Exciting news… new studio!

My new studio located at Coburg House Studios in Edinburgh (above).

Exciting news - very happy to announce that I have moved into a studio space in the Loft at Coburg Studios in Leith, Edinburgh. I was really starting to run out of space in my at-home-studio, as you can see below, it was a much smaller space with Magnolia walls! You’ll spot my very useful book just on the shelf next to my (very comfy) chair - ‘The Practice of Egg Tempera’ - a helpful read for anyone wanting to start painting in the medium!

After adding many plant friends (Calathea Musiaca Network on the shelf, right, was a notable edition) it’s now feeling more like home… possibly due to half of my living room being here!

Previously I was working in my living room studio space - it was starting to get very crowded (above).

My setup is pretty simple at the moment (although I can imagine adding my massive printer and its accessories may add some chaos!) and I am feeling happy with the positioning of my desks. I managed to get the effect of 2 desks facing each other through efforts of pulling one out…. although now I feel a bit like Tori Amos playing 2 pianos on stage when I am painting away and framing various giclee prints somewhere in between. But without the amazing red hair! (This part of her video ‘Bouncing off Clouds’ pretty much sums up my feeling about the 2 desks situation)

On the left desk I have my beautiful custom handmade muller (more about this soon) and a rather large glass chopping board from the kitchen section, which I am using as a surface to mull paint on. I have no idea what the science behind doing this on glass is, other than to be a cruel test of good balance and grip every time I carry it over to the sink, to be cleaned. It seems to work well though with my pallet knives to maneuver fresh paint from the board, various small glass bottles to store paint in from the health shots I’ve been drinking (a bit of upcycling and cost reduction helps justify my oh-too regular purchase), and a paints tray to pop the fresh paint to be used in that instant from my grinding and mulling.

The lighting is great - a skylight is located over my head and the painting desk, left. Further lighting is switched on from above, when the dark afternoons draw in lately helps provide a good studio atmosphere. Along with my tiny lamp facing my desk easel! A mini fridge was also left by the last tenant, a dab of coincidence since I needed this to store my egg tempera paints (in glass bottles) and my eggs in!

I have stopped buying my bottles and now use old glass jars for a more sustainable art practice (above).

My trusty table easel allows me to paint in a range of mediums (above)!

I’ve added in my old touchscreen laptop to the shelf above my table easel so I can easily zoom into details of photographs used as a reference with a pinch of fingers, when not printing alla prima which seems to be the case a lot of the time. My lovely dark blue filing cabinet on the right - a Gumtree find - for H&S, required to keep any flammable goods. I keep my pigments in here too, as I can imagine fire wouldn’t mix well with them!

With the annual, just-before-Christmas Coburg Open Studio Exhibition coming up soon, I’m still deciding whether I will have enough prints and paintings to include (watch this space for any updates around this).