I love my garage studio, although we all complain when it’s pouring down rain and we have to make a dash for the front door. I moved my studio back home after spending almost a year as a resident studio artist at VisArts, our community art center here in Rockville, Maryland. I wrote about my studio space there in Cloth, Paper, Scissors special issue, Studios, in 2008. Here are some photos of my VisArts studio.
But I missed my house, and I missed my family, and I realized something important about myself. I am a homebody, through and through. And while I really enjoyed the camaraderie of working in the proximity of so many talented artists, I missed being at home. So I decided to move back. I wrote about that decision in the July/August 2009 issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine. Now I work and play at the same address!
My garage studio was already drywalled and insulated, so I had only to install an in-wall air conditioner/heater, as well as add garage flooring so I wouldn’t have to stand on cold concrete.
Lots of Ikea shelving and tables provide tons of storage. The stacks of plastic totes carry handouts and supplies for classes I teach.
Storage bins for notions and thread.
Thread…
…and more thread…
…and even more thread!
Garment fabric is stored under the table.
And on a rolling coat rack.
Every studio needs a chandelier! The drops are black crystals I snagged on eBay, but also old spools of thread from my grandmother’s sewing room that I painted.
Scraps of fabric are in color-sorted bins. Paper fusibles and stabilizers are kept on a wine rack. (There’s another rack in the fridge for my rosé!)
I use the metal garage doors as display space, hanging quilts from magnetic curtain rods.
My design wall functions as a bulletin board when not in use, and bolts of silk and cotton fabric for dyeing are corralled in a bin.
A jewelry cabinet holds lots of odds and ends. I painted the drawer fronts with chalkboard paint so when I switch contents, I can easily re-label them.
Yardage is stored in a cabinet, sorted by color and fiber content. Smaller cuts like fat quarters are filed in plastic drawers, organized by color. Novelty prints are sorted by theme.
Rulers and embroidery hoops hang on a framed pegboard.
Karen Fricke Quilts 