Studio Update: The Inside!

I got some more painting done this week, so I figured it was time to finally shoot some pictures of the interior of the studio. It’s not officially done yet – there are still little tasks I want to complete – but it’s pretty close! Close enough for photos, anyway…

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This is my favorite part of the whole studio – and it’s what you see when you first walk in the door. The big images are gallery wrap canvases – exactly the same as painters use – only these are a photographic image. Canvases like this are really hot right now – and I can have them made in just about any size you can imagine. More on those on another day!

The couch is over a hundred years old – I bought it last summer from a family in Point Loma – their great aunt had brought it with her from the East Coast, and it was custom made for her family in 1904. I’m totally in love with it, and at some point I plan to get it reupholstered in white Matelasse – but for now I’m enjoying the green. It’s not a color I would have chosen, but I really like it!

The one thing I don’t like is that outlet right in the middle of the wall – but you know, it’s awfully convenient at times… I’d like it better though if it was lower on the wall – like low enough for the couch to hide it? Maybe someday!

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Backing up a little, here’s a wide view – and you can see one of my skylights. The table in the foreground is also over a hundred years old. The grandfather clock was made by my grandfather, for my grandmother and as the oldest grandchild I inherited it. It needs to make a trip to a clock doctor – it’s not working right now – but if you walk by it, the chimes shimmy in it, and it’s a pretty sound.

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From this view you can see the front door – and the backside of my cute little sign. And the LCD TV where I show my work…

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Another view of the LCD TV and the fireplace – and yes, I’d love to hide those two cords… Give it time, and it’ll happen!

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And this is my work area. I designed and made the desk and the black table in the corner – they both use legs from tablelegs.com and from there it was just a matter of doing the math, to get the size and shape and mass I wanted. I had a very specific picture in my head, and couldn’t find a desk that fit – so I made my own!

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And this elegant sideboard – circa 1885, or earlier – is my favorite purchase in the past year! I actually designed the whole studio around it. It doesn’t look it in this image, but it’s absolutely massive – taller than I am, with a nice high counter perfect for wrapping up packages and doing other tasks you need a counter for. I would love to get all the clutter off it, and let it just sit there, elegant and beautiful, but the truth is I use it and work at it and it’s very functional. Some of that clutter is going away in a week or two, but it will never be just a pretty piece of furniture – it’s a working counter and storage area!

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And here’s the final corner. I can and do shoot inside – with natural light from all the windows or with studio lights. So I’ve hung a rod between two antique cloak hooks, and I’m able to hang fabric to use as a background. Right now I’ve got five different fabrics I can use, and I plan to replace them occasionally – so I have something new and fun to use!

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And finally just my desk – with some sun flair! The rest of the images in this post are so straight and documentary in feel – can you blame me for wanting to have a little fun? And the light and the colors reflect how I feel about my desk and computer. I feel like I make magic here at times – so why not shoot it the way I feel it?

So that’s the studio part of the studio! If that’s all you’re interested in you can stop reading now. But if you’re like me, and you like seeing how other people live, I have a few more images you might be interested in…

Whenever I go to a show at an art colony or anytime I’m in an artist’s loft, I’m mostly interested in the art, but I’ll admit it – I also love to see how they live. I want to see where the bed is, and what the kitchen is like. Because it’s usually not like your average house – it’s a chic loft with paint on the floor and interesting people wandering in and out, and it’s intriguing! I don’t live in a loft – it’s just an old farm house – but I do have some paint on the floor still, and interesting people do wander through occasionally…

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The bedroom…

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The bathroom, complete with the famous red clawfoot tub!

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And my tiny kitchen, which I designed and built myself. I have a dishwasher, a great toaster over, one burner, a crock pot, and a refrigerator/freezer – but no microwave. And I don’t miss it at all! And I do plan to call an electrician at some point and hide those cords too.

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And to end the tour, I’ll include this photo of my front door at sunset. If you come to visit me in the early evening, this is what it looks like!

10 Replies to “Studio Update: The Inside!”

  1. Excellent site and BEAUTIFUL photography. And I love your studio! Especially the wood ceiling and floor – and your great computer desk… All the best, Judy, Las Vegas, Nevada.

  2. Hey, this is a really cool space! I love what you’ve done with it and how you’ve made it work for you. The only thing that I wouldn’t be crazy about is having that fridge so high–how does that work for you? I have a very similar dishwasher too that I bought off a friend but I find that it never got my dishes clean and I’d have to pre-scrub (not even pre rinse) everything and run them through it several times and half the time it still wouldn’t get stuff clean. Do you notice the same thing? Maybe mine was just a cheaper model or something? Anyways, I really dig your space, especially all your beautiful antique furniture pieces and how it’s not cluttered but very airy and spacious looking even though it’s a small space. Great job!

  3. Hi Darrell, I’ve actually moved since this was originally posted – but I didn’t mind the refrigerator being that high up at all. In fact, it was actually kind of nice to have everything at eye-level, since in most refrigerators you’re looking down most of the time! The ceiling was really low in that hallway, so it looked like the refrigerator was way high up, but it really wasn’t bad at all. Oh, and just to give you an idea of the scale, the studio was just over 750 square feet, so small, but not too small… I didn’t allot much room to the kitchen, but that meant I had more room elsewhere!

  4. Hi again, thanks so much for the reply. Wow, 750 sqft is pretty big for a studio. No wonder it looks so spacious. I didn’t even realize how old this post was, I’ll have to look at your more recent posts LOL. I just found this post so inspiring, I love your sense of style! It’s in my “ideas” folder for my next place. 🙂

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