Saturday, May 21, 2011

The Message from Your Creative Space

What does your studio tell the world about you as an artist? It doesn't really matter if anyone else ever sees it. Forget about 'the world' for now or anyone else for that matter. This is an important question to think about because if isn't a reflection of who you are and your personality, it may not be the kind of place in which you like to spend your time. Like clothing, if it doesn't suit your taste, you are never really comfortable in it. What kind of 'personality' does it have? Does it reflect who you are as an artist? If not, how can you transform the space into one that you are excited about and can't wait to enter?




Your studio is a very personal space. It should be all about you. A good way to get started is to gather photos from magazines, catalogs and the like. Don't just focus on studio or office photos. Any room can serve as inspiration. After you have a collection of them, scatter them out in front of you. Do you see a common theme or color in the group of images? Did you find you pulled almost all images of light airy and flowery rooms with white woodwork? ...earth tones and heavy furniture pieces with black accessories? ...fresh seaside blue, green, aqua coloration with shells and wicker furniture? This is a great way to pinpoint what attracts you to a particular look. Designers will sometimes have you do this to get a feel for what your tastes are.





Something else that you may consider is planning your studio around your favorite art piece. I don't mean matching the sofa to a painting type of thing, but rather determine in your own art if you tend to design in a particular color palette or style. For instance, are your designs romantic and soft, bright and bold, or rich and earthy, humorous, ethnic, textural?
Look in your closet. Is there a color scheme there that stands out?



Most people know what their favorite color is, but you may not have really given much thought to it in terms of decorating your studio, now is a great time to apply it to your decor. Don't try to decorate your studio according to the taste of someone else. You will be the one spending time there and you are the only one you need to please in this room. Unlike the rest of your house which may be shared with others, your art studio can be a total reflection of you.



Other than color and style, another great way to add your personality to your studio is to display some of your own artwork and artwork from other artists that you admire or that inspire you in your own work. I worked in a room full of artists/designers and even though we had standard cubicles, it was easy to tell who sat at each desk by the accessories they added! The desks and room itself certainly did not inspire us, but the pieces we displayed in our cubes and the things we gathered around us that were expressions of our personalities did.



Be true to who you are. Don't try to duplicate what someone else has done. Be inspired by the work of others, but then go your own way. You know you have succeeded when friends walk into your studio and express that the studio looks just as they expected it would...that it is so you. If you have clients visit or host gallery openings, clients will want and expect the studio to be an extension of the type of artist you are. After all, admiration for your creative endeavors are likely why they are there.

LINKS: Just a few sites that might interest or inspire you.

Over at Riotgeer Design Erick mentions organizing his blog as well as organizing his studio. He has a pretty good idea for a room separator in his studio to separate the dirtier area from the other area of his studio.
http://riotgeer.blogspot.com/2011/04/organizing-studio-organizing-blog.html



http://fuzzyslippersdesigns.blogspot.com/2011/04/spring-organizing-over-at-ttt.html
http://toptiptuesday.blogspot.com/


Here are some organizing tips you might find useful:
http://meganvangroll.blogspot.com/2009/07/5-tips-for-organizing-messy-studio.html


More from melstampz
http://melstampz.blogspot.com/2011/04/craft-room-pictures-organizing-distress.html

2 comments:

Marsha @ Tattered Chick said...

A wonderful post!! My creative space has finally evolved into a room I love to spend time in. I just wish it was LARGER, LOL

xxoo

Mosaic Magpie said...

My creative space says I need to take a look around and find some inspiration. We should truly have a place that we work in that speak to our heart. Great Post!
Deb