All Moved In

It’s been a little while since my last post. The craziness of the holiday season is over now, and it’s time to get back to writing.

Lately, I’ve been busy setting up my new studio at Artisan Forge Studios. (1107 Mondovi Rd., Eau Claire, WI–across from Walgreen’s on Clairemont Ave)

They put up some of my art and info on their website too, if you’d like to check that out. 

It’s easy to underestimate the amount of work it takes to move your business, equipment, and supplies, even out of a 9′ x 13′ room. But stuff had been accumulating for a while tucked neatly (sometimes) onto shelves, but once the shelves came down I realized half of it isn’t needed and it’s not coming to the new studio.

 

This is really the first time I’ve moved anything major in over 13 years. Even though it’s not a whole house move, I forgot the dynamics of moving and all the downtime involved.

My new studio room is a 12′ x 12′. It’s a little bigger than my old 9′ x 13′ studio, if you measure by the floor plan, but vertically, it’s like comparing the Wells Fargo building in Eau Claire to the Sears Tower. My old home studio just clears my head at about 6 1/2 feet, but the new studio is nearly 10 feet tall. Goliath’s head would just barely be touching the ceiling of my new studio, whereas in my old one he would look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame! I’m glad to have this extra space for storage and working on larger canvases.

Here’s a little more of the backstory on why I decided to move out in the first place.

The new studio is great, but I wanted to “tweak it a little” to make it my own. I didn’t care for the boring grey color it was painted in, so I freshened it up with two-toned off white and chocolate brown, separated by a white stripe, mimicking a chair rail. The colors are close to my business/website colors and they’re a lot brighter to reflect the light in the studio. The more light there is, the easier it is to paint and draw!

After letting the paint dry, my next step was to put up shelving. I reused some neat metal shelves with adjustable brackets from my mother-in-law’s old house (Thanks, Mom!) that are kind of like the shelves you see in department stores. Very handy.

 

Oh, actually, before that, I did reassemble my drafting table, and my palette shelf on wheels. I love this drafting table. I got it from a friend and church over 10 years ago. It’s better to work on than an easel for smaller canvases.

Got my wind up clock going again too, after sitting in our basement for 6 years. Hopefully hearing it chime on the hour will help keep me productive.

One of the walls in the studio will be reserved just for displaying new art. They will also give me a little display space outside my studio too. I’m excited to have a place to show my art publicly, meet with new clients, and people in the community.

I’ve already met some cool people. One of my studio neighbors makes bead creations, the other is a sculptor. There’s an architecture/ design firm there and a guy and gal who make really amazing custom guitar pedals featuring unique sounds you can’t get anywhere else.

I’ve prayed and dedicated this room to God, to be used to serve His Kingdom purposes and for His glory. I want to continue to do paintings that bring encouragement founded upon the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ and Biblical principles, and even more than I have. I’m looking forward to meeting people in the community, sharing ideas, collaborating on projects, teaching, and gaining inspiration from the other artists who work and exhibit here.

This morning, I finally got my shelving set up, and am officially at work. I modified this TV stand into a palette cart/ paint shelf. It’s on wheels, and just the right size to hold my palette while I paint, and all my paint below. It tool a little work to cut wood to size for the shelving and screw it in, but it’s done and the sawdust is swept off the floor.

This afternoon, I worked on a couple sketches for portrait and illustration commissions. It felt good to finally be doing art and not carpentry!

Thank you everyone for all your wonderful, encouraging comments throughout this transition. I plan on having an open house event in the not too distant future. I will keep you posted on that, and of course, you’re all invited!

Share Your Thoughts!