Craft Credo #3: Work is more important than workspace

A good workspace can enhance both inspiration and production, but it won’t magically do all the artist’s work. (This fits writing-related workspace issues, too.)

One of the recent would-be insults leveled at me, as an artist: I ‘worked out of a kitchen’. The person who said it was possibly deflecting scrutiny from their own unprofessional behavior, so I ignored it. It was also such an obviously sexist statement that I wouldn’t have responded just on that merit.

Is it true? Well, yes. I’m not ashamed of it, either. My real-media art ‘workspace’ is a kitchen and two tables. I’d love to work in a dedicated studio again, like the ones seen in glossy art lifestyle magazines. I’d also love to have time and materials to create the stock needed to hit major craft artisan trade shows. Or go back to school at one of my dream institutions to hone my craft skills.

I can want a lot of things.

But none of those are happening in this economy, while I am at the low end of the 99%. The last two studio spaces I had access to vanished into the recession, as one co-op gallery shut down and another went into receivership. Another great potential space meant a 60-mile-round-trip, in an era when gas price hikes and car maintenance preclude frivolous travel. I live 20 miles away from the vibrant inner-city hipster art scene, and my work would probably not sell in that market anyway.

Nor would I try to sell anything but low-cost jewelry at nearby boutiques. In my local subdivision, a K-8 charter school puts on by far the best once-a-year art expo, and that’s due to the tireless efforts of some inspired teachers and parents. The four private fine art/craft galleries that tried to make a go of it in the last decade all folded within a couple of years. The two or three city-run galleries do world-class shows, but their sales prospects for local artists are generally limited to items under $50.00, because of recession-wary visitors.

So I make art in a kitchen, and I’m grateful to have even that. The peace of mind I get from keeping my modest store of art supplies near me – not miles away, and subject to the whims of landlords and natural disasters – is amazing. I am delighted to know several great out-of-state art agents who can place my pieces in front of the best library, museum, and private clients.

None of whom seem to care that I make art in a kitchen.

Have I made adjustments? Yes. I’m trying to do more digital art pieces than large real-media canvases. Sending requested TIF images to an art publisher via Dropbox is more efficient than painting a giant canvas and shipping it on commission to a gallery client. Fortunately, my book arts and fiber arts pieces are generally small, so they fit well into the kitchen/two tables workspace. This isn’t a perfect solution, but it functions for now.

Why am I talking about this? Because I see too many younger art students making the decision that they Absolutely, Positively, Must Have A Studio. That’s fine, if their art is of a scale and media that demands separate studio space. Or is lucrative enough to consistently pay the rent.

But if they’re just doing it to say they have a studio, or to prove to haughty galleries that they’re somehow ‘better’ artists…that’s a dangerous pathway.

Several of my local cities are just now beginning to look into providing low-cost studio space and live/work space to artists, out of recognition that a vital arts community offers wider benefits to the rest of the community. I wish them well.

But I certainly am not sitting around waiting for them to make it happen. I have books and art to finish. Ya know, in the kitchen.