Creating a Workspace

As I began painting, my art studio was quite literally my back deck. The issue with that is the paint I use will not come out of wood, as I am an oil painter, and the types of oils used in oil paintings are the same ones that you can use to naturally stain and preserve wood, meaning, once the pigment is in the wood, it is not coming out. Considering I still live with my father… well, let’s just say he was none too pleased about the paint all over.

But with every problem comes a solution, thus I started laying down a tarp. Since it’s summer, this is a temporary fix and must I say, it’s a fix my father and I can agree on, yet it does have its own problems, especially since I live in Canada. As much as the tarp is helping with the first problem, it doesn’t help with the second. The snow.

Winter in Canada is not one I’d ever want to paint in, despite its beauty, and that creates yet another problem to be solved. After my father and I deliberated on issue number two, we decided to make use of a part of our house that we don’t really use. That would be our garage.

In turning my garage into my art studio, I’m more than sure I will have a plethora of other issues and challenges, such as replacing the ceiling as it’s completely mouldy and cleaning the garage completely out from years of dirt, grime and clutter. The video above shows the space after four dump runs and one morning (or about 5 - 6 hours) of cleaning with my dad’s “help” (A.K.A him being on his phone while I do all the work).

Luckily, once that’s finished, I will have a space to work in during all seasons of the year, but as I’m beginning to learn, being an artist will carry many other challenges and many victories. All of which will be covered in these blog posts, along with updates on my studio and workspace.