An art studio is a sacred place for an artist. Away from the hustle and bustle of our lives, it is a sanctuary that provides us space and time to work on our art and indulge all our creative impulses. In order for an art studio or space to fulfil its function as a haven of creativity, it really needs to be well organized and maintained which helps in facilitating an uninterrupted flow of ideas and thoughts.
To help you make the most out of your art studio/space and supplies, here are 5 things you can do to keep everything organized and conducive to your creative process:
- Question Thyself: Even before you touch your art supplies, you need to take an analytical look at how you work within your creative space to get an idea of what works for you and what hinders your artistic process. Ask yourself: are my art supplies cluttering my workspace? What do I need to change about my process to help produce work efficiently and without interruptions?
- Containers. And more containers: If you are a hoarder of art supplies like me, you can really benefit from investing in organizational containers of various shapes and sizes to store all those paintbrushes, pencils, tubes of paint and markers safely away. If you are on a budget, you can always re-purpose old mason jars, tin boxes or even vases to help you with storage.
- Put a Label on it: Nothing will help you more in keeping everything organized than putting labels on every storage container that you put in your studio or space. You see, by labelling everything every brush, pencil or paint pot will have a place to go once you are done using it. I promise you, once you get into labelling, you will never lose a minute looking for that filbert brush you bought a month ago.
- Let it go! Like I mentioned earlier, I have a problem with hoarding art supplies but one thing that really helped me in keeping my studio and workspace in tiptop condition was doing my monthly purge. What is this purge? Well, you simply go through your art supplies and take out stuff that you have not used for more than a month. This could be old paint brushes, rollers, papers, watercolour palettes or other tools that are just cluttering up your space. Take them out and donate them to your local art school. I know, it will be difficult in the beginning, but you will be better off in the long run.
- Stick with it… Keeping your art supplies and space organized and well maintained is not a one-time thing. It is something that requires frequent attention and dedication, so you are not left with a cluttered mess for a workspace. Take a couple of hours out of your week to rearrange, clean and de-clutter or even better, clean up immediately once you are done being creative for the day. Trust me, sticking with these organizing habits will save you from creative blocks in the future.
With all this organizational wisdom, you are now ready to take your art space/studio to the next level. This might seem time-consuming in the beginning, but like Benjamin Franklin said, “For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.” An hour that can be used to express your creativity and work on your art.
So, chop chop!
Time to start organizing and getting creative.
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