Hot in the Summer, Cold in the Winter
This is where (most of) it all happens. My shop is half of the two-car garage attached to my home. In 2018, after I closed my business, I took over the space and reclaimed it as my artist workshop. There's no insulation or heat, just a big garage door that regulates the temperature inside (or lets in a wind that blows my clippings all over!). The old workbench with the crusty vice attached was a bonus.
This space started out with two folding tables, then in 2022 I graduated to a hand me down work bench with broken drawers topped with an old door for additional workspace. That same year I inherited my late father-in-law's art table complete with all of his tools and art supplies. My mini-file hardware sorters were acquired from an old man's garage sale and are filled with his screws, springs, nuts and bolts and all kinds of miscellany taken from the TVs I've harvested. Recycling and repurposing is a big part of what I do. I wouldn't say I'm a hoarder but I even keep the sawdust after cutting wood. You never know when something will come in handy! Everything in my shop was once someone else's, with the exception of my Dewalt cordless power tools. That was the first gift I bought myself when I decided to get back into making art and they're indispensable. These tools cut my panels, shape the acrylic for the spokesmodels I mount them onto and turn every stubborn screw from the antique TV cabinets. I also use them to affix each piece's individually numbered Lipalux plate.
You may notice there are always clouds in my work. This ground/horizon/sky template has been consistent since the beginning. I'm fascinated by clouds and will often adopt the right clouds to fit the mood of the piece. Cirrostratus clouds look like cigarette smoke forming at the top of a room, Kelvin-Helmhotz clouds appear like waves, and Nimbostratus clouds make for a dark, brooding sky. I've even found an opportunity to utilize contrails.
My home office is the other part of what you might call my "clean" artist studio. That's where I research potential project topics, search endlessly for undiscovered vintage spokesmodels and print out the elements that make up my photo transfer collages.
