Moving my Art Studio Outside!

Sarge Watching me work on a pet portrait...of someone else!

Since I have begun painting pet portraits in oil on canvas, I have really struggled with where to do it.  Colored pencil is no issue, it's totally portable, makes no mess and doesn't need to dry.

So I have a bin of pencils, masonite boards cut to size that I tape my pieces on, and a battery operated sharpener.

But the oils?  We tried squeezing it into my Etsy vintage shop storeroom, the light was bad and it was hot.  Plus, there was so little room, and since Sarge, the studio dog, likes to be with me, I was tripping over him in the crammed space.  Not good!!

We tried using a corner of the dining room.  I hated that, the light is fabulous but the mess was incredible.  I am not a neat by nature person and am a very messy painter, so having wet paint in the middle room of my downstairs meant my whole house looked and was a mess.

But...I have this fabulous screen gazebo in the back yard!  There's still half a summer and part of fall where that is a great place to paint!  I found an old storage trunk in my vintage-to-sell pile and transformed that into an all-weather oil painting supplies locker and tucked it into a corner.  Easy to clean up!  I just bring my painting into the mudroom at night.

There's already a nice table there, and I have a french easel. 

But some days it really is hot.  I grabbed a long, heavy duty extension cord and ran it out.  I have a multiplug thing for the end to plug a small fan and a radio into.  And I am set!

I've been getting so much done out there!  Sarge loves it, he gets to play in his yard, or sleep on the rug in the gazebo. 

I don't know what I'll do in the winter.  I figure I have until the end of October at the most.  So I have to get busy!!!