ArtistsNetwork.com 21KEEPTHEJOY
Getting organized doesn’t mean that you have to rid
your studio of everything impractical. As minimalism
guru Marie Kondo, author of The Life-Changing
Magic of Tidying Up and the Netflix original series,
Tidying Up, explains: “Discarding is not the point;
what matters is keeping those things that bring you
joy.” The following are studio staples in the eyes of
these artists, because they answer the question: What
sparks joy in your studio?My brush holders. “I have a small collection of small
cream pitchers and tumblers of very colorful Deruta
pottery from Italy,” says Laurin McCracken. “I use
them to hold brushes that I want near me when I’m
painting. Their wonderful colors and shapes greet me
every time I go to my painting board—a cheerful start
to the painting process.”My painting apron. “My painting apron is my ‘spark of
joy,’ ” says Antonio Masi. “It marks a milestone. I received
it from Cheap Joe’s as a congratulatory gift when I
became a signature member of the American Watercolor
Society, in 2009. Just putting it on puts me in a frame of
mind to paint. I wear it in my studio, at workshops and
when I’m plein air painting. I’ve adapted it with kangaroo
pockets that hold my value fi nder, 6-inch ruler, kneaded
eraser, hand mirror, iPad, sheets of paper towels and
small pieces of watercolor paper to test colors.”My stereo. “I won’t work without music,” says Z.L.
Feng. “Having a stereo in the studio to play music
definitely helps with my mood and keeps me focused.It’s also important for me to have a soothing cup of
green tea right by my easel. Taken together, the music
and tea create a relaxing atmosphere that really
pushes me forward.”My taboret. “I share a 3,300-square-foot studio space
with my artist wife, Stephanie,” says Ken Goldman.
“Studio order begins with our two large taborets that I
built for us [pictured on page 18]. We call them our
‘mother ships,’ because we leave them in place near our
main easels and use smaller rolling taborets—our
‘space shuttles’—when working on projects in other
parts of the studio. Each taboret has two separate
sliding shelves for watermedia and oils, a glass palette
on top, a third static shelf for miscellaneous media,
and wheels in case they ever need to be moved. Not
only are they indispensable, they spark so much joy,
there’s no way we’d ever consider jettisoning them.”My books. “When I’m stuck on a specifi c subject,
nothing is better than a book to change my focus
completely,” says Iain Stewart. “I’ll just grab a book
from my library and spend a few quiet minutes looking
at paintings that have nothing to do with what I’m trying
to accomplish. It’s a sort of mental yoga or meditation.”My pets. Stewart also mentioned his dogs. “There’s
something particularly peaceful about the last snuffl e
of a dog before it goes to sleep at your feet,” he says.
Jean Grastorf also referenced the joy of a studio pet.
“Lilly, my calico cat, is my best helper,” she says. “She’s
always on the drawing table off ering her encouragement.”Lilly the cat is
Jean Grastorf ’s
indispensable
“studio staple.”PHOTO BY JEAN GRASTORF