20 Artists Magazine October 2019
Prime STUDIO STAPLES
I problem-solve paintings without ruining the original,
but I also can plot out design ideas easily because all of
my photos are already stored in the photo library on my
device—a modern ‘photo-file morgue.’ Other photos can
be imported via the internet.
“The app has multiple drawing and painting tools, and
every imaginable opaque or transparent color. Finally,
hundreds of projects-in-process can be filed away neatly
for later use, all within one small device.”FORCED SIMPLICITY
“To an outsider looking in, organization would be the last
thing that would come to mind when viewing my studio,”
says Iain Stewart. “I do, however, have a system in place
that allows me to make sense of what my wife, Noelle, calls
the ‘studio situation.’
“A few years ago, as my career began to get more chaotic,
I realized that I was just shuffling papers, materials, dog
beds, etc., from one part of the studio to another. The dogs
followed the beds, but everything else was disorderly.
“To address the mess, I decided to remove as much of
my storage capacity in the studio as possible, thus forcing
myself to have only the essentials within reach. What that
has meant is that my dedicated studio space now has fewer
places to stack or squirrel away the detritus.
“As I work, my studio’s level of mess rises, but before
it reaches critical mass, I have an ‘organizational day’ when
I sort and throw away things I don’t need. That day is on
the schedule now.”HAVE TOOLS AT THE READY
“There are a number of essential tools that I want to have
within arm’s reach when I paint,” says Laurin McCracken.
“Since my chosen medium—watercolor—often paints
itself and often has internal actions that can change in
minutes, I don’t want to have to take time to think about
where I put my small squares of blotting paper.
“Likewise, I use a lot of different types of masking.
I want to know where the masking fluid is and where
the drafting and X-Acto knives are. The most important
of all these tools are my brushes. I want to know where my
brushes are at all times, right down to where the No. 4 is
placed versus the No. 6.
“Therefore, I keep all of these materials in the same
places to minimize disruption and to maximize my time
and effort.”MAKING SPACE
“Storage is always a problem,” says Kathleen Conover, “so
I had my painting tables built with vertical divisions from
floor level to countertop. I can store clean paper in their
boxes, as well as my many painting ‘starts,’ vertically.
I always label the box ends, so I can see what I have and eas-
ily pull out what I need. The tabletop has an overhang for
‘toe space.’ It isn’t exactly pretty, but it sure works well.”Like Jean Grastorf, many artists fi nd a fl at fi le to be useful for studio storage
and organization.PHOTO BY JEAN GRASTORFFILED AWAY
“I find my flat file to be very helpful,” says Jean Grastorf.
“I have a drawer for tubes of watercolor paint, another for
tubes of acrylic and a drawer for brushes, among many
other things.”SET THE RECORDS STRAIGHT
“Over the last 40 years of making art, I’ve tried to keep a
record of most everything I’ve done,” says Stephen Quiller.
“It’s important to have this information for reference, for
books and articles that I write, and for collectors who want
to see my work.
“I have a photography setup in my studio with lights,
camera and a vertical flat board wrapped with black felt.
I shoot a painting, or paintings, and then insert my memory
card into my computer where I rotate and crop the paint-
ings, as needed, and place them in a permanent file. Each
year, I make backup copies to ensure permanence.
“My daughter Allison is currently archiving all of my
paintings from 1972 to the present, adding keywords
referring to the date, medium or media, and the subject
matter and/or place where each was painted.”