I don’t WANT a break….

I’m ready to walk back in this door!  Wanting a break and needing a break are two very different things — and call for different reactions.  I’ve been out of the studio for a couple of days and I’m ready to go back, SO ready.  I’ve been reminded of how important it is to “step out” every now and then.

When I NEED a break, I rarely want one.  I never recognize the need to step away - underscore never.  My brain can become dull, my purpose cloudy, and I’ve even had times when my movements while working were physically slow.  Even then, if I NEED a break I will deny it and work an extra hour to prove it.  Crazy and that kind of crazy can lead to real burnout which I experienced.  I denied the existence of burnout too, by the way, until after I was recovering from it.  

When I WANT a break I immediately question that urge.  I love what I do and if I’d rather be somewhere else then that gives me pause.  At that point, I analyze if I’ve been pushing myself toward a medium or subject out of laziness or demand.  Sometimes I’m in a rut and I need to be jolted to make a change.  Typically, wanting to escape the studio means I need to deal with something IN the studio better.    

I didn’t want a break this time but I think it was well timed.  I’m happy with my work but I needed a mental pep talk.  I’m going to enjoy my weekend and be back in the chair on Monday morning to finish my large piece.

Space!!!!

I’ve made room to work on larger pieces and still reach what I need in a short reach, long reach, or two steps :).  Timing CAN be everything.  To my right are three heated palettes for pigmented wax medium with the vent fan above.  Directly in front of me is a griddle for clear medium.  The electric skillet is for making medium.  When I’m making medium I work from the front of this drawing table.  The white shelf unit has drawers of tools, cakes of prepared medium, oil paint, R&F encaustic paint, paper towels, razor blades, etc.  To the left of my chair is my drawing table for preparing plans and drawings.  Behind me are shelves for boards, books, raw materials (beeswax, damar resin, soy wax), frames, pans and utensils for making medium, etc.  

This should work for a while…. 

Brilliant, right?

Painting storage is a BIG DEAL for me because of the the dumb stuff I’ve done in the past.  Actually, I’ve done five dumb things — they’re named Carm, George, Noah, Smooch, and Spoon.  With cats in the studio, paintings are NEVER left in the horizontal position!

This bakers rack is working great for encaustics and caseins.  They’re protected from dust and little feet.  And I adore all ten little feet, by the way.  They’re all rescues who needed a safe home and regular groceries.  Below are George and Carm - best buds when they aren’t in mortal combat.  

The Space I’m In

As I worked yesterday I thought randomly about the space I was in and the changes I’ve made over the last few months.  My other love is animals and quite a bit of my energy is focused in that direction.  A couple of months ago, I reigned my rescue efforts in a tad so my daily studio schedule could get back on track.

In the short time since, I’ve found my flow with encaustics.  As I look around my work space, I see that I’ve pushed and shoved my tools into a messy but sensible work area!  Funny how doing it regularly is what made it happen.  I had worked with wax for a while already but couldn’t get past the awkward stage.  I’m past it now and fully in the slinging stage - I don’t have a pair of pants left that don’t have wax dripped down the right leg.

When my husband and I go on long trips he tells me I create a nest on my side of the car, surrounding myself with piles of books, needlework, dog treats, DOGS, notes, phone, chargers, bags….  Artists do the same thing in their studios.  But back to the subject….

Some of the things I’ve learned are: I love the rectangular pans sold by R&F Encaustics.  The size and shape work well on my palette.  I like having at least one R&F steel palette.  Pancake griddles work just as well but they are black and I can’t mix on them, so one silver palette is nice.  Other than that, pancake griddles are perfectly acceptable and much less expensive.  Hake brushes are the best and I prefer the better quality ones.  I’m using a lot of 1” at this time for applying pigmented wax and a 4” for applying medium.  Old, round watercolor brushes are handy as well. 

I use one pan for clean wax medium and a second pan for recycled wax medium (directly in front of the heat gun beside the thermometer).  When I complete a painting, I’m running the recycled medium through cheesecloth and then reusing it as I mix pigmented wax for my next piece.  If my clean medium has gotten dust or brush hair in it then I also pour it through a couple of layers of cheesecloth and return it to the same pan for use before adding more medium.

The pinkish round corning container has soy wax in it.  I use it to clean brushes, which I don’t do often.  Occasionally, in a pinch, I need to quickly push a color out of a brush so I’ll splash it around in soy wax and clean with a paper towel.  It won’t be perfectly clean but good enough to not alter the next color.   

The flat saucers on the griddle to the right are recycled wax.  As I scrape off color from my piece, I don’t want to return it to my pure, pigmented color containers.  I throw it in the flat saucers.  I’ll evaluate it later and if it is clean and usable, I’ll combine it with a similar color.  If not, I’ll toss it.  

Developing a process with any medium takes time - so that as I’m working, I can reach or toss and know automatically where everything is.  I want enough organization that my mind is free to focus on the creative decisions.  With encaustic, this has taken me longer than I expected!  As you can tell from the MESS, I’m still not totally there :)

Blog Week: Studios

The studio I have now is about 1000 square feet — more than I really need but it is amazing how much stuff is attached to my art making.  I’ve always kept all my supplies, bookkeeping, books, framing — everything art related — at my studio rather than my home.  It’s a much more organized way to approach both places!  This is the front room overlooking my watercolor table and my smaller casein table.

The second room is my office and encaustic area.  I have a utility sink, a small refrigerator, a microwave, and a storage cabinet for solvents, glues, cleaners, etc.

Every medium has it’s unique paraphernalia.  Watercolor is fairly simple in process but framing is space consuming (mat board, foam board, glass, frames, mat cutter…).  My encaustic area is growing daily and I’m continuing to refine the layout so I can find what I need QUICKLY.

And speaking of framing, I’ve slowly accumulated equipment over the years by purchasing from frame shops that are going out of business or upgrading.  I have a wall mounted glass/acrylic cutter, a decent mat cutter, and a shrinkwrapper (which I rarely use now).  I’ve always preferred to frame my own work so I can prepare for a show at the last minute.  And of course, it is so much more cost effective.  BUT, it takes up space!

And I love my books — I like having my art and art business books in my studio so I know exactly where to find what I need.  The lives of great artists remind me of strength and commitment - two things needed in every day life, no matter what we’re trying to accomplish in our day.  

The exterior is brighter and more cheerful now!  I’d like a porch swing and perennials around the front - maybe I’ll get to that eventually.  

My first dedicated art space was a drawing table in our guest bedroom with a cassette tape player on the dresser.  My children were young and finding an hour to paint was a miracle — heck, having a drawing table of my own was a miracle!  I quickly outgrew the bedroom and we enclosed a small porch.  My sunroom studio was probably 7’x10’.  Bright and cheerful, I adored it.  I managed to paint, frame, and store paintings in the tiny space.

When I began to flow into the dining and living rooms, I made the big decision to rent a space of my own.  For four years I rented 500 sq ft. in an old office building.  It was a huge step, financially and in terms of commitment.  I left home every morning at 7:30am and began my work day at the studio, leaving around 4:30pm.  It was a productive and exciting time in my life.  I was anxious about taking my operation “out of the house” but it was the right thing to do.

My next move was to the Meridian Arts building in Gurley, AL.  I was invited to share the building with two amazing artists — Dan Burch and Arch Pike.  We each had our private studios but we shared our daily schedules, experience, and ideas.  It was an excellent experience and I loved spending time with these two guys.  I gained more space for similar rent and learned how to share my day with other artists.  Again, I stayed about four years.

Which brings me to my current studio space.  I’m back in Huntsville and I’m enjoying my convenient location - close to home and errands are much easier to run.  My studio is also home to a family of cats who each, for different reasons, had a difficult time fitting into a traditional home.  I like it that my building serves a purpose 24 hours a day.  

The bottom line is every creative person deserves a dedicated space to make their art!  It can be as small as the corner of a bedroom — what matters is that it is a place where you feel safe to be yourself, make something that wouldn’t exist otherwise, and lose yourself in the process.  

I also feel that maturing as an artist is expressed in many ways.  Obviously our work improves and we handle our materials better with experience but I think we express our progress in other ways too.  Taking control of more of our process, keeping a productive work space, handling our business affairs professionally, sharing our knowledge along the way.  All these things and more are part of the growth process as a creative person.

Under the noisy vent

I have nice bright windows facing a busy street, where I can watch the weather change and see the occasional drug deal.  It’s a nice place to spend the day — a little drama and some clouds.  But my windows don’t open!  So, my encaustic set up is in the very back of my studio where we were able to install a vent hood.  The advantage is that by spending my day in a windowless room, I’ve broken my watercolor obsession with light.  The disadvantage is that I don’t know when a tornado is bearing down on me.  More on that another time.

I spent some time this week organizing my work area.  It takes time — years in my case — to figure out the best layout for tools.  I have to reach for things a hundred times and learn what I need before things finally fall into their natural location. I’ll figure it out about the time I go back to casein.  This is working as long as I work fairly small.  I’m sure I’ll eventually want to try larger pieces.