Reveal - Journey from Dining Room Table to First Studio Space

Creative Space Timeline

Since April 2017, I’ve been growing my studio practice as an acrylic painter. During that time I lived with my mother. I started my practice painting on a wall in my bedroom. I hammered a nail into the wall and placed the lip of the canvas on it to paint standing up.

When I moved into my own apartment during the summer of 2018, I painted on a small easel in the corner of my studio apartment living room.

In 2019, my husband decided it was time to move on his interest in therapy and applied for a masters program at PSU in Clinical Mental Health Therapy. We decided to make the move from our Waterfront studio apartment to his dads to pay off our previous college loans and save up for his masters program if he got in. He got in! We also paid off about $27K in my student loans.

The Dining Room Table

The dining room table had become somewhat of an irritancy to me. While it has provided me the space to create and build my practice, it has been limited in giving me the full experience of being in my own space. It’s the same table we eat on and where my husband studies. When my father-in-law is cooking or cleaning dishes, I can hear everything behind the divider wall. When we are getting ready to eat dinner, I have to move all my days work to the back corner of the table. When my father-in-law wants to enjoy his breakfast in the morning while looking out at the babbling creek in his backyard, all my stuff gets moved to the side. I wasn’t happy with the space I’ve created some of my most intimate portraits, and that bothered me.

When I was asked to paint the historic Adrienne C. Nelson portrait for the new North Clackamas high school named after Justice Nelson, I knew I’d need to make the jump and get my own private studio space so I could paint on larger canvases. When I got off a call with the global brand manager of Liquitex to be a spotlight artist during the 2021 calendar year, I felt another nudge to move forward with my own studio space. I’ve been having multiple opportunities and commission requests that working at the dining room table wasn’t a viable option for me anymore. I knew if I wanted to grow my practice, moving my work into my own studio would need to happen.

The Hunt for a Studio

When I started searching for a studio, I felt pressured to join a co-op studio or fancy downtown studio. These options were no less than $500 a month - some over $1000! Some places I toured had amenities I didn’t need for my practice or want to pay for. Some spaces were just too big for where my practice is currently. As someone who just paid off almost $30K in student loans and budgets every month with my husband, I was going to find the best yet inexpensive space I could. That’s when the thought hit me, what if I purchase an inexpensive storage unit and transform it into a studio!?

Thus I started looking for a storage unit I’d feel safe building my studio practice out of. I looked at many options and settled for a 10’x15’ unit, right next door to PushDot Studio where I get all my captures done at. I loved the location and it was right next to the Tilikum bridge if I ever decided to take an afternoon walk. I wanted a space that was clean, upkept, and safe. This met all those factors! I selected the unit online, signed the contracts and paid my first months rent and moved in seamlessly. The space is open until 10pm which would allow me the time I need to paint during the day and work on business - if I need to work on smaller projects in the evening I can always take a night bag of essentials home with me.

So I found myself paying $190/month for a storage unit turned studio space. What a steal!

Studio Design

Coming into the New Year I made it a point to hire off work I didn’t want to do or didn’t feel competent in. Being a perfectionist, I found healing in letting things go to someone else more talented than me in the task. It would free up my time to paint and enjoy my life more.

Creative producer and set designer Jordyn Jenkins, owner of JM Joints, was the first person I thought to bring my empty storage shell into a live, functioning, and beautiful studio space. She took up the challenge and I couldn’t be happier.

I got on a phone call with her to discuss general things I would like in the space and how my current practice was functioning day to day. She noted down my must-haves and dreams for the space. I gave her a budget of $2,500, gave her my spending card, and total creative freedom over the space. What I love most as an artist is the creative freedom a lot of people and organizations give me when painting a piece, in return I give creators and artists total creative freedom in the work they do for me.

After the holidays had come to an end she got to work, in about an active weeks time, she was done with designing my studio! She set a time for me to see the reveal and we settled on 1/24/21 at 2pm.

01/24/2021 - Heading up to the unit to meet with Jordyn of JM Joints and experience the reveal of my new studio space.

When I walked to my unit I began to get emotional. My voice was shaking. I was so happy with what would now be the space I’d be creating in! If it had been up to me, I would’ve come nowhere near this vision. I love the water pump station for cleaning my brushes, the sturdy rolling cart and fold-down couch. The nice big table will allow me to put together orders, spread out and work on my mini paintings, and conduct the business aspects of my practice. The storage space along the west wall will hold all of my packaging materials, canvases, and misc. things. I envision my easel going in between the table and couch - which should be fine with larger projects.

Gratitude

I want to give me fullest gratitude and thanks to a few people who made this project possible. My husband encouraged me along the way when it came to finding a space to build my practice out of. He listened to my excitement, day in and out, about being able to move into this space. He pushed me to dream big about what I would create as an artist - calming my anxiety of going into my practice full-time.

I’d also like to give my biggest thanks to Jordyn for her creativity and ability to bring life to this space. If it were up to me, there would only be an easel and some water buckets lol. As a new mom and business owner, I thank her husband and all her support networks which allow her to be free to put together projects as special as this.

You can follow Jordyn on Instagram at @mrsjjenkins and her business page at @jm_joints. If you have any design needs for spaces, experiences, or sets, she’s the person you need!

Update (01/26/2021)

I’ve taken the time to start moving in and the space is coming together so much more. The extra little touches I brought in really makes it feel like a home. When I pulled up my storage unit door, I was welcomed by the calmness and coziness of the space. The natural organic lemon all-purpose spray that I had cleaned off the table with still was scented in the air. It mingled well with the lavender deodorizer I sprayed into the space before leaving yesterday evening. Latoya Lovely’s artwork, “Butterfly”, hanging on the back wall greeting me with the affirmation of growth being a beautiful journey. I brought my fully charged BALDR portable power station from home and placed it in the back corner where the cords for the lighting rest. Plugged that in and all the lighting in the room came on - life.