Studio Tour and Organization

TITLE: The Gardener. The Original Mixed Media Painting has SOLD (Thank you so much for your continued support!). Prints are available in my etsy shop.

In the summertime, I paint as much as I can outside in my flower garden. I have my little supply cart that I wheel beside my outdoor studio. I LOVE it! And it's   always so fun and inspiring. But last week we had six straight days of rain! I was feeling mighty stuck inside. My studio was crazy unorganized! Any time I had packaged an etsy shop order or cut business cards quick before an event, I just left the mess. After all, I was painting outside. But last week it hit me. Not only was I feeling uninspired, but I was totally frustrated and couldn't finish a single painting. I wondered, "what's wrong with me?" and "will I ever be able to paint again?"

Whenever my head feels cluttered, I know it's a good time to clean, reorganize and get rid of ANYTHING I don't really need. So, of course, I started with my crazy mess of a studio. My creative biz has really evolved these past six months, and I hadn't updated my studio to reflect that. I'm focused on original paintings and prints now, so I moved most of my jewelry and card making supplies out, making much more room on my studio tabl for painting canvases (maybe even large canvases!).

When I first set up this studio, I had wanted shelves in the closets, but then I found these cloth shoe racks (super cheap from Home Depot) and I keep all of my random paper and supplies separated in each pocket. It's perfect! 

I love making a mess and it's SO hard for me to keep things clean, so this way, everything has it's space, and it's pretty messy in all of those spaces, but I can always find whatever I need. There are pockets for my mounted print supplies (wood blocks and mounts together in one pocket), 

every sort of paper (an origami paper pocket, a sheet music and maps pocket, a colored paper pocket),

and then pockets for all of my ready-to-go packaging supplies...tags, labels, fun freebies, pre-written and blank thank you cards, postcards, and business cards!

 I have this separate shelf for my printer (the inkjet I use for printing promo materials. I have a separate archival printer for printing my prints). And lots of little paper piles inside Anthropologie catalogs (I love to use them as folders) that I label with BIG letters on blue tape.

And the best part is, I can close the doors and really hide my organized messes.

I added a bigger space for packaging orders. Notice the laundry basket (filled with all of the random vintage wallpaper I'm constantly cutting that's far too big to fit in the shoe pockets) and the bag for trash, right there underneath so it's super easy to sweep in cut ribbon and trash. 

 I also moved all of my stock items (mounted prints, cards and jewelry related things) to a table that slides underneath my workspace. When I first set things up, I had these items front and center. I was so proud of everything I created and sold in my etsy shop. Now I need more shelf space for in-progress orders and all of the shipping supplies for paintings and prints. It's all very stream-lined and organized in a way that works for me.