My art studio, converted from an old shed.
I got my first real studio while studying painting in art school, something given to students in their final year. It was an old building in Laguna Canyon, quaint in size but large enough to fit the senior class of fifteen or so students. Prior to this I usually painted in a small corner of my home, and the quiet hum of artists all trying to figure it out was a welcomed change.
After graduating, I worked my way through a number of canyon spaces that were rustic but romantic in a California way, like an outdoor storage room and a series of garages that had likely been around since Laguna’s hippie artist colony days. Years later in Nashville, I found myself in an extra bedroom, community shared studios, and then a converted mill building. This was the first place I shared with the public, through both studio visits and a curatorial project exhibiting the work of artists I knew. That studio, I was most sad to leave of all.
Three years ago, I departed Nashville for New Jersey. I moved to my family’s home in a rural part of the state near the coast, and a forgotten shed building caught my eye as a potential studio. It was overgrown with plants and filled to the ceiling with the things that tend to accumulate in sheds. I spent a few months removing debris, replacing rotting walls and floors, and adding new windows and a door along with insulation. The end result was somewhat rough but suiting for my needs which revolve around good natural light and a quiet atmosphere.
Funnily enough, as I write this I have just a few days left of working in this studio before I move to the next one. If you’ve seen my paintings and prints in the past few years, it most likely happened here. I love thinking about all of the different ideas that were turned into woodblock prints and canvas paintings in this space, along with the hundreds of minutes I spent meditating while lying on the blue painted floor. With that, I welcome you to my studio.
