More Studio Photos - The Good, The Bad, And The UGLY

THANK YOU everyone for your wonderful comments about my studio! Here are a few more shots I thought you might enjoy... First, I have a huge work table in the middle of the room, which is never, NEVER clean! It has shelves all around it, filled to the max with books, supplies and papers... This is my 'Command Central', where my artwork gets dreamed up... The far wall is one huge book shelf that goes from wall to wall, and is filled with art books... (No joke, about my being a 'book junkie'!) I keep my Chinese Baby Hat collection on the top shelf, for color inspiration and just pure pleasure!

A few of the shelves are given over to other things besides books - One can always put books in a box in the garage - right? I love to have my favorite fabrics out on view, and then there's the 'Chinese Pin-Cushion' collection...

Here is my 'Techno-Corner' where I keep my computer, printer, and stereo... I love the view out the little window too! And here is how my French doors look today, its winter, so I have taken in the chair cushions, but let me tell you, when the sun is out in the Spring, and the Apple Tree is in bloom - there is no place better to do some creative dreamin...! I put all my paper and silk flowers in a pot by the door, to add some 'fake' spring to the look...

Storage is a big issue for me, as it is for many artists I know. I continually fight the "I want it to look nice" with the "God, I have too much stuff..." syndrome! Compromise is at hand... (Thats what garages are for -Right???) I have pretty baskets out for the pretty things, like this one filled with Vintage papers and goodies... And then I use a lot of plastic bins under the long narrow table on the back wall. Someday I'll give them some pretty lables and they'll hopefully look nicer. I dream of covering them in linen or fabric, alas I seem to never have the time...

Now for the UGLY... Did I mention we have a 'Garage'? Unfortunately our garage, has never functioned as a garage (anybody else have that same problem???) I think my childhood as a gypsy and no space to collect, has led to my adult-hood of not being able to let anything go! Our garage, affectionately known as the 'Hole', "...be careful not to fall in the 'Hole', you may not be able to get out...!" is the space where all good things eventually come to rest. I am not too proud to show you this 'Hole', its just another side of Ulla! One filled with boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes (get the picture?) of "wonderful treasures" or as my husband says, "Ulla's Junk". Multiply the photo by about 8 and you see reality... So now the Truth is out, my 'Photo-Pretty' Studio is a screen for where the real stuff lies... Hope you enjoyed the tour, I sure had fun showing you!!!

Comments

[Arnol]

Nice Pictures & stories. Thanks for sharing them. Reading at them.. I discover that you treat garage as mearly a storage space. I think you should just need to be more innovative in this matter, I just found so many ways how I can maximize the utilization of garages. (Apart from car parking obviously.) You can view that through my link in signature.

[Sweet pea]

Thank you for all your lovely pictures and stories. I often don't have time to comment but always enjoy visiting. You have a little magical world here.

Have a very, Merry Christmas Ulla and I wish you lots of sparkly goddness for 2007. :)

[Carol]

What a big and inspiring fun place to work and with an own patio that's fantastic, I can imagin you sitting there and dreaming and inventing and getting new ideas. I'd love to have a look through all your art books!

[juju]

I especially love your chinese hats and pin cushions.
I can't tell you how jealous I am of your garage. We don't have them in London much. Can't get up in the attic either. Or basement. So I have to be brutal about my stuff. Very difficult.

[cruststation]

Thank you for sharing your amazing studio. The shelves of books wow, I can spend all my time there it's like a library! The beautiful collection of things all so lovely and I'm sure even in your garage it's a treasure trove to be explored :)

[Angelina]

It's so nice to get to read a couple of posts on your blog that are actually about you rather than other people's things you've found. It makes me feel like I just knocked on your studio door and got to see what you're up to.

I am going to make my chaos prettier this year. You've inspired me. I think the trick is to mix pretty things in with the less pretty things and then what you remember is a happy mess of lovely things.

I don't have that many pretty things. I guess I'll have to work on that.

[pam]

thanks so much for sharing it all with us. seeing studios is one of my favorite things ever. love both this post and the one yesterday.xo

[tongue in cheek]

Bingo I reconize those cards :)
Beauty beauty beauty is all I see Chez Toi!!

[Britt-Arnhild]

Ulla, these two posts about your studio!!! They took me right into heaven.

Marta opened her Ulla kit for her advent gift today, she and I will make the ornament together later on, after some Christmas shopping in town. It is lovely. I will show you the final result.

[shashi]

Your studio is lovely I wish mine was half as lovely and big as yours. But you have given me some storage ideas now. Mind you no matter how much space I have I bet it would still look like a tip LOL!
Yours looks so elegant.

[Laetitia]

I love reading you Ulla,!very funny post, your garage seems to be a real Alladin's cave !!I love garages, cellars, attics, these very special rooms : unoccupied ,with full of things out of date and magic and you can spend so many hours inside..

[Sandra]

wonderful. May I drop by and poke around? I love art books and can´t get enough :-)

[Mrs. Staggs]

This is amazing Ulla. What a wonderful space you have. This spring I had to get rid of a lot of my stuff to make room in the guest room, which doubles as my crafting space. I have things stored in the basement and it's very hard to get organized in such a way that crafting comes easily. I would love to have a space like yours.

[Dawn]

Thanks for the tour...I would LOVE to look through that book stash. All the lovelies surrounding you are fabulous!

[Debbie Schramer]

How wonderful your studio is!! You are so blessed to have all that room and all of you special things all around you. I am so glad you posted so many pictures about your studio, Ulla, because it makes me want to work harder to get a space for myself to work on my art!! Thanks for the inspiration! I love all the pretty touches of beauty everywhere....have fun and hope your "In Studio" workshop goes fantastically!!

Debbie