Old Studio Reborn

• October 6th, 2004 • • exploring, supplies •

Michael let me help him go through his mother’s art studio today. She passed away a few years ago and left behind a massive amount of art supplies and other related objects. Generously, Michael is letting me pick out things I can use. He says that the would simply get thrown in the trash otherwise; no one else knows how to use them or what to do with them. I’m fascinated by the sheer amount of stuff in the studio, which is a converted two-car garage. Boxes stack up to the ceiling and run wall-to-wall with items.

Michael and I have known each other for almost ten years now. During that time, I never really got to know his mother. . .in fact, I only met her when she answered the door when I came to visit Michael. Now that she is gone, I am getting to know her by the things she has left behind. From the few art pieces, and the books I have found, she must have been a talented woman full of all sorts of art knowledge. Actually I feel a bit honored to help give her studio supplies new life by transferring them to my own. Used supplies have a different mein than brand-new ones; they have been loved and put to good use. Michael and I only brushed the surface of the studio today; Columbus day we are going to set out on a real adventure and explore the whole thing!

Of interest, I brought home the following items today:

1 - Tin boxes of tempera paint mix
2 - Glass ink bottles and ink wells (various colors)
3 - Speedball brayers with wooden handles. (One even has her name carved into it!)
4 - A used linocut block with a flower on it.
5 - An entire Koh-I-Nor Rapidograph pen set.
6 - A variety of palettes (metal, plastic, wood)
7 - A wooden drafting supplies box big enough for paper
8 - A flexible French curve
9 - A compass big enough to draw circles 12 inches in diameter

Bear in mind that many of these supplies are over 20 years old. Some of them are 30 years old. They look different than supplies available in stores today, and there are some minute differences in the way that some of them function. It will be exciting to see what more we find!

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