Seeing that this page is named Studio Time and is basically about what goes on there… I figure it might help to have an idea of just what that means.
My studio’s basically a 14 foot square room with what used to be a clothes closet on one wall. It’s not a huge space but it’s just about right for what I need. I have made an effort to save space wherever it’s possible. I have a largish, lyre easel that I’ve carried around with me since 1990 or so. It’s a lovely easel… It does take up more than its fair share of floor space. Right now, it’s in the hallway outside of the studio waiting for me to get up the energy to put it in the garage. I’m sort of sad to see it go, really. I’m thinking I’ll put it on the deck this summer and work out there once in a while.
Anyway… seeing that I’m a firm believer in D.I.Y. (“Artist“… sort of goes with the territory.) I decided that I’d build everything in the space myself. I can design stuff to work exactly the way I want it to and to work efficiently with the way I do. The idea of a wall easel struck me as a pretty good solution.
This is basically 8 1x2s screwed to the wall. There’s one at the top and bottom to attach the vertical bars to. The verticals float a few inches from the wall so as to enable the bolt heads in back to slide up and down. The clamps that hold the work are made from 1x4s with 1x2s attached to them to hold the work.
Seeing that I frequently work with panels and can’t stand trying to paint around the easel tray, I put a few screws on the front of the tray to hold flat work. The panel floats on top of the trays that way and I’m not constantly picking dust and “paint grime” off of my brush like I would be otherwise. The “odd” configuration there is something I figured out by accident. It holds larger paintings more tightly that way… kills some of the “flex” that I might otherwise have to deal with. The painting’s hiding the fact that those jaws are held on by wing nuts. It’s a little easier than bolts.
The 2x2s that are attached to the wall hold working brushes. Some day I’ll remember to stick some hooks in them to hold rags. The 1x2s on the wall to the right are paint shelves. …That’s for another post. The paper on the wall’s for white balance. 🙂
The system cost me about $200 to build.
Studio Time 