Welcome to my studio! I am so lucky to have a big, beautiful, light-filled loft to work in. I'm grateful every single day for my space. The room is 24' wide and 26' long with three very large windows and 11' tall ceilings. I moved into my studio 4 years ago this week.
I write books about art quilting and surface design, I teach workshops here and develop ideas to teach all over the world. I design textiles and decor products. I print on fabric and paper, using an etching press, blocks, or screens.
Cheryl Sleboda announced a Spring Studio Tour earlier this spring on Facebook and I knew I had to join in. Thank you, Cheryl! I started off this year (on the day after Christmas actually) by tearing apart my studio to paint the walls, ceiling, and windows, and do something about the floors. When I moved in the floors were painted plywood and over the years the paint has been wearing off and the plywood has been splintering and chipping and falling apart. Yuck.
Check out a slideshow below of the "befores" of the studio. How did I stand it for so long? (click on the photo to enlarge the slideshow and see the captions)
I have a large table with drawers for cutting, I have another large table for printing and drawing. I built an "art bar" on the back of one of the tables and added some stools. It's a handy place for visitors, or for eating lunch. My little dog, Daisy, appears in a few of these photos, but there's only one of her. She just kept moving around as I was snapping pics. :)
I have a lot of closed storage in my studio because I don't like to look at clutter. These bookcases with doors really cut down on the visual chaos.
I do keep some of my prettier tools out on display. Things like the quilting hoops my husband made, and my book press which is super handy for flattening small collages.
I have a comfy chair for hand sewing, and all of the books and fabrics are close by when I need them.
I'm a sucker for any piece of furniture with drawers, the more drawers the better! The white cabinet holds a lot of small tools, and the flat files hold my beads. Just wait until you see how I've got my beads organized.
Here's another slideshow, this one showing some of the ways I organize all of the "stuff" that we artists all seem to have! (click on the photo to enlarge the slideshow and see the captions)
I built some big tables for my studio, for working and for holding classes. If you'd like to take a class with me here in Bridgeport, Connecticut, check out this page!
And a few more images from around the studio. I have to confess, I'm a fairly tidy person. When I'm working on a project the table and every other flat surface in the studio tends to get covered, but I always clean up completely between projects. It also helps that the building where I have my studio, the NEST Arts Factory, hosts six open studio events a year where the public comes to visit. So you can imagine that some mad-scrambling cleaning happens on a pretty regular basis!
There are just two more stops on the Spring Studio Tour, but make sure you check out all of the other stops on the tour for inspiration!
May 1 – Teri Lucas May 2 – Tammy Silvers May 3 – Emily Breclaw May 4 – Amalia Morusiewicz May 5 – John Kubiniec May 6 – Debby Brown May 7 – Melissa Marie Collins May 8 – Delve MIY May 9 – Misty Cole May 10 – Sam Hunter May 11 – Dale Ashera-Davis May 12 – Sara Mika May 13 – Sarah Trumpp May 14 – Carma Halterman May 15 – Jessica Darling May 16 – Lisa Chin May 17 – Sally Johnson May 18 – Mandy Leins May 19 – Shruti Dandekar May 20 – Jane Davila – you are here! May 21 – Ebony Love May 22 – Cheryl Sleboda