Friday 15th May

So I’m on my new iPhone but as yet not got my number. I’m still navigating around it but I’ll get used to it. I had forgotten how much faffing about there is when you change phones! Still, with Dylan’s help we’re getting there.

I managed to mount and cello bag my paintings for Annie in Oban this week. As I had 2 spare mounts I did 2 more watercolours. I also made 20 cards for her and painted another 24 for OCG. This was the total sum of my creativity! However, after nearly 3 weeks, I’m eventually getting somewhere in my studio clearance and feel much happier now. There is still a lot of stuff in there that needs throwing but I’m waiting until we get the skip.

I did have a mild panic the other day and got the tape measure out. The new studio is only fractionally narrower than my current one and the same length. The advantage it will have is that 2m of the 7m length is a separate storage shed so I can store all my paintings plus my framing stuff including my Morso Guillotine separately so they’re not cluttering up my studio work space.

With some creative storage I’m beginning to think that I will get everything in the new place without it being a cluttered mess.

I think I’ll be concentrating on my painting from now on in its various forms and not any “crafting” that I’ve done in the past. Tools and materials related to that don’t need to be in my studio. My tools in general don’t need to be in my studio . I’ll be looking to get them in a separate shed. I’ve been clearing materials like fabric paint and markers, glass paint, threads and driftwood stuff, batik stuff etc. Most of it came from YPO when they cleared their art storage along with student/school paint and brushes. They used to get teachers into Head Office and do art demos on a variety of subjects and had cupboards full of materials when they stopped doing them. I was asked to clear them and ended up with loads of nice stuff that I will probably never use.

The “crafting“ materials and tools take up a lot of space. When I used to do ArtFairs in the first few years we lived here my driftwood pieces were very popular, however when I stopped doing them I still had a lot of gear. I won’t get rid of everything but there’s things I will never use again.

My plan is to have 2 separate areas in my new studio. One end will be my messy end for my oil/acrylic painting and the other end will be for my drawing table and my watercolour painting with materials for both at their specific ends.

Whilst sorting the studio I was thinking about working space and painting sizes. I often see on my various socials, artists who create gigantic paintings and also the studio space they have to paint them. The cost must be phenomenal! The cost of the canvases and materials alone must be eye watering. Renting the studio spaces must cost a fortune too!

Where do they sell these behemoths? Most, if they do sell, must be to corporate buyers.

My work is on a different scale entirely. In my current studio, due to space restrictions, the largest painting I have done is my 5ft x 4ft St Ives painting. I needed to support this across 2 easels!

Working on large canvases is quite stressful and tiring, especially when you don’t have the space to move around. I’m not sure I’d want to go much bigger than this. I did have to buy 2 of the 5ft x 4ft canvases in order to get a good price, so I’ve still got the other one to use. I might have more space in the new studio but I probably wouldn’t paint bigger than that.

The other consideration is the destination. The “St Ives” painting was a commission. I’m not sure that any of my gallery’s would appreciate me arriving with giant canvases as often they don’t have the space. Transporting them is also a problem. They don’t fit in the car which means going in the motorhome.

The costs involved in painting are increasing all the time. I have noticed a marked increase in the price of canvases, especially larger ones. This has a knock on effect to my prices and my profits.

However, some subjects need a big canvas and I am ok with that. Does the studio size really matter? I actually only need 2m square to actually paint in, the rest is storage and comfort. It will however, be lovely to have a clean, bright rodent and mould free environment to work in and I’m very excited about it. It will be nice to have a bit of comfort in my workplace.