Organizing the art studio

Whew! I'm getting ready for a kid's summer art camp week in Sculpture and as always, getting organized in an art studio where the tables are covered with paintings heading off for the next show-this one in Blowing Rock, NC....the cool mountains! 


Organizing any studio is a lesson in discipline. Anyone can come in and organize a place but it's up to you to keep it that way. A recent article in an issue of Cloth,Paper,Scissors has a free download on studio organization for artists and there may be some fun and useful tips in it that you did not think about!

http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/free-art-studio-organization-ideas/?a=cpe120706

As charming as this photo of a studio is (above) I am a firm believer in plastic bins (well marked) and cabinets with doors. Unused chairs simply collect stuff! You can buy shelves and cabinets ready to put together at any big box store and home supply store. As a former single mom with four children, I had to rely on part of the kitchen table and used a sheet to cover up the clutter and discourage little hands from borrowing the art supplies! In fact I have a chapter in my ebook devoted just to finding space to create and store in rental homes (a given for the single moms as some point) where there is none! 

Now, be inspired to have a clutter free area to work and see if it does not make a huge difference!

skeleton keys-where to find?

It did not take the flea market crowd long to realize that old skeleton type keys were becoming very popular with the artsy crowd!

After spending a fruitless day browsing one of the larger ones in our state of NC and finding a $2.00 key (a bargain when everyone else wanted $4-7.00 per key!) I browsed the old stand by-Ebay.

It rapidly progressed from "old" and "ephemera" to 'reproduction"! And I could not be happier!

Sunsettraders on Ebay sells these reproduction and lovely skeleton keys for a fraction of the cost. 14 keys cost me $10.00. He has 21 listed for $14.00 and so on.

In my recent art journaling class retreat where I supplied everything, these were a BIG hit! Who would not want their journal to have the symbolic "key" and all it could mean somewhere within the journal or on the cover?

Thoughts such as "Key to my Heart" or "Key to my thoughts", "Key to Happiness", etc. all come to mind!

My cover below had the $2.00 key but visit other posts in this blog and you will see the reproductions in use!

example of a cover with key

Exciting Art Journal Covers!

Art Journal cover (from beginner)

 A close up of the cover of one of the participant's journal

She did an equally beautiful job on the miniature art journal made from scratch (so to speak!)

size of miniature (2.5 x 3") journal

Another participant's duo!

Continue down to see another example!