Winter Studio Journal, Jan. 13, Art Studio Routines

I’m logging studio days here this month, experimenting with sharing more here and less on social media.

Every artist has studio routines and these are often used as ways of entering our art. Though it doesn’t always work out, whenever possible I like to leave a piece at an easy place to enter the next day, somewhere in the middle of a process—painting, drawing, or stitching a specific part of the work.

When I get to the studio I like to tidy up and organize and then work on the piece calling to me at the moment. I usually have multiple works in progress. Last Friday I intentionally ended the day by putting the first layer on a mixed media piece on a cradled panel so I could easily jump into it this week.

I’ve found artists tend to be minimalists or maximalists in their studios. While I love visiting artist studios filled to the brim with interesting things and kind of wish I could work in that kind of environment, I find I need a more minimalist space to produce my best work.

I love to have my favorite art and reference books nearby and have this wonderful small collection of vintage nature guides from when the college library was deaccessioning some books.