Part 2 OUR CREATIVE HOME Where I am Now....Seriously, I am LOST in the Space!!

Welcome back!

In Part 1 of my series, "OUR CREATIVE HOME", I talked about the process of finding the right spot in ones home to do your creative work, and stake claim to it. For me, the best of my choices was the spare bedroom, which I then moved into, and set up as best I could. So, to continue on from my last post.....flash ahead to now.

I moved into the spare bedroom. I bought 2 tables, a HUMONGOUS storage cabinet called the Scrapbox, and tons of those plastic stacking drawers. GUESS WHAT??? I have stuff all over the floor!!!!!!! I packed all my storage containers to the hilt, and the tables I thought I would be using for work space...lol......are filled with supplies as well. See, I am a multi medium artist. I never considered this when planning out my studio space, my Creative Home. Each medium we work with obviously has all these little "sub" supplies that are also necessary. In other words, my clay work also needs storage for all my molds, tools, pans, oven, coloring agents, etc etc etc. And since I am not willing to give up any of the many things I work with, I just am going to have to find a way, and places, that make it all fit and work for me AND the rest of the family. So... the process went something like this:

First, I sat down with pen and paper, and wrote down all my different art mediums. Clay, jewelry making, Needle Felting, Paper Crafts, Gourds, Painting, Glass/Mosaics, Kiln Pottery and glass fusing, etc.

Second, I decided which are the mediums I work with the most, and thereby, which items NEEDED to be in my actual studio space, and which things HAD to be there. The ScrapBox had to remain, since it is wayyyyy too big to even think of moving. So, all paper craft related items would stay in my studio.

Third, I scoped out my house for any possible storage/work areas. An unused corner, an extra dresser storing unused items, anyplace that can be repurposed will work. I found 3 such areas, one upstairs where my studio is, and 2 downstairs.

The next step began my BIG CLEAN...the actual process...the going thru all my "stuff", reorganizing it into more appropriate storage (plastic shopping bags really do not work well!!), and tossing anything that really was just plain old junk.

Enough of my rambling for this post. In my next entry, I hope to tell you how it all turned out, and summarize all the actual tips, plus throw in a few others to help anyone else out there who finds themselves LOST in their Creative Home.

As always, thanks for reading!!!

Our Creative Home - Segment 1- Finding Your Space

Where we do our creating and expressing of ourselves is almost as important as the creative process itself. It can essentially be a part of the process.

Originally, I was going to just do one long post on this topic. I decided against that, however. I myself am in the process of re-creating my CREATIVE HOME", which I think is going to be a long process for me. So....I decided to make this into a series of posts, each one including a little about my own progress, along with tips and hints I am picking up from the magazines and online research I am actually doing about Artists Studios. In this first segment, I will start with where I started.

My current studio is in a spare bedroom of the house. Like so many of you out there, I had been working off the dining room table back a few years. When I decided I was going to open a shop, it became a mandate for me to have a specific space, someplace I could leave my work when I chose to, and come back to work on it later. At that time I had three places in our home to choose from...the unused den, the unused family room, or the "guest room". I actually chose the smallest of the three, the guest room. I had hopes for the den to become a place for the kids to hang out with their friends, do their homework, etc when they were a bit older (remember, this was in 2004). That would actually have made the best studio space, but kids come first. The den, where my husband wanted me to set up shop, is right off the garage, and one of the 2 main entries into the house. Talk about no privacy!!!!! It is also very dark, despite the 2 windows, is used for a good deal of storage, and houses the 2 litter boxes. To me, that was a no brainer to say no to.

So, the spare room won out. Altho it is the smallest space, it has a large closet, which I had envisioned turning into shelving and a work area. It also is on the main floor, so I could keep an eye on the kids. It has two windows with good light, and a door that I can close off from everyone.

So I guess the first tip in finding ones "Creative Home" is to look around your house, and decide which area makes the most sense for your needs, and stake your claim on it.

That was what I did......then. Next time I will talk about what it all looks like now, 6 years later, and how I have decided to deal with it.