Once again its been too long since I’ve posted a new blog entry and I’ve also been failing to get all the old Art Calendar financial management articles up with their updated commentary. So today I’m going to tackle the next one in the series where I took a look at some issues involved with setting up my art studio. As I just reread it for the first time in years I was intrigued to realize I wrote it prior to building my earth sheltered studio. This was done when I had my initial metals studio here on my homestead in what has now become the wood shed! Still I think there is some good info here that might help others, esp. if you are looking to establish your first art studio beyond college. So without further ado here is the article with my updated thoughts sprinkled in.
(Please note some of the links in this blog post are affiliate links. What this means is that should you click through them and make a qualifying purchase I will receive a commission which I’d certainly appreciate since it helps support this blog project. However, this shouldn’t increase your cost any, and certainly don’t ever feel like I’m pressuring you to buy things through the links I offer here or anywhere else. I’m all about being frugal first!)
8 The Art Studio
This month I thought I’d write a bit about issues related to our art studios. Because all our situations are different a good portion of this article might mean nothing to you, but hopefully there will be something of use. I am a metalsmith making decorative hollowware. This is the perspective I am writing from. I had very little money to set up, equip, and operate my studio with. Here are some of the ways I dealt with this.
First I want to address the notion that it’s ok to spend tons of money on equipment and art supplies because it’s a business expense and you can just write it off on your taxes. Assuming it’s a legitimate business expense, it’s true these can be written off. However, this doesn’t in any way mean it’s free. What you are gaining is a deduction in your taxes for the expense, meaning you don’t have to pay income tax on that amount. The item or service is still an expense. It’s money you are spending and should be evaluated like any other expense in terms of fulfillment. Please note I said fulfillment, not cost. Sometimes the cheaper item is not the best to get.
So here’s how I went about creating my metalsmithing studio. The biggest thing that helped me is that I didn’t wait until I had graduated from college to start. I regularly advise students to begin gathering your tools as soon as you feel confident of the direction you’ll take once out of school. I actually began gathering small hand tools I’d need while still in high school. The greatest advantage to this is that you need not be in a rush and can bide your time until good deals show up. You can also purchase equipment as you can afford it allowing you to pay cash and avoid debt. Dropping a few suggestions for birthdays and Christmas doesn’t hurt either. If loved ones are going to be getting you gifts anyway, why not have them be useful gifts?
I actually think the lack of a functional studio is a major cause of so many art school graduates never making art again. You work like fury preparing for the senior/graduate show with all the marvelous facilities of the college at your disposal. Over the years you’ve come to know those facilities very well and likely take them for granted to some degree. Then it’s finally over. You’ve graduated. You go home and sleep for about a week (because you probably spent the previous week in the college studios). Once you wake up rested and relaxed you realize you no longer have access to that fully equipped studio. Financial needs are usually very pressing so you need to jump into a full-time regular job to make money. It would be very challenging I imagine to pay for all the regular expenses of life and build a studio from scratch. Of course, this will depend on what media you work in. I suspect it’s much easier for a painter than it is for metalsmiths, woodworkers, printmakers, or ceramicists. If you’re a student you can work to avoid this situation by starting early to gather your personal studio needs. This way, upon graduation, you’re ready to go and can keep making art without interruption.
I’ve since talked with some painters who corrected me that purchasing all the various tubes of paint, brushes, etc. can be just as expensive as all the tools and equipment fine craft based artists need.
Something I’ve watched others do and even been susceptible to myself is thinking I need every piece of equipment I had available to me during college. There is somehow this notion that a marvelous studio is needed to produce wonderful work. For example, when I graduated I thought I needed a sand blaster. I had been using one all the time in college to give a final surface to my metal before applying the patinas. Looking to save money, I bought all the parts, new and used, I needed to make my own sand blasting cabinet. Then I had to face the brutal fact that I just couldn’t afford the air compressor I’d need to make the whole thing work. I could easily buy the air compressor now, but I haven’t. Circumstances forced me to reevaluate the problem and find another solution. What I discovered is that those green scrubby pads you might use to scour pots and pans work just as well, and are so much less expensive! I no longer have a need for a sand blaster. I really never did. If you want to make a living as an artist you want to be producing the best work possible, but I’ve found this doesn’t necessarily mean you need a studio with every gadget on the market. Great art can be made with practically nothing.
To this day I have never gotten that sand blasting set-up I initially thought I “needed”. I’m still using the scrubby pads or sanding sponges for that task the sand blaster was intended for. These days in addition to the cost savings I can also add in the physical space savings. Big equipment not only costs a lot it takes up huge amounts of space in a studio thus necessitating a larger studio with all the additional costs of that involved. More complicated equipment is also more prone to breaking down verses simpler tools. These are factors to weigh when considering what to get for a studio. I no longer even desire a sand blaster because it would take up too much room, is loud and obnoxious, has way more things to break down compared to a sanding sponge, and wouldn’t really make my production process that much more efficient.
I began my business while I was still in college. I was making jewelry at the time and I generally didn’t use school equipment for my “commercial” work. I had to ask myself what the bare minimum was that I needed. My first studio was little more than a $2 garage sale end table, a firebrick, a crappy $20 propane torch, and some hand tools. It was however, enough to get me started. I’ve built onto that beginning slowly, as I could afford it.
I would prioritize my equipment desires based on the fulfillment they would offer. If a tool would allow me to greatly speed up production, and thus profitability, it tended to go higher up on my list. A tool that would be used only infrequently for rare specialized tasks stayed low on the list, even if it was relatively inexpensive.
What is really nice about having a well-equipped college studio to learn in is that you can try all the different tools and techniques to see what you prefer. As I neared graduation I considered what of my varied body of work was most marketable. Then I paid attention to what equipment I was using to make this so I could be sure to have it in my home studio.
These days many regions have other facilities like maker spaces, and community studios where members can get access to classes and equipment, usually for a monthly fee. These could function like university programs in terms of helping one to learn what equipment you really want/need for your personal studio prior to investing large sums of money into it. Utilizing these sorts of things may be more cost effective than college depending on what your goals are.
To acquire this equipment I tried to avoid buying it new if possible. Because I began early, while I still had a university studio available to me, I could take my time. I got things at flea markets, yard sales, auctions, and used equipment dealers. I’ve found it helps to consider what other, larger group of people would use the same basic equipment. In my case for example, there are lots more auto body workers than there are “fine art” metalsmiths. I can get auto body hammers and forming tools much cheaper, than I can for similar hammers from my specialty catalogs. Heating and cooling companies use the same sort of torches as I do for my soldering. I went to an auction for a heating and cooling establishment gone out of business and got my current torches for practically nothing. Is there a common type business that uses the same sort of tools and media as you?
Don’t overlook the idea of making your own tools. Artists are makers and creators. Why can’t we apply this creativity to things we need? An example I use for metalsmiths are copper tongs. We need these for pulling work out of the pickle (an acid bath). In a current catalog they cost about $7 and these days seem to be quite flimsy. For some reason most metalsmiths never consider the idea of making their own tongs yet even the basic beginner has the needed skills to do so. I made myself a heavy-duty pair with copper from my scrap bin in a few minutes. When I was taking a printmaking class in college our professor had us make our own ink. The materials needed were practically free and the ink was far superior to the standard commercially sold variety. What do you need in your studio? Do you have the capacity to make it yourself?
I actually did a post for this blog some time back about making your own copper tongs. Interestingly all these years later copper tongs are still costing about $7 and most of the ones I see are still more flimsy than I’d like.
Additionally, those maker spaces and community studios I mentioned before might be cost effective ways to gain regular access to expensive equipment that can greatly increase your productivity but which you wouldn’t use often enough to justify the expenses involved in personally owning and maintaining. You don’t have to own all the tools if you can essentially rent time on what you need.
I want to state again that I’m not recommending cheap price over quality goods. It’s about fulfillment for your dollar. An inexpensive yet poorly made or functioning tool is not a good value. It is frustrating to work with, produces inferior results, and often breaks early. It’s much better in the long run to pay more for the higher quality item that’s a pleasure to work with and lasts longer. With tools often the really good ones can last several lifetimes so it’s possible to find them used and less expensive than poor quality new stuff.
With supplies, cheap stuff can easily result in cheap looking artwork that doesn’t sell. The first time I gilded the interior of one of my metal vessels I used an imitation gold leaf. I was poor and though I had a booklet of real gold leaf a friend had given me I was afraid the cost was too much for me. Well the working characteristics of that inexpensive fake stuff were abysmal. I really struggled to apply it, and the end result was almost embarrassing. It made the hammered copper vessel I’d spent hours crafting look like a cheesy dollar store item. I almost gave up the gilding idea right then, but I decided that since I already had the real gold leaf I might as well try it. The difference was truly astounding. It was so much easier and pleasurable to apply. However, the big difference was that real gold captures and reflects light so much more majestically than the imitation junk. Where the fake stuff devalued my work, the real gold has added value far beyond its cost. Often it’s what sells my work. So in the end the imitation gold leaf cost me more. It provided zero fulfillment. The genuine gold leaf, while being priced much higher, produces a superior piece of work that actually sells. Thus in the end it pays for itself. Remember to consider the cost in relation to the fulfillment.
Recently in the Art Scuttlebutt discussion forum we were considering where it’s best to purchase your art supplies, the local art supply store, a big box retailer, or discount mail order/internet art supply company. I suppose this is really a matter of personal opinion. The mail order places are probably cheapest, but be sure to figure in shipping cost when price shopping. For myself I prefer buying from local, independently owned businesses whenever possible. It usually costs a bit more, but the service tends to be better and more importantly to me, I’m helping to keep the money in the local economy rather than having it vanish in a corporate vault somewhere. The way I see it, a place with a healthy regional economy is a place I’m more likely to sell my work in. When I can’t get my supplies locally, which sadly is most of the time for me, I try to buy direct from the manufacturer.
A clarifying note here, the “Art Scuttlebutt” I mentioned above was a discussion forum on-line for the magazine “Art Calendar” that I was originally writing this for.
I should also note that “mail order” is a quaint idea these days. Younger readers might not even know what that meant. One used to get catalogs in your physical mailbox which you’d browse to find products you liked. Then you could mail in an order form along with payment to purchase them, or more commonly when I wrote this article you would phone in your order and pay by credit/debit card. Obviously today internet sales are a huge way this sort of business happens. I still like to buy things locally if I can but certainly do make use of internet sales. Heck many of the links I offer in these various blog posts are for just that.
Another thing to consider with your art studio is its location. Should you work out of your home, lease a space in a commercial area, get a studio in a large warehouse where other artists are, etc. Here again this will depend on what fits your situation. I don’t sell out of my studio so spending money for a location in a commercial zone just doesn’t make any sense. It would be wasted resources for me. Being in a location with a community of other artists might be nice, however I live in a rural area. I would have a long drive every day to be a part of one of these artist clusters on top of a monthly rent for the studio. Part of what I enjoy about being a self-employed artist is not having a costly and time consuming daily commute so this option just doesn’t fit my desires. To satisfy my need to be around other artists I’m part of an art organization, and attend gallery openings.
One more time I will note that the maker spaces, coworking spaces, or community studios that didn’t really exist before may now be a viable option here if you have one in your region. You’d need to run the numbers, considering what your commuting costs would be, and weighing in how working around a community of creative people is likely to affect you.
My studio is a small building on my property. My commute is a stroll across the yard that costs me nothing. In hindsight I would have been better off if I could have established my studio inside my home, rather than in a separate building. I spent a good deal of money to make that building suitable with electrical work, insulation, a new roof, and a separate furnace. I’m planning this summer to do major work on my home, adding a partial earth berm, super insulation, thermal mass, and passive solar heating. In the process I intend to incorporate space for a new studio in the home that will cost much less to heat in the winter and have much more natural, free light. This will all cost some money to do, though I have a strict “no new debt” rule for the project. However, I expect it to pay for itself in short order with reduced energy costs. Plus this should be a more pleasurable space to work in every day. I believe the fulfillment will exceed the cost.
In rereading this article I had almost forgotten about those plans for my homestead. I did actually go and talk with the township guy about doing it all. He wasn’t sure about all the codes that I’d need to meet for what I was thinking but felt he could find out about them. In the end I altered my plans doing a variety of different things, or some of the same but in different ways. The biggest thing was not adding a space onto my trailer for the studio but building my experimental Earthship studio instead as a separate building and to a size where I didn’t need to worry about complex building codes. In hindsight from that I can say that I still did end up establishing a space in my living room where I do much of my chasing work. So even with the earth sheltered art studio I still have a studio space inside the home too. ( I hope to rebuild a post about my Earthship studio on my other website here soon. As I type this, the section is blank though.)
These are some of my thoughts on establishing and operating a studio. I’m sure your particular situation will be different from mine but hopefully you have found something of worth in this article. The art studio is a central part of our lives. Though it may fall under business expenses it is worth just as much consideration in terms of cost verses fulfillment as anything else. Does your studio run in alignment with your values and needs?
I guess I don’t have much to say in the way of updated final thoughts. Generally speaking I approach spending for my studio or business like I do for the rest of my life. I don’t just give all business spending a pass since it’s a tax write off. Rather I evaluate it for fulfillment provided for the cost. Does it make my business run more efficiently and profitably? Does it make my work better? Does it make my life better? Do these things make it worth the expense?
I’m feeling like a slacker here since I really have nothing to post at the moment for the Studio Snippet section. My excuse is that I’m away visiting my girlfriend in AZ, recently arrived, and having not gotten things set up here to do metalwork yet. So sorry, no Studio Snippet this time.
I’m happy to have a site where I can again allow comments. (I had to shut them off on my old website because the spam was simply uncontrollable!) So please I encourage you to share thoughts of your own. My general rule about comments though is just to play nice. Differing views are fine, but I’m not interested in engaging in or moderating verbal fights. If I feel things get out of hand, by whatever criteria I decide, I’ll just start blocking or deleting things.