Let me introduce you to the place where I’ve been painting for the past year: a tiny room in my basement. The small window pictured here is the only source of natural light. The carpet is red. The wallpaper is 80s. The space is cramped.
It actually looks more spacious in this picture than it has in months, because I’ve just sold a ton of artwork, then moved out almost everything that was left, to clear some more work space. Since I can’t store much finished art in here, I try to move things to the walls of my home or out to exhibits as quickly as possible.
Art studio of Cedar Lee
A quick glimpse at my bare-bones setup: you can see here that I sit straight on the floor to paint, with my paints and tools spread out all around me. I do not have shelves for my supplies, a chair, or much furniture to speak of. Sometimes I have a drying rack for finished paintings set up with 2x4s on a set of sawhorses. In this photo, the 2x4s can be seen in the left background, directly on the floor with paintings drying on them.
Art studio of Cedar Lee
Many times, I have had to move things out of the way just to move around the room, turned to put something down and bumped my elbow or knee in the cramped space, and climbed or crawled over and under paintings, blank canvases, tools and supplies. My easel moves from corner to corner to accommodate whatever paintings I’m working on at the moment.
The reason I haven’t spent much time or effort on comforts or organization in this studio is that I’ve thought of it as a temporary work space since I moved in. From Day 1, the plan has always been to build a new studio outbuilding in my back yard as soon as possible. Over the past year, I have researched, planned, gotten bids for work, saved up funds, gotten more bids, and saved up more funds.
Now, about a year and fifty-two paintings later…(I just checked my files and counted. Wow!!) I am finally at the point where the new studio is really starting to happen!
This is a picture from about this time last year, when I first chose this spot to be my future build site. As you can see, last summer, the space held a mini corn field and lots of shrubs.
Build site for new Cedar Lee art studio
This is my studio build site today:
Build site for new Cedar Lee art studio
Last week I had this gravel pad foundation installed! I bartered a painting for part of the labor, which was an amazingly feel-good, win-win transaction for both myself and my landscaper. The site is now a blank canvas ready for building. Construction starts next week. I’ll be hiring a builder to put up the structure, then I’ll finish the interior myself, as I did last time with my old back yard studio in California.
This studio is going to be so cool! I have planned out a 12′ x 16′ room full of windows–one of the corners will be made of glass to let in maximum light. There will be double French doors, clerestory windows across the front, a dramatic slanted roof, and a small overhang on one side to use as a rudimentary covered porch. I’ll have good insulation, power for lights, heating and cooling, ventilation, and a shop sink outside the building for easy cleanup.
I hope to be moved in by the fall! More updates to come.