5 Essentials for the Home Art Studio

Every artist needs a place to call their own. Be it just and easel  in the corner or a whole room to themselves, a place to craft will lift the artist's heart and set their creativity free.

What's essential to an artist's space? Here are the 5 must haves;

1. Good lighting. Essential for creating art. Place your work area near a window or invest in a good light. Although nothing beats natural light, making sure you have access to a good craft light will give you the freedom to create day or night.

2. Place for tools. Tin cans, glass jars, anything you can store your necessities in. Watch for sales on standing tool boxes at your local hardware store. They have lots of drawers to store brushes, paints, and glue guns. A shelf or peg board would be great to keep them off you're desk and give you a bigger work area. See a peg board idea here. 

3. Storage for Creations. Whatever your medium, you'll need somewhere to stash your goods. Canvas, rocks, wood, or whatever your artist eye needs. Wooden crates, shelves, or even a nearby closet if you can spare the room, can be used to keep things organized.

4. Access to water.  Most art requires some water for the creation or the clean up. A perfect place would have a deep sink to clean brushes, pallet knives, or whatever.

5. Privacy. This one is hard in some households, but art takes concentration. If you have a place where you can block out the world for at least a few hours, you're lucky.

So what does your Art Studio have? What does it need? 

Other Art & Artist Blogs

I was surfing for some blogs about Art and it was harder than I thought it would be. I don't know if this was because there just isn't a lot of them, (that's impossible!) or if the key words just weren't there.  A lot hadn't been updated in years. :(
I wasn't looking for NYC top artists, I want to meet the everyday artist. Average folks who reach beyond everyday life to create amazing art.

After surfing around for a while here's a few good ones. Check them out!

Artists Helping Artists; is out of Australia, (gotta love that country!) and it has tons of stuff to help you become a more successful artist. I've only just touched the surface of their content but it's definitely top of my fav blog list.

Lisa Congdon's Today is going to be Awesome blog. Has some pretty impressive content covering sketching and knitting.

Gapingvoid Blog is interesting and I need more time to scope out all the articles. Most were short but entertaining.

The Empty Easel has some good articles to encourage artists to blog. Not sure it can be considered a blog.

I was over on HomeTalk (has lots of painted furniture) and found Tidbits and Wine. More of a design site, but I loved this article on color. 

Got an art blog? Post it in comments and I'll add it to Crazy Painter Art's blog roll!

Scary Part of Being an Artist

Lots of people love to create great works of art that they hide in the closet.  They take the time and passion that they put in each piece then surrender to fear. I believe this happens to every creative person. So many wonder if their art is good enough, or amateurish or just plain stupid.                                                                                                       I did. For a long time stuff just got shoved in the closet. Am I a great artist? Eh. 

But something happened at one point where I just decided not to care who would like it. I thought about Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. When they were toiling away making their crazy inventions, did they care that some people were looking down their noses thinking they were freaks? Or did they just keep going? Were they not artists of their own crafts?                                                                                                                                               Vincent Van Gogh didn't have such an easy time with his art. He was thought of as weird, maybe deranged, and died way too young. He never got to see how his art would be appreciated, yet still he painted. If I could time travel I'd go back and bring him here, to the MOMA in NYC, and show him all the people who stand in front of Starry Night taking photos and admiring the genius of his art. It would be wonderful to let him know he is loved today. That his art is loved.                     

Gifting my art helped suppress the fear. Some of the things on this blog were done as gifts. People seemed to like it and would tell me others were asking about it. I don't know if that's what made me feel braver or if, as i got older, I sort of came to a mind set that it is what it is. Some of it I love, some of it's goofy, some of it's fun. Overall, I just want to keep creating, painting, woodworking, stain,  and exploring new mediums.

I always tell my fellow artists and writers to "Let it Fly!" Send that art out into the world and stop worrying. Let those who love us love us and those who don't, don't really matter.                                                              

                                                                                      Go out and create and remember those who laughed at Van Gogh and Edison eventually came around to love them. Perhaps their souls grew a little and they learned something.                                                                                                                                                   Bottom line? All art is beautiful to someone, but you'll never find that someone in your closet. Set your art free and let it fly out into the universe. You'll be happier for it. Freedom is a wonderful thing.

Silhouette Cameo First Try

Confession; My first attempt with the Silhouette was a bust. I put the blade in upside down, couldn't get the vinyl to feed and this thing that looked so simple in all those YouTube videos was frustrating me!

So, how did I figure it out? Back to YouTube. :)

The white part of the blade with the numbers goes
"down." Move the sliders on the bar in so it can grab the vinyl to feed it. Connect  to my computer and hit send to Silhouette. I'm trying to cut, "Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History."

Fail! What now? Still not cutting. It's grinding and moving but the cuts aren't there.

Oops! Change setting to "vinyl." Try again. Still not cutting.

I change the blade setting to 2. It says set it to 1 but that's not working so I figured I'd just step it up. Maybe I just bought fat vinyl? I also made a simpler design. It cut it perfectly. I "weeded" it, which in Silhouette speak means to remove excess vinyl. I used the little tool that looks like a sharp crochet hook that I got in my Silhouette Vinyl Kit. Then I cut the transfer paper to size and put over it the vinyl. It came up nice and easy. I wasn't sure what to do with my cut out so I placed it on my Silhouette Cameo, peeled away the transfer paper slowly, making sure the vinyl stayed and done!

Lesson learned? Patience, Grasshopper, Patience. And when in doubt, look it up on YouTube!

Art, the Pinterest Addiction & Marketing

I have to confess...I'm addicted to Pinterest. I do have facebook and twitter accounts but Pinterest has pictures! And if you put art, painted furniture, mosaics, oils, acrylics....anything art in the search bar, all this beautiful and creative art pops up. I love it!

Sometimes I pin things I'd like to try, other times its to study the technique the artist used. Sometimes its just because the pictures are pretty. Pinterest is a little bulletin board on the net where things can be saved.

I have multiple boards, but my two art boards are Painted Home Furniture and Art & Painting. I have others for painting Theater sets, writing, reading, dog rescue, etc. But my art boards are the most active.

In my pinning addiction I came across several articles on How to Sell on Pinterest. Although I've never put anything for sale on Pinterest, I can click through to artist websites and people selling their art on Etsy. Most of my stuff is either special order or in a shop in Middletown, NJ called Artfully Repurposed.  If you post on Pinterest you can get a button for your browser to pin anything you're looking at, even your blog posts! Pinning your posts will bring people to your page where you can also sell your art.

I think pinning your art won't make you rich but it will get your name and art out there for more people to see and maybe buy. Or perhaps they'll pin it to their board and the people following them will pin it. And your audience grows.


Happy Painting! Happy Pinning!

Pile of Wood = Artsy Desk

It starts with a basic sketch

"Let passion fuel your purpose"

 Some wood and a hubby skilled with saws and stuff..

A compass to always find my way & sunshine for happiness. 

Transferred the pictures from the sketch to the wood. 

 Burned the pictures into the wood. It's called Pyrography. I'm not that good at it but I just went over the lines transferred to the wood. Then got out the paint and colored in the lines,

Each leg had a different flower. 

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams." 

Compass side goes to the inside (belly side?)of the desk.

Front of desk- Moon to Sun

 Stained the unpainted areas with a warm walnut then comes three coats of Polycrylic. (Sand and wipe down between coats) I used four coats on the desk top because I figure it will get the most wear.

 Sides of the desk get a heart design and carry over the leaves from the top of the desk.

Sketched, burned, painted, stained Polycrylic 

Finished Desk! 

T