HOME ART STUDIO IDEAS

Art workplace designs are on my mind these days. I'm not hard to please. Mary Blair (above) has the essentials in this photo: adequate light and a big table to spread out on. I do wonder though, if there's some scheme that would work even better. Doing the blog about kids classrooms as adult work spaces made me wonder if there are other templates out there that might be worth trying. 

Like a kitchen for example. When you think about it, an average kitchen already resembles an art workspace. It's got a table, cabinets and drawers. Replace the stove and refrigerator with file containers and you're in business!

Of course, if you convert your kitchen to a studio where are you going to cook?  Hmmmm.

Well, how about drugstore counters? Make your basement look like a drugstore. An artist with lots of books could could work at a drugstore-type counter/desk with his books and supplies on shelves behind him.

Or diners...the ones made from old railroad cars. Each booth could be a separate desk containing a separate project. When you get tired of working on one thing you sit down at another desk and pick up what you were working on there. 

Or what about those big circular cash and wrap desks (above) that you see in stores like The Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel. Geez, they take up a lot of space, though. They're probably pricey, too.

I like the shelves you see in some stores. These shelves have concealed spotlights underneath, which use Hollywood-type lighting to show off what the store's selling. If I had a shelf like that at home I'd stack it with art supplies and works in progress.  The idea would be to sell myself on my own artwork by displaying it to myself with maximum advantage. An artist needs to have confidence that what he's done will appeal to people. Maybe you have to sell what you do to yourself before you can confidently sell it to others. 

HOME ART STUDIO IDEAS

I've been thinking about home workspaces lately and I'm wondering if kindergarten classrooms could serve as a template. That's because I remember how inspiring my kids schoolrooms used to be. All those clever mobiles and hamster cages and colorful bulletin boards...they were beautiful! I even liked the low tables...well, sort of. Seeing them made me want to nudge the kids aside and draw.

Here's a few of the ideas I've seen on the net so far. Most of them are from Reggio Emilia which is an Italian preschool of the Montessori/Waldorf sort. I have no idea if the theory behind Emilia has any merit...I just like the way some of their classrooms look.

I like their custom-made furniture. What do you think of the multiple easels combined with the long paint rack (above)? It's not a bad idea if you have more than one project going at a time.

I like some of their shelves (above), too. Also the idea of dividing the room into different work areas.

'Nice curved shelves! And I like the hanging branch and dangling...I dunno...stuff! The rest of this room (above) could be better, though.

A hanging swathe of blue cloth. Interesting!

Wow! A nice door surround!

Here's (above) an interesting supply shelf/room divider.

 Ni-i-i-i-ice!!!! It's a small bed sheet-type diorama/room light. It need only stand out from the wall a few inches, and it could be as small as 3' X 4'. Anything that would look good in silhouette could go behind it.

Here's an interesting idea for a basement studio. The rafters above are simply the exposed  floor boards supporting the room above. Only the trees and cheap old railroad ties are added. Pillars like these might be great places to display artwork in progress.

Nifty, eh?

BTW: what about my previous attraction to Julius Schulman's studio design (above)? The answer is that I like it as much I ever did. When the time comes to build my own workplace I'll commit to whatever scheme seems to fit the space I have to work with.