Building infrastructure

Inside the studio, newly painted walls • photo © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

The turning of this year seems, for me, to be about building infrastructure of one kind or another.

The work I'm doing in my studio – painting walls, putting up shelves, reworking and organizing the space - the work I've been doing building websites (they're coming!) for my painting and my teaching, and the demonstration examples I'm making for this summer's workshops are kind of like roads, hospitals, and public works projects. You need them to get things done, to make things work. You depend on them.

Home page of one of the new websites • photo © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

So, at some point the walls will all be painted, the shelves will all be up (it's a work in progress), and the paintings and canvases will be stacked on them neatly. The websites will be up and running, with all the information anyone needs or wants to know about my paintings and my classes and workshops. The sample work will all be done and photographed, and everything will run ever so efficiently....

Am I dreaming?

Okay, at least a bit more efficiently. I hope. I can hardly wait! Now, back to work....

In the studio

I will hold this year's Open Studio at Graeser Winery (255 Petrified Forest Road, Calistoga, California - on the web at www.graeserwinery.com), as I did last year. It's a beautiful place - driving up there is like stepping back in time - and the newly remodeled tasting room and gallery area is a wonderful spot for looking at artwork (and, perhaps, savoring a lovely glass of wine).


My actual studio is about five miles from the winery, in part of a lovely old barn in Franz Valley. I have natural light and a view - I work in heaven. How lucky can I get? It's not set up for visitors (there is no bathroom), but for one working artist, it is a soul-satisfying place to be.