Jen September 16th, 2008
If you haven’t been following Seth’s The Pulse, today is the day to start. All 95 participating artists are revealing "where the magic happens". And I don’t know about you but one of my absolute favourite things to do is sneak a peek into an artist’s workspace. Go now! http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/2008/09/pulse-studio-shots-1.html
Jen November 13th, 2007
I love peeking into other artist’s studios. It’s a bit like looking behind the wizard’s curtain I guess, hoping to see how the magic is created. Following Katie and Nina and Misty Mawn’s lead, here are some photos from my studio today - as it really is - uncut.
My studio is in part of what was the chicken coop, one of two joined outbuildings that are a hop, skip and a jump from the back of the house. I walk into the main part which I use as my "woodshop" complete with workbench, mitre saw, table saw and eventually will have shelves to hold larger items for assemblage. This isn’t winterized and so is very chilly at this time of the year. Still, it saves sawdust from going everywhere as well as a place to stomp off the snow.
Note the shingled wall - this is the backend of the first outbuilding which houses the motorcycle, lawnmower and all manner of flotsam and jetsam that a farm accumulates. The stairs lead to the second floor - a spectacular view down the river valley but alas gets to 1billion degrees in the summertime.
Hang a right and you enter my studio space. The view from the doorway:
To the left is my "inspiration wall" - shelving that displays things I’d like to use in my assemblage work. I like having it out in the open because frankly, I’m an "out of sight, out of mind" kinda girl. And I really really don’t need MORE stuff. heh. (says she who just went to pick up a whole whack of new goodies from a FreeCycle friend!)
Said, "inspiration wall". See? I said "as is". I didn’t even clean away the papers draped over my Thinking Chair. Below is a closer look at the shelf contents… 
… a real conglomeration of bases and vessels and appealing shapes - lots of circles - and many rusty bits.
With my back to the large windows, I’m looking at my storage wall. Ikea shelves never die they just get repurposed! My non-artist friends get rather squicked looking at these shelves because each box has various "body" parts or bone parts or feathers or rusty bits. I’m pretty sure it isn’t the rusty bits that make them look a tad green around the gills however. 
And finally, my worktable. My paints are in a wire cart to my right, the storage wall behind me, I can look over at my "stuff" to my left or out the windows that now have a lakeview (in summer I get to watch the birds play in the brush that rubs up against the building).
My table is at counter height so I can either stand, which I do often, or I have a bar chair so I can sit. It’s a simple plywood, unfussy piece that Mark The Builder made me when I had my studio in the house. I love that it’s big enough to hold multiple stages of a large project or multiple projects at any one time. In between projects I clean off my table and put away all the stuff that I’ve used. During a project I end up with about an 8 1/2 x 11 inch working space. Funny how that happens!
Hope you enjoyed the tour. I would LOVE to see your studio, please post your’s so I can pay a cyber visit. I’ll bring the lattes.
Jen September 11th, 2007
I lightened up my studio discarding, trashing, giving away works that have been cluttering up my eye space. One thing I know slows my Muse like molasses in February is visual clutter. That taken care of, a veritable plethora of new ideas jumped happily onto my worktable. I love when that happens. I’ll be posting some pictures soon. Until then consider these:
Have a good day!
Jen November 27th, 2006
My studio is finally finished. Well finished enough for me to work in at any rate! Plus I have heat too! Will modern wonders never cease?!
As a result, I’ve been working on all kinds of new and interesting pieces. Mainly assemblage but some more 2 dimensionals as well. Over the next little while I’ll be posting a bunch of new things. Here is the first:
Made up of found objects around the farm as well as a small wood box purchased from the Dollar Store. Currently this piece isn’t for sale but there will be more coming soon!
Jen June 18th, 2004
… in an effort to change my perspective, I spent the afternoon moving my studio around so I could look out my window while I work AND so that I have the computer out of my peripheral vision - that durn thing is so alluring! Maybe now I’ll actually get some art done!
