Monday, April 25, 2011

The Studio/Gallery


Some mornings after the coffee brews, I take a cup and go directly to the studio. My red bamboo director's chair becomes a perch from which I direct the day's activities. Early morning light streams in thru the eastern corner of the building but northern light takes up much of the day until late afternoon.

Here's the new easel which will also lie flat for watercolors or while working on those crazy ink underpaintings of mine. The painting is a new one. An island scene of early morning beneath the live oaks and palmettos.

The view toward the east/southeast side of the gallery. I saved the stereo cabinets and placed them side by side. Perfect for the music! and, as you can see, the door knobs made a great hanging space!

Below is the northwest front corner of the gallery. The other side has a huge window just like this one. The upper windows are painted over on the outside. That's a job for when I feel really confident on a tall ladder and the temperature isn't over 80 degrees!



From the gallery, there's a short hallway leading to the classroom (room to the left of the pic) The door in the back center of the hall leads to more rooms. One will be a storage for paintings/supplies. One, an office, and the others don't know what they want to become yet!

...and if you ever need a large table, here's how I made this one. Use an old sturdy wood table, mount a 3 or 4 foot wide door onto the top using L brackets to hold it to the top of the old table. This door was solid wood and very heavy! Thanks to my friends who helped with the lifting! and it's perfect for the center of the classroom! Everyone works around it, I can do framing on it, and it's perfect for underpainting those large panels!


Another great find in my building was this cabinet which I believe was used for knives at one time. The other side has pegboard for display, but as you can see, my paints fit nicely in the slotted drawers and the top is a great place for small boards. I also keep small matboard pieces here for students to use when doing exercises or warmups!

I'll be adding a ceiling fan to the classroom in a few days! Maybe a surprise for my students next week...don't tell anyone!

Until next time...keep painting!

8 comments:

  1. Wonderful photos! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all you have done to this place. I know it was very hard work. You've done a great job!

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  2. It's all so beautiful, Carly!!! ♥

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  3. How nice, Carly! What a great space!

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  4. Looks fabulous, Carly - I am envious.

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  5. Began working on those upper windows yesterday! More light coming thru already...but I'm having to get used to hanging onto a high ladder! Thinking of putting a blow up bed below on the ground...lol!

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  6. Wow!your paintings are great! I love painting too but unfortunately I wasn't given the chance to study fine arts. Will you be kind enough to help me? I do have quite a few questions... thank you!

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  7. Hi Carly,
    I pasted one of the photos of your studio onto my Pinterest board for a book I'm writing. Your moving there to paint has been very inspirational to me and I want to use that sense of following your dream in my book.
    Ann
    http://pinterest.com/pin/141581982006202540/

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    1. Ann, that's wonderful. Hope it will be an inspiration to other aspiring artists to follow their dreams!

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