Now that I'm a full time artist, I spend most of my days at home. I'm a natural homebody, so you won't hear me complain about this. On the contrary, it's quite lovely. But it also means that my dining room has become my office, so I've transformed it into a space I like to spend time in. It's been completely taken over with art supplies and my favorite mint color. Here's a little peek into my studio and some of the art supplies I use every day.
It’s amazing how much can be jammed into a $16 Walmart shelf if one has the will and the wire baskets are perfect for easy display of my card designs. Half the fun is arranging and rearranging supplies and displays. The teal letter board is a fun addition to the space, but I have yet to come up with some creative sayings to add to it. And the clipboard wall is still going strong.
I’m pretty addicted to organization, and there’s nothing that makes me happier than having a place for each little item.
I rescued this little cabinet from the trash recently and DIYed it back to health. It might not be the most practical storage, but the splashes of teal feed my soul.
Most of the time I have three or four projects going at once to stave off the possibility that I might get bored. So most of the time my table looks like this…or worse. I love that it faces the window so I am constantly inspired by nature.
Every painting is a bit of an experiment, and I see it as an opportunity to improve. Even though I’m a very goal-oriented person, I’m learning to see the value in the process and even the mistakes. My self-confidence ebbs and flows as I succeed and fail with certain paintings and ideas. I try to remind myself that the process is as important as the product.
Just to keep it interesting, I rotate between watercolor, acrylic, and oil painting. I like to try new things, but I've discovered that watercolor painting is my favorite. There's something so simple and relaxing about adding soft translucent color to paper.
Here are the supplies that I found work best for me. The paint tray is an old metal tray I got from an art teacher years ago and I love how the colors have dried in creative patterns as I've pushed paint around on it over the years.
My acrylic set up is a little different. I only work with the primary colors and black and white because I find I can create more a range of colors if I mix them myself. That's part of the fun for me. I like the freedom and messiness that comes when I mix paints and I'm never too picky about cleaning off all my supplies after I finish. The paint palette and paint cup end up looking like works of art themselves.
Oil painting is new for me, and if I like pushing paint and making a mess with acrylics, this medium satisfies that desire even more. There are a lot of moving parts to oil and it's a much longer process to reaching a finished piece, but nothing matches the vibrance of oil colors.
There's always some little work in progress on the table, and some of my favorites are creating custom art for other people. It's such a privilege to capture sweet memories through my artwork.
I used to dream of having a detached studio with a walls of windows, but for now, this little space is perfect. It's a little corner for me to see and share the beauty in life that points us to our creator. Thanks for taking the tour of my happy place!
