Work in Progress August 2020

Greetings dear reader! I am sharing work in progress this week. Why? Because the painting adventures continue here at my north and east light studio in Raleigh, NC. In last week’s post, I describe that I see the difference in the shadows of my still life set up. The cast shadow is in one direction in the morning. And, it’s in the opposite direction in the afternoon. This creates a challenging problem for someone (moi) whose goal is create at least one painting a week to share with you.

First things First

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I’ll remind you that this blog offers posts about a series of paintings called “Favorite Things.” I love to draw and paint and, each week, I share a painting with you. So, if you aren’t signed up but think you might enjoy seeing a new painting and blog post periodically, please sign up here. This week I also will share my current (emphasis on current) solution to managing the moving light, progress on paintings so far and an update on other studio issues like tidiness and temperature. Are you ready? OK! Here goes!

Current Solution

To reign in the light in the studio, I draped fabric over the rafters. Initially, I only draped fabric underneath skylights. But, the sneaky light still cascades over the rafters and can be quite blinding in the morning. To manage the morning light, I draped more fabric on the rafters in between the skylights. Did this help the situation? Yes!!! Absolutely!!!

So even though my studio is starting to look like a market in Marrakech (see photo below), I am pleased with the outcome.

Work in progress process change

Now that I have the ability to see in the mornings, I have made a decision to paint one still life set up in the morning and a different set up in the afternoon. So, this week I started two paintings and worked on each every day. If I continue this plan, then I will probably take a bit longer than a week to complete a painting. But, that’s OK! I’m also learning that the studio gets quite dark later in the afternoon. So by 5pm-ish or so, I need to call it quits. This will change as the days grow shorter. In any event, I hope to show you at least one of the paintings I started in the next week or so. What’s next?

Studio Temperature

Not sure about you and your neighborhood, but it has been hot as heck here lately! I am SO grateful for the FREE air conditioning unit we got from a neighbor recently. It has been working away to keep the studio nice and cool. It’s an ancient window unit but, for instance, today it was above 90F outside. Inside? Little window unit kept me cool at 75F all day long. You can see the studio temperature gauge in the photo on the right below. Whew – thank goodness.

Tidy or not Tidy

So I am excited to share that tidiness helps me stay focused. I have minimal visual distractions in my studio. I know I know, I’m supposed to have a gazillion sketches and paintings on the wall. I’m also supposed to have paintings by artists who inspire me too. Wait…isn’t that what refrigerator magnets are for? Seriously?

In truth, I may be keeping things off the walls because Mr Studly installed and painted sheet rock only a few months ago. And the walls are just so smooth and beautiful. Or maybe I need less visual clutter than I used to? Who knows! All I can tell you is that my studio is pretty tidy, extremely functional and basic. I have shelving for supplies, a taboret for paints, a still life set up stand, an easel (ok two easels), one of those nifty red trash cans to safely dispose of used rags, a rubber mat to stand on the concrete floors and that’s it. There are no chairs, no WiFi and, therefore, no excuses to avoid work.

Maybe someday I’ll have paint covered floors like the Pollock-Krasner studio, but for now my eyes are enjoying the simple and tidy environment of our single car garage turned studio.

What About Your Work in Progress

How about you? What changes have you made to your work space or routine to improve your situation? Or have you had to re-arrange something in your workspace to help you be more productive? And, how do you manage clutter? Does it help you feel settled in your workspace to have some friendly clutter? Or do you need a clean and spare work area? Do share your ideas about your workspace or studio in the comments below. Thank you!