Episode Details

The STUDIO (for those who don’t think they have room)Let’s start with what every studio needs. Every studio needs a work table, a place for an altar, a place for supplies, a journal and a teapot at the very least. Usually the Muse also wants a plant. Oh and a hammer and nails. Hand-paint your hammer so everybody knows it is YOURS. My mother Caron was also never without a tape measure. My studio must-have is sandpaper. I also like a painting rug for where I stand. An easel is awesome but a few nails on the walls works just fine and you can have multiple canvases up at once. For all of these solutions, if you use oil or acrylic you will want painter’s drop cloth from the hardware store to protect the innocent surfaces of your home. If you live with others, this will be important for ongoing relationship.

Once the artist moves in for good, things can get a little challenging, because your priorities have literally changed. Maybe even your values, and how you like to inhabit spaces changes. In other words, pristine white couches are now an endangered species. YOU DO have options for having a studio and it is needed if one is to choose a creative life, that is oh so romantic. Sue Hoya Sellars used to say, Being an artist is so romantic. So let’s get to it. I want to tell you that the physical-ness of a studio is rad cuz you work there, but it is more than that. Even when you aren’t in your studio physically – YOU KNOW IT IS THERE and IT WORKS YOU. I hang out in my ‘studio in my mind’ all the time. 1. Guest Room: Clear the guest room that is often empty, and make your guests sleep on the couch. They will understand when they see what is happening in there, if they are lucky enough for you to show them. The bed is fine to leave, add lots of pillows and take naps there. Muses love beds. But the dresser is now a surface for painting to perch and journals to be spread out as if it is an altar. The nightstand is an altar. Sorry if you have a white rug. If you plan to live there a long time you might just choose to let the rug be a painting rug. What have you got to lose? (people who don’t paint hate this idea, but painters are so relieved)

2. Dining Room: The dining room, how often do you eat there really, put a drop cloth over the table and voila – it’s a work table. All creatives need work tables if they are serious. Move most of the chairs out to the garage or the street. You need room to MOVE all the way around the table and at times you may find yourself needing to lay right on the table. You might need to put up a curtain if you don’t have doors on it. A shower rod is a quick fix without needing to drill for a rod – honestly you could have this going today if you want!3. Bathroom: The bathroom, especially if you have two, is often so under-used unless there are two people and you both have do go number two at exactly the same moment. Poor lonely bathroom, use the shower stall as a place for a small desk or a stack of paintings. The water is right there and the toilet works just fine for a table. Plug in a teapot instead of hair drier and it is all ready for you.4. Laundry Room: The laundry room is often the last resort because there is too much coming and going. But the tops of the machines make a fine work table. It smells good in there and there is often a window. But clean clothes and paint are magnetized towards one another.

5. Bedroom: If you are single, your bedroom can work and that way you are surrounded by your creativity. Do not do this if you are in a committed relationship. Your part-time lover will think it is sexy at first, but then they will want more room for themselves. Be careful here, and don’t compromise your creative space. You can always have sex on the couch or the dining room table.

6. Garage: Finally the garage. Now I will be honest about this. Lots of people pick this one and start parking their car outside. Big move. But unless it has access to air, unless you c