Thursday 12 November 2009

In The Studio (Part 5)

Each month we feature artists' studios on the blog to inspire others to create their own creative space. What makes a studio? It can be a kitchen table, a spare room or a purpose built space. Sheds, garages and attics make wonderful studios.



Kerry of Penny Dog Jewellery
"I moved into a listed farmhouse in May this year and this room was designated as a craft room because it was big enough to use as a room for teaching workshops too. It's all fair though because my partner has a den which has its own staircase leading up to it where he keeps his guitars and guns! He is still jealous of my fireplace though.
I plan to open it up to allow other people to learn different crafts under the name Rothley Craft Farm on 1st November. It's ideal as if you enter the house through the front door it opens into a gallery/shop space and then into this room, which is separate from the main house. For now it is my retreat for making my resin jewellery and homewares. I love being able to print, photograph, cast, sand and store everything in one room, in our last house we had to move as I'd taken over every room except the bathroom."

Penny Dog website
Penny Dog Blog
Penny Dog Folksy
Penny Dog Etsy
Penny Dog Flickr



Illustrator and Textile artist Soozie Bee
"My workspace/studio, up until last summer was the oil shed, wood store and general home for everything we couldn’t fit in the house. Originally a pigsty, it was renovated by a good friend of ours in 2008 and was utterly transformed, from a dark damp space full of a lot of junk, into a light, airy and inspiring space where I now do my art work two days a week.

"My favourite things about my workspace are my Paul Klee Print: Two Dromedaries and a Donkey: This print was bought from IKEA and it has travelled with me from my last two houses. I love the autumnal shades and colours and the striking use of bold shapes. I just LOVE this picture. They are just ‘my colours’. My three inspiraton/mood boards: I got the idea for these from my sister, and I generally use them for current projects, ideas development and just storing bits of things I find interesting and useful for my work. My chocolate brown sofa bed: I know this sounds a bit of a contradiction for a workspace but this piece of furniture was a must for me, being a bit of a comfort loving girl. We bought this so I had somewhere comfortable to sit and sketch, because sometimes sitting at a desk can be a bit too regimented and stuffy! You can find me, more often than not, curled up here with my fleecy blanket and my dog, enjoying the tranquility of my workspace. Plus we have the added benefit that it also doubles up as an extra bed so we can use this room as a functional space when we have guests to stay.
My HUGE storage cupboard: We bought this on ebay last year from a guy in Leicester. We live in an 200 year old cottage so have a love of antique/old furniture that has a bit of history about it. Stupidly when we bought the cupboard, I didn’t think about measurements, (I just fell in love with it and assumed it would fit!!) and when we eventually got it home it was just a little too tall for the studio! So, we had to make a few modifications and it now fits in rather snugly into the studio. It houses all of my materials, paints, inks, crayons, threads, buttons etc, my art and craft books and my ever increasing array of sketchbooks.
My I-pod docking station and radio: I love listening to music when I am working so I had to make sure that this was top priority, whatever mood I’m in, there’s always something good to listen or sing along to.
The light: When the studio was just the plain old shed at the top of the garden it was really dark due to the solid wooden doors. When we had the renovations done we decided to go for light oak French doors so, even though it is north facing, the light pours in, making it a great place to work.

"Location, Location, Location: yes, its at the top of the garden, so not far to travel, and the view down the garden and across the fields in the distance makes it a great place to work. I just wish I got to spend more time in there! Under floor heating: A last minute, and rather luxurious addition to the studio, but I’m so pleased that we did it. Its comfortable all year round, and the feeling of warm tiles under your feet… mmmmm!

"I’m very lucky to have this space at the top of my garden and I just love spending as much time in there as I can".



Soozie Bee Folksy
Soozie Bee Etsy
Soozie Bee Blog

4 comments:

  1. Oooooh exciting! I love being nosey! I have taken some photographs today of my fairly tidy craft room. What do i have to do to be featured?

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  2. Hi. You can use the Kontactr box at the bottom of the page.

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  3. It was extremely interesting for me to read this article. Thanks for it. I like such topics and anything connected to them. I would like to read more on that blog soon.

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