Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A New Studio

I'm finally moved into my new, tiny condo. I really like how it's turned, including my postcard collection: 

The print on the top right that says 'People Are Allowed Not to Like It' is one of my favourite pieces. I'm going to get it framed whenever I move somewhere with a bit more wall space. I love it after going to art school, where we had to very snobbily condemn such mundane vocabulary. We only used 'succesful' or 'unsuccesful', never 'good' or 'bad', and 'like' was reserved for the uncultured and uneducated, how dare they.  Though, one should note that this does not apply to the food, as I also have a postcard that says 'Make Your Own Damn Dinner'.

My studio now consists of the eat-in nook (ledge, to be more accurate) in the kitchen, and the cupboard underneath it:

That's the cleaned up and organized version. You don't even want to know what's in my storage room. There will be no painting while I live here, only nice, flat, easily stored drawings and prints. I've got a big roll of newsprint, and I'm going to spend a lot of time simply working on some drafting skills. Here's my first little drawing. It has actually turned out very well, despite the fact that I can't find a pencil sharpner. I'm a little disappointed it isn't on better paper, in fact. Why can't I ever find a pencil sharpner? I do have about 30 pencils, however, so I'll simply go through them instead.


  1. Ah, I had similar "snobby" problems when I went to art school. I was actively discouraged from "liking" any of the art that I did like - why? because it was out of fashion - it wasn't abstract /avant garde / trendy, so it was obviously "not good art". I liked the Pre-Raphaelites' dreamy and romanticised style, but lacked the vocabulary and knowledge to explain what / why I liked it. They didn't take trouble to help me, but just heaped opprobrium and sarcasm on my head and told me off. I saw no point in the stuff I was "supposed to appreciate" - Rothko etc - (in fact I still dislike Rothko anyway, even now that I have more understanding of modern art/artists, abstraction etc.) It was so discouraging and downright unhelpful - well done you for sticking to your art in spite of the snobbishness.
    Cute "studio" space! I used to share my workspace with the fridge, freezer, washing machine, dryer, laundry pile, ironing basket etc. I had a work-top area about 2ft by 3ft (when tidy) and some shelves; so I sympathise with you - it is hard to produce much in a tiny space, though a painter friend used to manage quite large canvasses in her bed-sit!
    Quite a nice attempt at the drawing, though I agree that better paper would have helped the end result. Perhaps you could do it again, on better paper, once you find that sharpener!
    Good luck with your new little home and I hope you'll be happy there.

  2. Thanks Lizzie! I'm glad I'm not the only one who was annoyed with art school. I may redo the drawing, but I think I'm going to aim for about three or four studies a week, so I think I'll just keep them on the cheap stuff, since they're really only for practise anyway. Eventually maybe I'll get some watercolour paper and do some ink ones, and see if they sell.