Now here is my official studio. It’s a very small room, but just perfect for my needs. I needed a space to paint in oils and in encaustics. I don’t keep my finished paintings here. As soon as they are done or dry I bring them home to store. I like to keep this area very clean with just what I need on hand. Paint and easel and boards.
I keep a table by the window so that I can turn on the exhaust to pull smelly air out. I also have an air filter in here too. It’s as much for me as well as out of courtesy to my neighbors. The guy next to me is an architect. And on the other side, there is a writer. Further down the hallway is a jeweler whose work is so funky and gorgeous. There is also a massage therapist on the floor who also makes flower essences. There are some more people, but I haven’t met them all.
I don’t even have anything up on the walls. This is very unlike me. Whenever I have moved into a new place, the first thing I do is put something on the walls to claim the place as mine. Here, I just haven’t. Has something to do with not wanting any extraneous distractions when I come here.
Stacks of started paintings and blank canvases. And below, just a shot of my cooled off encaustic palette.
The building is old and used to be a hotel for “crusty fishermen just off the boats needing a place to sleep for the night”. That’s what the manager of the building told me. Her family has owned the building since the 50’s. I try not to think about what went on in my room throughout the years. I am sure the walls have some interesting stories to tell.