My New Studio Reveal!

Last December I moved into my new studio space.  It is actually the space that I was in, but now the whole thing is mine.  Luckily, I have a very handy husband and he renovated the whole thing for me. I showed you some in progress shots, and now I'm excited to show you the entire studio!

This was the space when I moved in three years ago.  It needed some work, but that north facing window sold me on the place immediately.

And this is how the space is today.

I am so happy to have my own studio.  Now that I am not all cramped up and I have a place to store my things I have gotten so much painting done in there.

This is my original still life shelf.  Now that I have the whole space, I put another on the opposite wall.  This way I can work on two paintings at once.

Please ignore the dirty paper towels.  Just keeping it real.  Painting is a messy business.  

The room is a rectangular space so we (and by we, I mean my hubs), put drying racks up along the length of the longer walls.  He made them out of pieces of molding and they work perfectly.

This is on the north facing wall in between the two windows.  I have another on the opposite wall as well as two smaller racks on either side of the still life shelf.

One of the best parts of having the space all to myself is that I now have a closet.  Artists have a lot of stuff and it is nice to finally have somewhere to keep it all organized.

I keep everything in the closet that I don't need on a regular basis, but have to keep in the studio.  On the top shelf I have supplies.  Paper towels, trash bags, cleaners, my smaller blue and white props and two bins on the top shelf.  The bottom bin has my travel supplies and you will think I am crazy but the top bin is filled with large folded plastic bags.  I saved the bags for a few years every time I bought a frame or canvas and that is what I use to cart my paintings to shows.

I also keep my french easel, my extra canvases, and my handy porter carry boxes in there.  Having all this stuff put away has made such a difference.  It is a lot easier for me to work when there is not clutter all over the place.

The hubs made this cart for me (by the way, he has a name, but is completely internet averse, so he shall forever be known as the hubs).  It is on wheels so I can move it anywhere.  The top shelf usually holds my brushes and other supplies and I keep my heavy props on the middle shelf.  I can also use the top shelf for still lives if I need a set up lower than the height of my normal shelves.  The gray box (painted the same color as the walls) acts as a tool box.

One of the few things I purchased for this new space is this cart.  It is the Winsome Wood cart and I got it on Amazon.  It too is on wheels.  I use it for storage and as a desktop as it is the perfect height for my laptop.

I've had this cart for years.  It holds my palette and paints.

This is the famous art cart from Ikea that everyone with a blog is talking about.  I got this when I was still sharing the space because it holds a lot and is on wheels so it can be moved around.  Having everything on wheels makes life so much easier.  I can use all these pieces as I need to when painting, or move it all out of the way for open houses and receptions.

I have a bulletin board on the closet door.  I keep notes for suppliers there, cards I like and notes regarding shows.  I use an index card and write the name of the show, the drop off, reception and pick up dates and the name of the painting.  Shows seem to happen all at once and this helps me stay organized.

I know it's a cliche, but I also have an inspiration board.  I keep my ribbons there as well as cards of Ganesh (remover of obstacles) and Lakshmi (goddess of prosperity).  Who could not use help from either of them, right?

This board started out as a plain cork bulletin board from the Container Store, but I wanted something a bit fancier, so the hubs had the idea to cut a piece of wood the same size as the board and attach it to the back.  He then wrapped the fabric around it and stapled it to the back the same way you would reupholster a seat cushion.  I love my bulletin board and it really makes the studio look nice.

I have one more cabinet in the studio.  I keep it under my still life shelf and this is where I keep my fabrics.  I used to have them stuffed into a bin and it is so much easier to find what I want now.  The top drawer has old hand towels.  A white hand towel that has been washed a million times is very good for cleaning the dust off of paintings.  The box on the top is a paint keeper.

I hope you enjoyed this look at my studio.  I know it was a lot, but I always like to know how people are using their workspaces, and I thought you guys might want to see what I'm doing. If you want to go back and read about the renovations, that post is here.  

I have to send out special thanks to my talented hubby.  He not only renovated the whole place for me, he also covered bulletin boards and painted boxes to match the walls even though he thinks I am nuts with that sort of thing (I am).

Thanks also to Shauna Haider of Nubbytwiglet and We Are Branch studio.  I took Shauna's Blogcademy class years ago and followed her long before that.  She wrote many posts about moving out of her house and into her first office space and it really inspired me.  Shauna made a good point that you are going to be spending a lot of time in this space, so why not make it as nice as you can.  She also wrote about panicking a bit when it came time to sign the lease.  I did the same thing, but just followed her nothing ventured, nothing gained approach.

Sources:  I'll make the list as complete as I can.  If you have any questions, leave me a comment and I'll do my best to answer.


Wall Color - Benjamin Moore Herbal Escape

All Renovating Supplies - Lowe's

Blue Art Cart - Ikea

Wood Cart - Amazon

White Cabinet - Gifted from one of my besties, but originally purchased at Wayfair.

White Art Cart - Purchased many years ago from Cheap Joe's

Bulletin Boards - The Container Store

Paint For Small Bulletin Board - Benjamin Moore Country Life

Fabric For Inspiration Board - Already in my stash, but purchased years ago from The City Quilter

Still Life Props - Ebay, Craigslist, and The Enchanted Home Shop

Easel - Bought years ago from Richeson

Desk Accessories - Poppin and The Container Store.  The business card holder is a tiny easel I picked up in Paris years ago.


Anything else you want to know, just ask.  And as always, thanks for reading!

A Visit To the Pollock-Krasner House And Study Center

I'm as far from a modern artist as you can get, but after seeing the movie Pollock years ago, I became obsessed with visiting Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner's home and studios in the Springs section of East Hampton,  Long Island.

The two artists relocated out there in 1945 and the property is now the Pollock-Krasner House And Study Center.  According to the website, Peggy Guggenheim, an early supporter of Pollock's, loaned them $2,000.00 for a downpayment, enabling them to get a $3,000.00 mortgage. Crazy when you think about what the prices are like out there now.  Five thousand dollars wouldn't get you a one week  summer rental!

I finally got myself out to see the house in person and I'm so glad that I did.  Considering it did not even have running water when they bought it, Pollock and Krasner did an amazing job of fixing it up.  The home is lovely and has been kept up beautifully by the foundation.

The front porch.  It looks like a fabulous place to take a break in the afternoon.

We toured the grounds before going into the house.  They had all this amazing scenery and never painted it.  I can't imagine not being out there everyday, but landscape painting was just not their thing.

Next, we visited the barn Pollock had converted into a studio.  I love visiting artists studios and this was no exception.

While Pollock was alive he used the barn studio.  Lee Krasner moved her studio in there after his death in 1956.  There were a ton of supplies and even Krasner's painting shoes.

And here is the famous studio floor, covered in paint from all the drips.  I would have loved to see inside the studio, but I hit a serious snag.  To preserve the floor, anyone who goes into the studio has to wear special shoes.  Unfortunately, I did not know this and I was wearing sandals.  There is NO WAY I was putting my bare feet into shoes worn on a regular basis by the general public.  If you want to know how I reacted to that news, picture Felix Unger, Jerry Seinfeld or Sheldon Cooper and you'll know exactly what I was thinking.  The security guard found this hysterical and took pity on me.  He let me take a few photos from the steps leading into the studio so I could get a few photos of the floor.

We then went into the house.  You can enter through the back door and step right into the kitchen.

Across from the kitchen is a wall with some art work on it.  One of the paintings is a copy of a Lee Krasner work that was done by artist Margaret Von Biesen for the movie.

Also hanging there is this painting by Jackson Pollock.  Gerard Weinstock, his neighbor across the street, was an attorney and Pollock asked him to draft a will, leaving his entire estate to Lee Krasner.  In exchange for his legal services, Pollock offered Weinstock his pick of several works of art and this is the one he chose.

This was the first painting to enter the museum's collection.  After Mr. Weinstock's death, his wife donated the painting to the study center.

There is a large display case in the living room showcasing papers and receipts.  I loved being able to see the paperwork and receipts relating to the sale of paintings and gallery shows.  It really gives a sense of what was going on with their art at the time.  I always wonder about things like this.  None of the people involved had any idea that this paperwork would end up in a museum one day.  I wonder what they would think about it.

Contract between Jackson Pollock and Peggy Guggenheim for Pollocks show at Art Of This Century Gallery

An invoice from The Museum Of Modern Art for one of Pollock's paintings.  They paid $3,000  for the painting from the Betty Parsons Gallery

A gallery goer at Betty Parsons clearly was not a fan of Pollock's artwork

Moving on through the house, there was a little den housing books and music as well as some art work.  It looked like a great place to sit and relax after a day of work.

A letter from Sidney Janis

There are a few rooms upstairs.  Lee Krasner painted up there before taking over the barn studio.

The drawing above of Lee Krasner was done by Igor Pantuhoff, a fellow artist with whom Krasner had an eight year relationship before meeting Pollock.  A drawing using the features of Marcia Gay Harden was done for the movie.

The front of the house.  By all accounts the relationship between Pollock and Krasner was tumultuous at best, but their home was and is a lovely, peaceful place.

A few blocks from the house is the famous Springs General Store.  It looks much the same as I imagine it did in the forties and fifties.  There is a scene in the movie where Pollock can't pay his tab at the store so he offers the owner a painting.  I was dying to ask the people working behind the counter if the story was true, but didn't want to sound like some nut from the city.  It would not surprise me though. Every once in awhile a story comes out about someone finding a painting in the attic that may or may not be a Pollock. (Update-while looking for a link for the store, I happened upon this NY Times article and the story is true!  The painting is now hanging in the Musee National d'Art Moderne in Paris.  They sell a poster of it in the general store.  Mystery solved :)

This gal was greeting everyone who came into the store

We had lunch there and I had one of the best veggie burgers that I've ever eaten.  The store is in a really  beautiful spot.  You can sit outside and eat or sit on the front porch and they have kayaks for rent to take out to the pond.

I'm not sure why all of this resonated so strongly with me, but I suspect it's because every once in awhile I fantasize about giving up my apartment and New York City and moving to a quiet area and doing nothing but painting.  I don't think I could live in a rural area as this was when Pollock and Krasner were there, but I'm fascinated by those who can make that leap to fully support their art.  

If you find yourself on the East End of Long Island, do stop in to the museum and the general store.  We had a great afternoon filled with art history, good food and beautiful scenery.  And check out the movie.  Ed Harris and Marcia Gay Harden gave amazing performances.  It's one of my favorites.


Pollock-Krasner House And Study Center
830 Springs Fireplace Road
East Hampton, NY  11937
(631) 324-4929