“My studio has a personality of its own. It can be a monstrous clutter from one end to the other or, at times, the very model of simplicity.”
- Harley Brown
"Leaving the City" 48" x 40" work on canvas
I have been thinking of doing it for a long time now and I have finally decided this is it, I am going to have an Open Studio! YIKES! Ok, it is not really that big of a deal - or is it? I am very protective of my studio space, I think most creative people are. It is really a sacred area that has a personality of its own. However, there is nothing glamorous about where I work. I would like to tell you that I have a wonderful open space with white walls and such, endless work space and light - not so. I work in a space that was once an enclosed sleeping porch of a guest-house. It is often a “monstrous clutter from one end to the other”. It is tight, it is cramped, it is filled with everything I am sure I need to hold onto for the rest of my life! The house is on my parents property. It has worked out just fine for a number of years. I make full use of the space. I create, ship, store and manage all that I need to from this sacred little space. Leonardo da Vinci said, “An artist’s studio should be a small space because small rooms discipline the mind and large ones distract it.” Well, then, I guess I am in the right place! I count myself as being very fortunate to have the space I have to work.
After the end of the summer and the fall show season, I often think about having an open studio kind of event. Thinking about it is as far as it has ever gone - too much work, not enough space, why bother, you know all the excuses. Well, now I am actually going to do it. Yes I am. My space seems a bit tight these days and I have a lot of wonderful pieces that I would love to have find homes. There are new works as well as many hidden treasures. Works on paper, and works on canvas. I even have some posters and note cards that I did a few years back. The planning is underway and I’ve got work ahead of me - I am making my opportunity happen! I look forward to welcoming visitors! Really I do!
Colter Open Studio…
New Works & Hidden Treasures
Friday, November 27, 2009 11am - 4pm
Saturday, November 28, 2009 11am - 4pm
Please come for a visit if you are on Martha’s Vineyard for the Thanksgiving Holiday!
“Look for and make your opportunities happen; they are not going to come rushing up to your doorstep. But sometimes they’ll be looking you right in the face.”
-Harley Brown
Painting is available.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
We have “downsized” into a 2 br condo. My “Studio” houses my clothes hamper, a bookcase, file cabinets, storage unit (for sodas, bottled water, cleaning supplies, etc.) and serves as a 2nd bedroom (no bed - just a blow-up mattress) when my son visits in addition to all of my art supplies, 2 easels, a drawing table and a fold-up treadmill (which I use every morning).
The important thing to me is that when I go in there and close the door, the outside world disappears. I am in my own world of my art until I choose to rejoin the “real” world.
I believe that creativity can happen anywhere, if you let it.
Wow! I admire your bravery, Deborah! My own studio is a disaster area that I hope I can organize over the next four months while I am off the road. Only a couple of people outside of my family and artist friends have ever seen it. My studio consists of two rooms on the ground level of my townhome. One room is storage for supplies and files and the other - office and studio.
Can’t wait to hear the results of your open studio event. Also, include a photo of it on your blog. Would love to see it.
That is an interesting quote about studio size by Leonardo da Vinci, considering the huge scale of some of his monumental works.
One of the books in my personal library is “The Artist in His Studio” by Alexander Liberman. The book is a record of a celebrated artist-photographer’s visits to the studios of many of the great painters and sculptors who lived in France during the twentieth century.
Also- an interesting website with photos of artists’ studios…
http://painting.about.com/od/artsupplies/ig/Photos-Artist-Studios/