The Entire Studio Tour...sort of.

April on my facebook page asked me about the rest of my studio space..so here goes. I've never set out to join the "loveliest space to create" circuit, but rather a fully functional space of about 300 square feet in my house. We live in San Diego, CA. IN it. (That is a major metropolitan area, Seth.) So there is no champagne real-estate to be had on my beer budget.

Starting by standing in the doorway here, from the left is where I keep my rubber stamps (rapidly growing dust). Small canvases are in the corner on the floor. Travel across the photo and see my studio partner's area, my paints up on the wall (more paint on the floor) and my laser printer. My mediums are stuffed in between the paint and the printer. My husband graciously built me the desk to suit and we had glass cut to size for the top. What's missing from this image is the wall...it is completely covered with paintings on canvas which I can't show. (That's getting old...I know.)

To save space, we built a small table out of scrap wood to hold my large-format printer, it slides under the desk when not in use. My trusty mac is on the desk, with my inspiration images on the wall above it. We took the rod out of the closet and installed more shelving to hold various buckets of shit that are left over from my card-making days (Kate has fun in there), an IKEA chest of drawers holds more stuff, including my papers. (This was not a good purchase as the chest is cheap and the drawers all sag under the weight of my treasures.) Finally, my convertible easel is where I spend more of my painting time- it turns into a table if I need to work flat...now THAT was a smart purchase.

My papers? Nothing fancy. They are cut to fit (stuff) into ziploc bags. When I need paper, I grab a bag and see what I get. I've got one drawer of paper.. The happiest time of my life was when I stopped buying every new product and using every coupon... I've found my art passion and can survive on a few basics now instead of needing a second house. Hope you had a nice tour...don't slam the non-door on your way out. xx

PS- writing on images inspired by Garance Dore. I have a total crush on her and will be working with my wacom tablet more. I hope. 

Daily Decay v2.0

Happy Fun Time Cookies...

Consumed (in part) yesterday; 1:42pm pacific

(Note: I am not trying to become a cooking blog or restaurant review blog...just find a shortbread recipe, melt chocolate and dip them in. Delicious. I used Martha's recipe.)

Where Julie Creates....

Live shot: Friday, February 17, 9:54am Pacific

Teach Art to Your Children v 2.6

iPhone photo

Girls are coming to art class now asking me about supplies and listening to my every word and watching each demonstration intently..it's very exciting! This week, focus not only on the technical aspects of the lesson, but the delivery..here's what happened:

My plan was to teach the students how to make watercolor skins which we will cut out next week (once they dry) and affix to an underwater seascape that we painted yesterday. The skin process is a little complicated, in fact, my partner and I teach it to adults in our online workshop series, but I simplified the process for the 6 year olds and they were eager participants.

We swirled and mixed artist grade acrylics onto a non-porous surface. I will cover that mixture with medium once it is dry, and when THAT dries, we will have a plastic "skin" to work with.. the students will cut the skin into fish shapes.

Today we paintined the seascapes. Instead of looking up fancy seascapes online to show them, I grabbed a Disney "Arial" book and low and behold, underwater seascapes. The students painted seaweed floating in the current, learned perspective and blended beautiful underwater backgrounds.

Get those books out- Spiderman, Princesses...whatever.. study the illustrations with your child and help them understand why some items are smaller (because they are far away) and some are larger (in the foreground). Also notice the colors. Plants are not only "Green"..they have many shades of green and probably some blue and brown. Your kids will eat this up when they notice it in their story books!

So you don't want to take time to make skins...that's ok. The lesson will be in the painting. They can easily embellish their paintings with stickers. Don't have fancy paints? That's ok too! Pick up a set of student grade acrylics at the craft store (use a coupon). They are better than craft paint.

Try it! I'd love to hear from you..let me know what you are creating with your kids.