One of my favorite things in my studio is my easel. Surprisingly, it doesn’t get all that much use—I spend a lot of time working on pieces, like my torn paper collages, that need to be done on a horizontal surface. But I’m always happy when I Do get to use it!

It’s a Mabef brand easel, I think, and I got it on clearance once for a ridiculously low price but it spent the next far-too-many years sitting in its box. I had nowhere to put it as I moved around from tiny apartment to tiny apartment. But finally, (Finally!) I got an apartment that was a little larger, with a second bedroom (yes, I intentionally rented a two-bedroom apartment solely so I would have space for a studio!).  So, I dragged my beloved but neglected easel out of its box and set it up and got ready to paint!

I do have other, smaller tabletop easels, which are what I used most of the time when I didn’t have the space for an actual studio. And those worked fine for most purposes. You need to work with what you have, space-wise. Lack of space for a studio is no excuse for not making art. Though I fully admit that it’s soooo much nicer now that I have a dedicated studio space.

This easel kind of represents success to me, in a way. It’s being a “real” artist and having a space dedicated to myself and my artwork, rather than squeezing art in almost as an afterthought. I do realize that my art was Never really an “afterthought”—it was always a necessity, and lacking a dedicated space doesn’t mean that I was unsuccessful or that art wasn’t important to me. It’s funny, the feelings and thoughts we attach to certain things.

What does your “studio” look like? Do you have a dedicated space for your artwork or does your kitchen table do double (or triple!) duty like mine did? Tell me in the comments.