Working Space

I've been thinking about working space recently. I am not going to get a studio at school next year because I'm doing my Master's of Art Education, not my MFA (art teachers never get space do they!). I have not had a working space outside my home since I was an undergrad at Moore 10 years ago. I have always been able to carve out space around my home to work in, though. Once it was a whole room, once a walk-in closet, a corner of the living room, a corner of the kitchen.... it didn't matter how big the space was, just that there was A SPACE!

I own my own home now and have more space than I've ever had, for living that is. My art is spread throughout the house. The bedroom closet is storage for old art, and my sewing machine, fabrics, and fiber supplies grace a niche in the bedroom. I wake up every morning to see my bulletin board covered in works-in-progress and image ideas.

In the basement I have a set-up for screenprinting, but it's in a very raw stage. Hopefully someday I can make it a more practical work-space. Most of my actual working time is spent in the living room in my favorite chair with my workbasket and current project at hand. I like to watch TV or films on the web while I work. If I watch without keeping my hands busy I'm likely to fall asleep. However, if I can be productive while indulging my TV habit, I don't feel like such a couchpotato!

The best thing about this home-as-studio, means that my art life is symbiotic with my family life. I don't have to go away from my family to be an artist. They know the me-as-mom-and-wife as the same as me-as-artist. It allows me to be a more whole person. It also means that everything is available and around me whenever I feel the creative spirit moving. I don't have to put my ideas on hold for me to go to another space. I can just pick up what I want when I want and be creative.

If you aren't making art because you don't have the space, you're just making excuses!