the most. Then I enjoy spraying the vintage inks that look like coffee. They are pretty light in color depending what you are spraying it on. It is walnut ink.

I have tried many ways of organizing my stamps. I would love to have them out at all times, but I do not have anymore room, so I need to keep them in a drawer, with the picture of each stamp showing, and I have them placed in themes-Valentines,hearts, Flowers, Christmas, alphabet stamps, butterfly stamps, and my favorite "dragonflies", women's heads...I do have favorite stamps like the ones with writing on them.

I have purchased cheap picture photo albums and have put the clear stamps inside the pages, but that didn't work as well as I liked because they also become fat and take up alot of room.

My paints were put away in a bottom section of a white tiered cabinet. but I couldn't see them, and now that I picked up a shelving unit on top of the bureau, I have all of the paints on the shelves and I have been using them ever since. The problem, The shelves are a bit narrow, just a bit, and the bottles of paint fall off and I have to pick them up all of the time. So one way works better than another, but not perfect. I think this will be a passion of mine, to organize my art studio every few weeks. I will get it one of these days.

My room is about 10'x12", but I have so much furniture and just don't have the heart to get rid of my window seat or my electric fireplace which gives me heat in the winter. So, I have the two bureaus in an L shape with my chair on wheels, and I can go from bureau to bureau.

I have my blow dryer plugged in at all times to dry my work. The next thing is to plug my sewing machine in so that I can easily sew my work and not have it be inconvenient. I also would love my beads to be out. Unless I get a larger studio, I don't think that is going to happen.

I feel a bit closed in, but I am working on my artwork at least three times a week where before, when my studio was another small sitting room, I just did not use the room. Now I am.

THERE IS ALWAYS TOMORROWI

I didn't finish everything I wanted to pick tonight because the kids wanted movie night with family. I love that and am so greatful.

There were some huge fern leaves out there too! I want to flatten them and frame them for gifts for Christmas. Also, there is an area up the street where alot of spearmint is growing. Spearmint Tea is delicious. Grab all of the mints you can find, dry them, and throw them into a bowl. Moths hate mints and you can put the bowl into your closet or make sachets by placing dried mints into little square pieces of cloth or muslin and tie off with a pretty bow of ribbon. Are you a stitcher. Make a little pillow, fill the pillow with the herbs, and stitch up the fourth side. You could monogram an initial on the cloth first or handstitch a design or a few french knots with embroidery thread.

Every morning, I wake to an exciting day that will be fullfilled with special events.

I love to meditate on the Lord's goodness for the day, the health and ability to get up after I had been sick most of my life (fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue and irritable syndrome). Photography, art, gardening, reading, writing, blogging, taking care of my children, calling a friend, reading a devotional, meditating on what I learned in church or bible study, watching a movie online and the list goes on, redecorating a room, painting a piece of furniture, reorganizing drawers in the kitchen. I am never board.

Creating a New Creation to the Art Room

This is one look of my art room about seven months ago. This was supposed to be a video I took showing bits and pieces of my art, my books, supplies, and where I hide them. I then changed my room where I added a another bureau, making it an "L" shape with the white bureau so that I could move my computer between both the bureaus. I have eight drawers in the white bureau, and four drawers and two cabinet spaces in my brown bureau. Guess what? Still not enough room. Perplexed how to make my furniture work, I just had my sons help me move the brown burea just a few feet away in a little bit of an alcove and voila! Space in the middle of the room for my easel and I am going to pull out my sewing machine and permanently place it on the brown bureau. I so want to sew for my collages and just won't do it if I do not pull out the machine and keep it out. I have a table easel on the white bureau, but also want a stand up easel to display my work so that I can see it often. I love having all of my tools out and don't stand "No" for an answer. I have to keep moving furniture and items until I achieve what I want. When I do, I can then work better and more creatively.

I have a small light table that is about 8 inches long and five inches wide. I have my bees wax melter, a wood burner, glue gun, heating tool, stamps, inks, chipboard, papers, glitters, glues, mediums, acrylic paints, goache, water color paints, christmas items, ephemera, large surfaces to do collage on, fabric books, canvas boards, journals, rubons, charcoal, pencils, brushes, chaulk, cutting board, markers, pastels, tissue papers, antique papers and books, french papers, carving tools, felting tools, stencils, books, magazines....can you relate???????????????

I am intending to make a chart of where my supplies are, and I am going to stencil numbers on the drawers (kind of like that french look)!

I am going to paint the brown bureau white so that everything matches.

I would have more room in my studio if I didn't have the electric fireplace and the window seat. But those are my two favorite items. It is cold in the winter and I love the look of the fake fireplace.

My window seat was created by a woman who made furniture out of different furniture pieces and knew I loved this piece when I first saw it. It had not sold over a year and she let me put it on layaway. I finally paid for it and got it in my room. It is a great little nook to sit and I can store items underneath it!

I hope to share and teach how to store and keep an art room organized in the up and coming days. Stay tuned!