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Organizing your Workspace to be Both Eye-Appealing & be More Productive/Creative

CLEANING & REARRANGING YOUR WORK AREA TO WORK BETTER FOR YOU

Whether you have a few hours or weeks (like quarantine time due to Coronavirus) to tidy up your workspace these are some things that have I have applied in my work area. 

I have been taking ideas from online research and of course I have a Pinterest board full of how I’m going to have my future studio. With this mandatory time at home I decided why wait for that future studio, I might be in this place for the foreseeable future, I should make it what I want, now.

Leslie M. Guzman Organizing your Workspace to be Both Eye-Appealing & be More Productive/Creative

USEFUL VERSUS CLUTTER

I know I’m not alone in appreciating Marie Kondo for sharing with us the lesson of sparking joy. After watching her show I started implementing her method all over my house. I hadn’t started on my studio when I thought of organizing my workspace. 

The same rules apply as in any place you organize. I started going through my materials, there were so many that I kept thinking maybe I will use one day. That maybe had never happened, some materials have been in my studio for years. It was time to say goodbye. Same thing with pieces of works. I never liked to throw away works, because i might work on it again or “fix” it. That’s not true, very seldomly do i find a use for it. So if it didn’t make me happy or spark joy it went away, either the give away pile or trash.

Sometimes we get lost in the idea that it could become useful rather than realizing that its extra clutter in our lives. I know older people that keep things with the idea that you never know if you will need it and that they are saving money. They went through very hard times and that is their mentality. What is our generation’s excuse?

Making it work for the needs of your current situation

I’ve rearranged my studio quite a few times in the last few years. I have merged my college studio with my home studio, moved & squeezed my work space in a tiny dining room, moved to our current home, rearranged it to work on a solo exhibit, moving rooms within the house, making it baby safe, moved valuable items to higher during the time we abandoned our home for hurricane Harvey, more room for new walking toddler and the situation we are in now. Quite a bit of moving.

The reason I decided to rearrange my studio now is that although I have a lot of space for my now toddler to move around it was not functional for me, the artist. He had a designated area but like all kids he only likes to be in other areas that are not really for him.

A studio is a studio is a studio = False

The studio I had in college which I always shared had to work for me within those walls allowed to me. But in college I worked on assignments, and fixing things based on what my professors wanted. Now I create pieces that I want to work on an when I want to. This means I need more space to work on my various projects I have going at the same time.

I learned the freedom of how you work once I was in my own space, in my own home and on my own. I used to be an art supply hoarder, I have since gotten help. I needed to be able to see all those supplies, if not, out of sight out of mind. Little by little I learned not to be this way. My choice in materials and brands have changed a lot. The thing that has changed as well is what disciplines I choose to explore. An artist who only paints probably wouldn’t find  my studio a good fit for them and vise versa. The way my studio was a few years ago, I didn’t dream of trying printmaking, it would have been a total fail.

Decide what your future projects will be

This year I decided that I wanted to explore one of my passions, printmaking. Like I mentioned above the studio wasn’t set up for it. I didn’t have enough tabletop space. I am a printmaker without a press, so I have been trying to find ways to print without one. Not to mention that your printmaking area should be clean. My printmaking friends understand this.

Another technique that I decided to explore again is collage. Both of these techniques require flat tabletop areas. Plus I still keep my website running and blog from time to time. My computer was starting to get lost on all the chaos, or I found myself, working in other rooms. This means, I wouldn’t get uninterrupted time if I’m not in my studio.

I have downsized my studio so much (our house is on the market) that alot well most of my supplies are in an armoire. Yet, with everything out of my studio things were not set up for the projects I have in mind. 

Leslie M. Guzman Organizing your Workspace to be Both Eye-Appealing & be More Productive/Creative

Final set up

If you know me, you know how much I believe in the practice of Feng Shui and energy. That is my starting point anytime I want to rearrange a room, the house and now my studio. Every time I’m down on my luck, or the energy just feels bad this is what I resort to. I take out my Bagua, actually I’ve pretty much memorized the western one. When I want to get detailed I have to look it up. 

CAREER

  • An eraser board right at the entrance of room, on it are goals & business ideas.

 

TRAVEL & MENTORS, HELPFUL PEOPLE & FRIENDS

  • Photograph or moodboard of places to visit.
  • Include people who inspire or would like to meet
  • If you belong to a group, this would be a great place to add a  photo.

 

COMPLETION & CHILDREN

  • A writing desk, permanent home for computer.
  • After I have created or while I’m creating, I write the story behind the piece of work. I also edit my website and respond to work emails. The finalization to alot of my work.
  • Right next to this is a small place for my kids toys.

 

LOVE, PARTNERSHIP, MARRIAGE

  • A photograph of me with my husband. It’s because of him that this is all possible. He works hard so I can be a stay at home mother & keep working on my art business.
  • When in doubt pair items in the section.

 

FAME & REPUTATION

  • I used to have this wall in my living room on my creativity wall. Now I will move it to my studio. This is the wall that you see when you walk into our home. I have my award winning art pieces. When I am feeling doubtful about my art, I look up at this wall.

 

WEALTH & PROSPERITY

  • I plan on framing my first dollar, yes, I still have it. I’m still doing a little research to see what else I can include here.

 

FAMILY

  • I have a painting that is still a work in progress of my grandparents. I started this beautiful piece two years ago for a public día de los muertos altar I participated in.

 

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & WISDOM

  • Originally I had books, notes from college, awards & certificates all in place to flow this area correctly. All these items have been put away and my desk is no longer in that position. This is now my printmaking area, which is one of the places I hope to grow my knowledge in. What I did and is not permanent, I tacked up little memories of my winning announcements of my art. They used to be on my vision board before. 

 

HEALTH

  • This is the center of the room. I now have my wrap desk in this area. It’s clear of clutter, because you don’t want a messy health area. I’m using this as extra tabletop surface. I have works in process taped down neatly on the desk. Right now this is the go to area for my kid. So his toys are laying around underneath. We clean it up each time we leave or go in the studio. By we, I mean me, I’m trying to teach him to clean up after himself.
Leslie M. Guzman Organizing Workspace to be Both Eye-Appealing & be More Productive

Organized Workspace

I’m still working on my studio as we speak so some of the final touches haven’t been put up but I know what will be there. It was all planned out on paper before I started. I’ll update this post as I finish each section.