As far as small spaces go, my studio is the perfect solution for holding and housing my art ‘things.’ Paintbrushes, watercolour pads, palettes, drawing implements, journaling notebooks and some other painting odds and ends like tape and masking fluid.

I have been feeling a bit unmotivated lately with painting. Sometimes the small space is discouraging especially when I want to spread out and have pieces on the go while ideas come together. I have a lot of ideas, lots of works in progress, but have felt a little bit ‘blah.’ I’ve been wanting to do some acrylics and other mediums, but there is no room in the studio, currently.

My studio is pictured here. It’s a tray. On my kitchen table. My studio has to be ready to dive in first thing in the morning, for when I get up at 4 – which is why my journals are also included in the studio ‘real estate,’ if I need to record thoughts or ideas right when I wake up. My studio is there in the evening for when I can work on a piece after the meal clean up. Packing the studio up into the tray for meals can be a bit of a pain. And when I need the space to do bookkeeping for my husbands business. So the lack of motivation sets in when I need the table for other things frequently and I just want to be able to have my projects out. There were times where I also used some space on my bedroom floor, to spread out, but since we got a puppy last summer, that isn’t an option either for the time being.

I do love my tray.. it is the perfect solution to hold it all together. And I know everything is contained. It is a great solution for ‘having the opportunity to’ (putting the positive spin on it) – move the studio to any room in the house – or deck, or patio! – when the weather is nicer. The other benefit is I can move my entire studio to my bedroom closet when it must be completely out of the way.

There was a time – years in fact, where I just didn’t do art because I didn’t ‘allow’ myself that space and that time to do something for me. But it’s who I really am, so obviously the only solution was to make no more excuses and just do it. So for that reason, I love my studio in a tray. It signifies that I stopped letting hurdles – like no ‘designated’ space in my house, stop me from pursuing something that brings me joy. So, even though some days I feel Blah and not motivated, I know that will pass. So I keep working and just paint something.

Sending Love,

Devon