How I Paint From Home Without A Studio
Hey friends, welcome to my studio! (And by studio I mean my kitchen table that magically transforms into my “studio” while my three children nap upstairs…)
If you were here in real life, I would make you a steamy cup of coffee (or tea if that’s your jam), so instead go ahead and grab your favourite yummy beverage of choice and settle in for this little down-to-earth tour (plus a couple tips on how to make painting from home work for you).
HOW IT STARTED…
The way I have my “studio” set up now was born from a necessity to create after we had our first baby. You see, I originally had a little studio downtown in a local art gallery that was truthfully quite dark (but it was my first step into the art world as a real life artist and I loved it to bits). But soon after my husband and I found out we were expecting our first baby, I knew that realistically it didn’t make sense to continue renting a studio that wouldn’t get much use. So I packed my art supplies up, said a little goodbye, and forgot about my paints as we prepared for our newest little adventure.
Fast forward a few months later….
Here I was, a new mama settling into a new routine at home, and realizing something was missing - ART. I missed it dearly and I knew it was time to dig out those old brushes again. And that’s when my journey to creating my kitchen-studio began.
Tip #1: Have your art supplies within reach
This is my first advice to anyone trying to paint at home (or draw, or sew, or knit, or scrapbook… you get it). You’re never going to paint if you have to dig your brushes and canvases out of the back of your closet every time - take it from someone who knows. I found I needed my art supplies to be accessible so that when I had time to paint, I could easily grab them and get started without spending 20 minutes locating them. For me, that meant keeping them near our kitchen table because that is where I would be doing the majority of painting. I was able to clear out some dishes that I rarely used from a beautiful hutch passed down from my husband’s grandmother; it was the perfect place to keep my paints and brushes nearby while also keeping them safely out of the squishy hands of my curious six month old.
Tip #2: Make your setup as easy as possible
With sometimes only 30 minutes (or less) to paint, I didn’t want to waste precious time setting up only to have to put it all away right after. What saves me time is having my paints in a basket. I can quickly have all my supplies laid out in 1 minute - I lay a piece of cardstock on the table to protect it, then whip out my basket of paints, paint palette, brushes, and water jar and I’m ready to go. It’s fast, not over-complicated, and easy to clean up when I’m done.
Now my hutch (I feel like it needs a name, any suggestions?) is full of supplies for shipping, small canvases, works-in-progress, notebooks full of commission information or art notes, sketchbooks, other supplies I don’t use quite as often like varnish and pastels, and a few odds and ends. Oh, and there may be a closet upstairs that is full of art supplies as well (canvases, frames, old paintings, more shipping supplies) but that stuff doesn’t need to be as easily accessible ;)
Create where you are
Having your art supplies nearby and easily able to be set up allows you to use every possible moment you have of your creative time, instead of wasting it trying to figure out where you are going to paint, (or where even are your paints?…). But at the end of the day, my biggest advice would be to make the space you have work. No space is perfect (okay, maybe a huge, dreamy all-white studio with huge windows and the perfect latte shop right down the block would be pretty close to perfect) but not everyone can realistically have access to a dream studio at all times. And if you only wait for the perfect conditions to paint, not much painting would get done! So I say… use the space you have, keep your supplies handy, and keep them in something (like a basket) that can easily be set up or taken down at a moments notice.
After three years of painting in my little kitchen-studio, I am so thankful that I was able to make it work and can paint beautiful things while raising my now 3(!) babies in my own home. And I mean, it may not have a coffee shop beside it but it does have a coffee maker and that is a definite perk in my books ;)
I hope this inspired you to make creating in your own home more accessible (and to show you it really doesn’t have to be that complicated!). I’d love to hear if you create at home - where do you create, and what has been your biggest help in making that successful? Let me know in the comments!
