Mini Dew Studio

For years I painted at the kitchen table and dried paintings in my pantry/laundry room where more than one painting was smudged by little hands. I yearned for a place to spread out, with a door I could lock to keep little hands out of wet paint.

When we designed our new home we included a studio space for me. It isn’t enormous but it has amazing light, space to spread out, and a door with a lock; every thing a mother-artist could dream of.

We call our home the Mini Dew Ranch because we see it as a smaller version of the 26 acre ranch my husband grew up on, called the Little Dew Ranch. It was named after a tiny town in England where his ancestors are from, Little Dew Church (or Dewchurch). Since I work out of a home studio, we named my studio the Mini Dew Studio.

When we first lived here there was just a small stone house from the 1880s. We fixed it up and lived in it for nearly 3 years before tearing it down to build the home we hope to live in forever. You can read more about that whole beautiful process on my blog.

This little stone house had an addition from the 50s with a beautiful, if well-worn sink. I didn’t love it as a kitchen sink because it never felt really clean but I thought it would make a perfect studio sink. We salvaged it from the old house, I scrubbed it clean, repainted the metal cupboards, installed a new faucet and hardware, and it’s now one of my favorite things about the studio.

Half the walls are lined with windows and the rest are painted a bright white to bounce light around. My husband hung shelves and pegboard so I have plenty of space to dry and display my artwork until it is sold or taken to markets or shows.

The big windows look out on my backyard so I have a beautiful view of bushes, grass, and the woods on our hillside. It’s an inspiring view, filled with a million shades of green in the spring and summer, orange and gold in the fall, and black and white in the winter.

My little kids spend a lot of time outside so the windows are wonderful for keeping an eye on them while I work. When they want to stay indoors they often find their way to the studio and join me in painting, usually with watercolor since it’s quick and cleans up easily. My oldest kids now enjoy just sitting in my blue velvet studio chair and chatting with me as I paint. It’s become a place we can spend time together, visiting and listening to music on the record player.

I think we all love the feeling of inhabiting a calm, beautiful, creative space.