Hey, check out this messy paint bomb of a living room/entry way/studio in my house!

I try to keep things contained, but bottles and brushes and paint-caked plates proliferate, like weeds in a garden, and some mornings when I come downstairs, I see this disheveled corner and I think “if someone comes over today, they will think I’m crazy”. There are worse things to be, so I clean it up, or I don’t, and I make a robot or two (or start one, or finish one) and head to work. Other mornings, I fly down the stairs, pass my robots, say “hey”, and then head to work without even touching a pen to paper.

Either way, I know that having some sort of dedicated space to paint makes me paint more often. If I don’t see the thing I want to be spending time on, I will forget about it. Or the thing will be on the edge of my mind, in the place where good intentions live. I had to put my paint supplies directly in the center of my house to make sure I didn’t ignore them. I turned my kitchen table into a desk. I figure that I won’t forget to eat, just because the table has been re-purposed, but painting, I could forget about.

Maybe you don’t have the space in your home to set up a crazed art studio, but a little corner should do the trick. Get your knitting/painting/model train supplies out and into your line of sight. If writing is your craft, set up some sort of writing desk that serves as a reminder to write, even if you end up writing from the couch. Get your stuff out! Leave your running shoes in the middle of the room if that helps you make running a regular practice. I don’t have science to back this up, but it seems like a pretty good experiment. You should try it and then tell me about it! Does creating space or at least a dedicated presence help your personal practice? I’m so curious!

xo