Friday, July 25, 2008







(Top:) "Window Series #13," by Lorie Baxter
Oil enamel and Galkyd on copper
33 1/2" x 33 1/2"
Copyright 2005 Lorie Baxter

(Bottom:) Detail: "Seven Abstract Paintings," by Lorie Baxter
Oil enamel on metal
7" x 7"
Copyright 2006 Lorie Baxter

My good friend, Pendleton Oregon artist Lorie Baxter emailed me her response to my July 18 post about studios:

"On the subject of studios...I've had only two...little and big. Big lets me do more, including painting larger pieces. But in addition, big lets me have work around for inspiration, for working on a series and for looking at things over a long time...I also think having the studio well away from the house is important. It lets me focus on my work. Having a studio at home (I have a small one at the beach) allows for too many distractions...

"I love my studio in terms of size and lighting and type (big, high old auto-body paint shop). I have excellent movable storage bins and great big work tables and big flat files to store works on paper. But it is along the river in Pendleton and I don't feel safe going there at night alone...so am thinking I'd like to have one on our land at home, but well way from the house, a separate building...with north and east light. So...I'm planning."

4 comments:

mike rooney studios said...

heres a link (cut and paste) to a post i did with a pic of my livingroom/studio. i love it. i can watch (more like listen to) the sopranos and paint!
also describes my usual day.
its....
mikerooneystudios.blogspot.com/2008/05/day-in-life.html


a bunch of us posted our day in the life when frank gardner organized it back in the spring. that was fun reading all the different peoples "normal day"

Don Gray said...

Thanks Mike for the link. It's interesting to see all the hows and whys of different artist's studios. A lot of variety.

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

My friend's husband, who is handy to say the least, built her a little shed studio about 30x30 just steps away from the house. They live on a wooded lot with a pool and gardens and a pretty yard. She's a mosaic and assemblage artist and has done some beautifully designed stone medallion work outside leading to the path to the house. She feels like she's a million miles away there and she had had an outside space in an old factory building which we collectively lost last summer, but could really never get there because her kids needed her. So, for her, it's the best of both worlds. I'm going to find the photo of it and post it on my alternative blog.
Last summer I posted the woes of losing my studio of 13 years to a 'condo' project. We had had fabulous yearly Open Studios events which were well attended. At the end there were more than 100 artists of all stripes in the building. It was a magical place.
Your paintings rock!

Don Gray said...

Thanks for weighing in on the studio discussion, Mary. I think many artists feel like you and your friend; having a studio that is separate from the home--whether across town or across the lawn, is desireable.

Sorry you lost that great space. Hope you've been able to find an equivalent.