I know what you must be thinking when you glanced at that title. No, it’s not what you think. I am talking about the size of your art haven, where the ‘magic happens’, your creative office: boys and girls, I am talking about your art studio. Look, here’s the deal. My family and I currently reside in a small townhouse. I love the gorgeous area, the awesome, laid back neighbors (you rock, Rick), and even my little patio that my kid says looks like the Amazon now. But, alas, I have no official studio for my art to call it’s own. Listen. My art studio struggle started out in our front bathroom downstairs. That’s right, ahaha, go ahead and get your laugh on. But here’s the thing – for a while, it was the perfect mini studio. For a bathroom, it has tons of natural light, thanks to the large window in front. Yep, thank God for blinds. For artists, natural light is like the heavens opening up and smiling down on us. Now, in my bathroom/’bout to be office/studio, there was already a large shelf in it for storage of my canvases and supplies. Score. So, I said, ‘Hey, let’s go with it’, and moved all my stuff, including my precious easel and a small book shelf for my art book collection, into my new space. And guess what? It worked nicely for a while. It was great cause I could literally lock the world out and loose myself truly in my art.
My drafting table decorated with all my art tools.
But of course, this was all before I decided to give in and buy the one think I have always wanted in my art arsenal – a drafter’s table. I had already purchased the amazing easel I had always wanted, but I needed this one last piece of ‘art’ furniture. Ya know, the easel fit perfectly by the lovely window in my new mini-studio, but the drafting table? Eh, not so much. Back to the drawing board. (hey, I’m an artist, I love to draw ) After surveying all the options I had (even the jungle patio), I knew I just had to make a little sacrifice. If this career as an artist is truly my heart’s desire, my soul’s passion, I have accepted the fact I am going to have to make sacrifices – whether it’s extra sleep, social time with friends and family, TV, Candy Crush, or simply sacrificing a small corner in my dining room. So, I did it. I moved my drafter’s table to one corner of my dining room, set up my lights, stocked my book shelf beside me with my supplies and books, and tucked my easel in the same corner. And you know what? I found my place, my art space, my art oasis. I have everything I need to create out on my table – my brushes, paints, pencils, and even my Ipod on a docking station to jam out some creativity boosting tunes. I don’t care if anyone thinks it’s tacky, it’s my space. It’s amazing how having a dedicated space can make it so easy for you to simply sit and create. It is so easy for me to walk through the door, grab a canvas, and immediately start pouring over a new piece of artwork. For me, for now, it’s perfect. I realized I don’t need a huge 1000 square foot studio space to create amazing art – just a small, perfectly set-up corner in my dining room. Maybe one day I can have that big studio in the sky, but for now, I am creating in the mini-form of that. Gotta start somewhere, right? Bottom line of this story is no, size does NOT matter. It is not about the size of the space you create art in, but the art you created in that space.
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