Category Archives: Studio

Studio Update: It’s Almost Done!

We’re quickly reaching the mild panic stage as our new home and my studio are almost finished. What seemed like a dream for so long is finally coming true. For much of the last month we’ve been taking our moving prep a little bit less seriously that we should have been. (Don’t even get me started on Downton Abbey!) So now I’ve got boxes in one hand and a marker in the other. Tell me, is there a trick to this packing tape that doesn’t include wearing it?

Here are photos of my studio from today:

The open door is into the main part of my studio. The closed door is to the bathroom (there is an inside door, too) so we can take cyanotype, paper making supplies, and messy kids straight to the water sources without tracking everything through the rest of the studio. I think I know just the climbing rose for that pretty little porch.

Inside the studio, the kitchenette and desk area. Yesterday my friend Don Drake mentioned that it takes a while to reach critical density in a new studio. I wonder how long until this new space will feel like home? There is something so appealing about the emptiness of the space and yet I can’t wait to fill it with my tools and get to work.

With a few final details and a lot of inspections we’ll be ready to move in. I’ve been measuring and doing a lot of virtual shopping for what will fit where and how to organize the space. I don’t know about you but the planning is half the fun!

This week I’ll be finishing up artists’ books for some orders and shows and then it’s time to finish packing up my old studio. I’m worried about not having access to my tools and supplies. I think I’ll make a travel kit with my essentials so that I can get to them when everything else is still in boxes. If you were making a travel kit of essential art supplies, what would you include?

~Ginger

www.gingerburrell.com

Studio Update: Let There Be Drywall

A quick studio update. We have drywall!

And chicken-wire. Sadly that will probably be the only chicken-wire in our yard. Despite lobbying for nearly 6 months I’m making no progress in getting Greg to agree that chickens would be a nice addition to our brood of four kitties. Fresh eggs for breakfast doesn’t seem to be enough incentive. I think I’m making progress on the a-puppy-would-sure-be-nice front, though. Stay tuned.

The front door is on the left. The closed door on the right is to the bathroom. (You can get to the bathroom via an inside door, as well.) I’m looking forward to being able to make cyanotypes and paper in the patio behind the studio and take all that wet, messy and wonderful stuff straight into the sink. No more trekking it through the studio.)

The bottom photo is a tradition Greg and I started nearly 13 years ago when we met. We take shadow pictures wherever we go. (It warms my heart that now my niece, Samantha, takes shadow pictures everywhere, too.) The thing in Greg’s hand is a tape measure. We seem to be measuring everything these days.

I’ve also started space planning and I’ll tell you some more about the books and software that I’m using for inspiration and planning in a blog post or two later this week.

~Ginger

www.gingerburrell.com

Studio Update: From Dirt to Walls in Just Two Weeks

Just a quick post to share the construction status of the studio. In just two weeks we’ve quickly gone from a pile of dirt to a foundation … to walls. I’m just itching to get in there and start making art!

Pouring the studio foundation:

Walls framed:

Greg in front of the house, the studio is off to the right in the backyard:

~Ginger

www.gingerburrell.com