My Studio Area

I teased the other day that I would post about my new shelves once I put them up (with the help of David for the top one!) I bought shelving brackets at Home Depot. The three sets of shelving brackets and all of the screws cost about $12. I had thought of getting wood cut to use as the shelf part (since I couldn't find anything already cut to fit the awkward space) when the idea of using old hardcover book covers as shelves came into my mind. A quick trip to pinterest shows that I'm not the first one to think of it but I was happy to discover that they work!

This is my "studio" area (a.k.a., my corner of the living room of our tiny apartment.) This is what you see as soon as you walk into my home.

From left to right:

Hanging on the wall in the small wooden boxes are a handful of some of the small toys and figures that I've collected over the years. There is also artwork from Tristan (hand "flowers") from when he was very little.

My stamp cabinet full of most (but not all) of my rubber stamps. In the containers at the bottom are my alphabet and number rubber  stamp sets. I want to get two more long, black jewelry boxes (good for storing alphabet sets) for this shelf. On the top of the cabinet are some of my old tax receipts. On the bottom shelves are books about journaling and garden/flower books to cut up (you can't see them in this photo but there are two more shelves below where these books are stashed.)

In the space between the stamp cabinet and the bookshelf are the three new shelves. On the top shelf is my deco (decorative plastic) tape. I downsized and just put a whole bunch of new tape into my class bags. (My students will be VERY happy!) The next shelf holds some tins with rubber stamps, more tape and ink pads. The bottom shelf holds my Anaïs Nin diary books (except volume one which is on a shelf next to my bed. I forgot to put it back on the shelf.) I want to collect her journals in hardcover (I have two already) and I may get rid of the paperbacks when I have all of them. They're not in the best condition but I have fond memories of picking them up at the Bodhi Tree in Los Angeles many, many moons ago (especially since that bookstore is now gone.) 

Below the shelves (out of sight in the photo) from bottom to top is an old sewing machine case full of collage ephemera, a box full of Juliana Coles' artwork (I rotate her artwork and have some out, some away) and instructional books from her classes, a bag full of folded handmade/decorative papers (for classes and for me) and a stuffed animal. Any time I buy handmade/decorative paper, I fold the paper into quarters. I'll cut off a section to use now and then fold up the rest and put it away for later. It works great for me (you can see the basket of paper in the photos. The stuffed bear is sitting on top of it.)

The bookcase holds some of my book collection. I tend to put my favorite books in this case as much as possible (but it still doesn't hold all of them.) The top shelf holds some of my James Jean, Corita Kent, Mary Blair, Frida Kahlo and books on Surrealism. The next shelf holds a lot of unusual and independently published books, my Lynda Barry collection, Dave McKean travel sketchbooks, etc... The third shelf holds my Barron Storey books, etc... I love my books!

I love looking at other people's studios and seeing where they create. I hope to share more with you when I can!

Some of my Favorite Artists' Studios:
Barron Storey
Frida Kahlo
Corita Kent
Mary Blair
Vincent Van Gogh
Andre Breton
Juliana Coles