10-YEAR STUDIO ANNIVERSARY

 The Studio

When we were looking for a new home, we envisioned an unattached building for my studio,  and I was ready to settle for a simple 2-car garage...what we got however, turned out to be a 2,000 square foot all-wood, custom Quonset hut! We were the first ones to arrive when it hit the market after our real estate agent called us in a frantic -- our offer was accepted on the spot. What you see above was essentially a giant garage behind the house we purchased in 2002 -- it housed the original owners antique car collection back in 1952. The face of it looks the same today except for the entry which was once a 2-car wide garage door...

 View as you walk in the front doors...

It took a full year to remodel; bring in gas heat, extra electricity and water/sewer for the bathroom. My friend Mike who was a framing carpenter built the floor, stairs, wood shop and bathroom areas. I did some finish work, hanging doors, trim work etc., but hired contractors to insulate and drywall the entire structure.  Today, 10 years later I am still totally stoked to go to work each day in such a magnificent and unique place!

Library to the left of front entry...

My handy father-in-law built the custom bookshelves that house my art book collection and various reference books. The door to the right is storage space under the staircase (on the far left is the double door entry).

 

 View from stairs leading to loft...

The north light windows are 16' high and the ceiling is 20' high at the center with circular fans and 6 of the original early 1950's light fixtures.

 View from back of studio (notice figure model stand on right)

I have most everything on castors so I can easily move things around when I hold figure painting sessions here.

 Upstairs loft office...

This space overlooks the studio and keeps the business part separate from the work space.

 View from back of studio...

You can see my monster-sized Mayline drafting desk on the right (from the 1940's) and the entry to the Wood Shop beyond that with my grandfathers trophy antlers above the door.

 Wood Shop for cutting panels and building shipping crates...

This is closed off from the rest of the studio with a Shop Vac to keep saw dust from entering the painting space.

I've worked in everything from an apartment bedroom to rented office space, so for the first couple of years I told myself I would never move from here; and even though the splendor of this place hasn't diminished, I could move on if need be. Fact is, even though we live in a pleasant neighborhood, we'd like to move to the country and get a little more space around us away from the suburban scene...who knows, maybe there's an old barn out there someplace that just needs a little TLC. Either way, I am blessed to have enjoyed such a dream studio as this one for the last decade...