Cultivating Creative Space
Your creative space is an important part of your creative journey. When we begin it usually starts on a kitchen or dining room table. It becomes a shared space of eating, meeting, and creating. Most of the time we have to clean up our mess to make way for dinner. Some of us our lucky to have our own room or studio to expand in, while others must interrupt space throughout their homes to create. Our creative space will dictate our journey.
So I lived in a small home that barely had enough space to fit my furniture, two kids, two cats and a husband. We let go of the dream to own a larger home after the financial markets crashed (we both had finance jobs at the time) and the real estate market was at a stand still. My husband and I were not making the amount of money we used to and the threat of one of us losing a job was clearly a realistic possibility. We decided to stay put and instead invest in upgrading our current surroundings (this was the first sign of alignment with my creative journey - that is a story for another blog post!). Plus buying a new bigger home would have been so much more expensive - we loved to travel and experience life (and I loved buying art supplies). We just were not ready to plop all of whatever money we had into a fancy new home with nothing left to play with (or paint with).
At the time, I was not even thinking about a life of creativity. I was still working a very stressful finance job (I hated so much). But then it began. I started dabbling into painting with pastels and a small space on my dining room table formed. If you have ever worked with pastels you would know they are messy, dusty and take up space. I expanded to an easel in the corner of my living room. The dining room space stayed put. Eventually my creative space expanded throughout the entire house (boy was my husband patient). I began playing with everything: acrylics, oil, big canvases etc….. My art supplies grew (haha that is another blog post too!!) Pretty soon, my creativity took up the entire house.
As my creative journey grew, so did my need for more creative space. Eventually I secured a separate small studio space outside of my home. I gathered ALL of my supplies and shifted outside (my house became normal again). It was kind of expensive but it was perfect. It was a way to create my “safe space” without distraction (well not all the time). I painted a lot in this space and was able to develop a pretty solid body of work here. This didn’t last long though - At some point going to my studio became uncomfortable. I did not enjoy the energy and atmosphere of my surroundings (and other artists) and my creative energy suffered. I let it go and moved my stuff (a lot of stuff) back home. I was safe, I was secure, I felt ok here (not sure how my husband felt about it though).
Your space will evolve, change, and transform. Listen to your cues - if it doesn’t feel ok - adjust your space. This is our stage to perform, let go and be free. You don’t need an entire room to experience this freedom (even though it is nice) you can create a space in a corner (or several corners).
We have since sold that small home and moved across the United States to California. Again, we rent a small “ish” apartment but we made sure I had space to create in. That was on the list of “must haves” when we were searching for a new home. My bedroom is where I film and work in my sketchbook. My living room has secured a corner where my big easel stands tall. My deck has my smaller easel if I need to expand and get messy. The apartment has a built in desk area where I do my work stuff and I film from.
Make it your own
Set up a small alter that defines this space. A candle, incense, your artwork or creative inspiration pinned to a board. These small touches give you familiarity and signify that this is YOUR space.
What if you want to work bigger? Yeah it is tough. I live in a warm climate now and have a large deck outside to set up an easel. I also have a large garage if I must expand. I live in a rental so I can’t be too free with the spray bottle but I do have options if I really want to get messy. If you can expand to the outside and setup an easel or a tarp - go ahead!
Stay organized (or try to stay organized) I bought a bunch of see through small bins at IKEA to organize my several tubes of paint. Plus those Raskog carts are perfect - I have four of them! I can move them to wherever I am creating and keep everything in its place.
My creative space isn’t perfect. Based on where my creative journey is taking me, I probably need a separate space. But financially that just isn’t happening (San Diego is expensive!). I would eventually love to have a space that is open for all - A Creative Souls Art enclave of bad-ass creative Goddesses - but in time. But right now I am happy, I am creating and I am safe. That is what is important.
p.s. my husband is actually very supportive of my creative journey - he actually encourages me to expand. He has is own reading corner (small) too - so it’s all good!
How do you make your creative space your own?
