On My Desk: Creative folk share the stuff on their desks

Symon Chow

2008-11-28T15:40:00.006Z

Symon Chow, Photographer/Graphic Designer,
Brooklyn, New York
www.symonchow.com

"I cleaned my office so I thought I'd take some pictures cause it's not
going to be like this again for a looong time!

I'm a freelance photographer and graphic designer who works mainly at
home. I converted our old, small bedroom into my office about a year
ago, the desk area used to be the closet. I removed the sliding doors
and fitted it with a big sheet of plywood and there you have it, An
Office!"

"Close up of my desk. Aside from doing all of my work here, I also
spend a good amount of time playing video games here, much to my
girlfriend and dog's dismay. But I guess it's better then doing this
activity in the living room :)"

"Another close up of my desk. Of note is the fancy box that I made to
hide all of my hard drives. its so nice not having to stare at those
annoying flashing lights all the time!"

"Home made/ikea modular bookshelves and storage."

"More of the home made/ikea modular bookshelves and storage. At some
point I had painted the drawers black during a different
configuration... Note all the fine ikea storage boxes. I have A LOT of
crap! Also, a tip for your readers: A simple kitchen towel will extend
the life of your printer by years! Trust me on this!"

"And finally, my newest ikea creation!...

As a photographer and children's book designer, I need a lot of paper
storage. This is my newest creation, 2 stacks of Ikea's Fira drawers,
with a small table top holding them all together! Please ignore the 2
really pathetic looking planets on top of it. They were just repotted!
I swear!" - S.C.

Lisa M Griffin

2008-09-02T17:46:00.008Z

Lisa M Griffin, graphic designer & illustrator
New Hampshire
www.lmg-design.com
www.lisamgriffin.blogspot.com

I have enjoyed this site for so long but never felt my studio space was neat enough to want to display it. After a HUGE organization effort this past weekend and some help from a rather talented friend and neighbor, I am happy to show off the new and improved space. ;)

Eileen Reilly

2008-08-31T14:40:00.004Z

Very messy desk.

Eileen Reilly, museum technician,
Toronto, Canada

I work with other mountmakers (we make artifacts stand on their own when they can't) for the new galleries at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Our space is the former dinosaur area so not everyone can say they are surrounded by the "land before time" theme when they go to work. Many of the remains of the old dioramas (see trailing greenery) and murals are still around us. Forgive the messy desk there but I was hardly near my desk when that picture was taken so it really didn't have to be clear. I'm more tidy at home where I have the basement (not great for light) and the 2nd bedroom/den for the computers.

Alease Michelle

2008-07-27T01:04:00.024Z

Alease Michelle, Collage Artist & Fashion Instructor
Rock Hill, South Carolina
http://www.aleasemichelle.typepad.com/
http://www.aleasemichelle.com/

Welcome to my desk. I am an collage artist and an instructor. And because I do both activities at home, I require two desk. One desk to work on collages and the other desk to create lecture presentations.

I tend to have lots of projects going on at one time. So my project board helps me stay on schedule.

I also collect images that inspire me and after collecting images for over 5 years, the collection can grow. So below is my way of organizing my images. I have a notebook for each category. It has really helped me stay focused.

I love to dream about the possibilities of life. So here is my creative visualization board. I paste any and everything on this board and hopes of them coming true.

Then I have an area where I showcase those I admire. It too keeps me focus on my dreams, and hopefully one day they might be a collector of my work.

Well thanks for viewing what on my desk.

Peace & Love ,

Alease Michelle

Morni

2008-07-25T18:09:00.023Z

Graphic Audio Artist/ Musician
East London, UK.
www.mornimusic.com
www.myspace.com/mornimusic
www.youtube.com/mornimusic

Hello and welcome to my studio. I live and work in a turn of the century Victorian warehouse in East London. I am very fortunate to have space to really spread out. There are 3 main areas 2 studios and a study. As a Graphic Audio artist, I work with a mixture of media. music, digital photography, video and other visual manifestations. My desk is actually two desks facing each other. I am a very tidy person overall and can’t start the day's work unless everything is in order. Still most of the time my desk still manages to fill up with piles of paper, but it’s always gone by the morning. Each desk has a computer one Mac and one PC. I use the Mac for digital photography and artwork. The very old PC is for the Internet mainly but I also have started writing articles on it.

My work process doesn't start at the piano. By the time I'm working here, I already know the melody and in most cases I've written the lyrics. I always do the music last. It forces me not to gravitate towards familiar chords. The pencils on the cabinet are not for show. The worst thing that can happen to you if you are writing, is having to break your chain of thought because you've misplaced a pen or pencil. By the end of the day there are pens and pencils all over the place. It's very handy to be able to just grab a pencil and write. I use my old tape machine (which records) to sketch out ideas. The white cabinet is full of taped musical ideas one idea per tape. So I can come back and develope them into songs later. I finally record live, to my trusted VS1680 (ie; the grey machine) sitting on the workbench.

For the full tour of my studio click here Thanks for dropping by : )

David Paccia

2008-07-22T21:37:00.030Z

David Paccia, Artist
Massachusetts, USA

http://david-wasting-paper.blogspot.com/

Here is my drawing table. It is nicely cluttered as usual.

This is a closeup of the top shelf. Don't mess with Dr. Doom! There are lots of toys to keep me distracted. The round object in front of Mighty Mouse is a speaker for my iPod. I like to listen to the Blues when I draw, especially Joe Bonamassa. The framed Charlie Brown I drew for work when we decorated our cubicles at Christmas. It is done in pen and watercolor.

This is my drawing surface...although there really isn't much "surface." Lots of books and DVDs.

Here is a better view of the DVDs, mostly classic animation, and of course, Crumb. I highly recommend the "All Monsters Attack" DVD if you are into classic monsters. It is about 2 hours of old monster movie trailers...good stuff.

You can never have too many pens...

...especially when you aren't at home. These are three pen holders that I alternately lug around with me at all times.

When I need a break I pick up my guitar. Note the monster and sci-fi movies in the background. And yes the plastic monster figures are "glow-in-the-dark."

Here is a recent piece that I have done.

Please stop by my blog and say hello.

Jen Renninger

2008-05-14T14:50:00.013Z

Jen Renninger, illustrator
Tampa, Fl US

www.jenrenninger.com
www.pleasebestill.blogspot.com
www.jenrenninger365.blogspot.com

Welcome to my workshop! My studio is actually an extra room in our house. Not too big, about 300 sq ft. The bookcase is the first thing you see when coming into the room. All of my collage materials are in the white binders at the bottom of the shelves. Everything else is just scattered around ... usually the closer to my seat the more something is used! I found the featuring sign at a local thrift store. Just love that!

This is my desktop, looking quite a bit cleaner than usual! It has my computer, where I finish nearly all of my images. I try to keep some pictures of my family and loved-ones in close sight.

I just found a Spirograph at a yard sale recently and here are a few of my first trials sitting on the desk.

A few drawing placed together to make a light shade..

This is my supply shelf .. paint and pencils and ink..

Color inspiration on the bookshelves..

And an inspiration drawer from inside my flat file. I love to keep little findings readily available to organize into a collage on top of the flat file.

Whats on top of my flat file at the moment..

And last but certainly not least, my constant companion in the studio: Barley.

Thanks!

Randel Plowman

2008-04-13T19:33:00.015Z

Randel Plowman, Mixed Media Artist
Bellevue, Kentucky
www.rplowmanstudios.com
www.acollageaday.com

I live and work in a turn of the century Victorian home located in Northern Kentucky. My studio space is approximately 320 square feet. This is where I work on mixed media collage, digital photography, experimental video, painting and printmaking. I have two Macs that i use for photo and video editing and a PC that i use for sound editing.

The boxes under the work table hold found material that I use in my collage work. I am fascinated by what others discard and no longer use.

This is my worktable. I enjoy having things around that inspire and motivate me.

The painting area.

Most artists that I know enjoy collecting things. Here is a collection of crucifixes and religious statues that i have found at local thrift stores.

I also collect black and white photographs...

and autographs.

Hilary Wagstaff

2008-03-12T14:26:00.010Z

Hilary Wagstaff, Artist, Designer and craftsperson,
Penarth, Wales,
www.hellomoshi.blogspot.com/
www.ripcurlgirlblues.blogspot.com/

This is some of the stuff that is generally on my desk in my studio at home. I am an absolute magazine fiend, and so there is always some World of Interiors copies in the process of being plundered for interesting pictures of chairs or some nice patterns that I can pinch for a drawing or a collage. I am involved in an artists book project called 1ssue, so quite often, other people's work is on my desk too, waiting to be made into a book.

I make clothes for Blythe, which is an outlet for my mad sewing desires, and extreme love of fabric and pattern, so this is Lily, sporting her new top amid my sewing things. As you can see I like to have everything neat and tidy and organised. I cannot work in a mess and have a tendency to become a bit frantic about chaos.

My studio is at the back of the house, and has a lovely view over our garden. I have gradually got it more and more organised with these great chests from IKEA replacing an old plan chest that took up half the room. This is the place I think too, and listen to music, and is very much my domain. I get to have everything just how I like it in here and that means I can work and concentrate.

I like to have all the elements for my collages and my books in drawers and boxes so that I can find what I need quickly, and also I keep so much stuff, bits of paper, small things for my boxes that I need to have them in some order or else it would just be junk. I make boxes and books, and one of my heroes is Joseph Cornell.

The colours in my room are very calming, and I find this to be the most peaceful place for me and the place where I am most at home. It's definitely a place that saves my sanity, and keeps me focused on my creativity, and is a space I can reflect on what I'm doing and scheme up new projects. If there was only enough time...
Thanks for letting me share my space with you.

Brenda Raub

2008-03-12T00:17:00.010Z

Brenda Raub, Illustrator
Mountain Home, Idaho
www.brendaraub.com
www.cre8art2day.blogspot.com

This is my dog, Spencer, he likes to stand on my desk and patrol the walking path by our home. He will alert me when someone is walking by which can create interesting marks on my artwork by the startle his barking causes. My studio window is always covered in dog snot.

Just looking at my collection of color pencils makes my eyes smile!

Magnetic primer paint ROCKS! I put it on my studio walls and when I need a break from drawing, I'll write poetry with my magnetic words.

Clutter shuts my creativity off. I can't work until I'm organized. Luckily, I have a lot of shelves and storage in my studio.

Color, cool storage for organization, and quirky stuffed animals all get my creative juices going! Thanks for checking out my studio! I hope you'll visit my web site too.

Nicole Vachier Lozano

2008-01-28T04:02:00.000Z

Nicole Vachier Lozano, Fused Glass Artist
San Antonio, Texas USA
website: http://glasstouch.net/
blog: http://nicolevlozano.blogspot.com/

I work with glass using a kiln to achieve results by heating the glass to specific temperatures. I have three kilns two that run on 120volt and one which uses 240volt. The larger kiln has a working space of 23 x 23 inches. The kilns are extremely well insulated and although internally they reach temperature of up to 1750degrees Fahrenheit, I work comfortable on a table only a few feet away.

My workspace, which once resided inside my home as a dinning room table, gives me room to cut and assemble sheet glass prior to the initial firing. This is where I plan each piece, laying it out and writing firing schedules (i.e. notes that indicate the specific times/temperatures each piece will be fired to as wells as other possible variables). I keep basic cutting tools, adhesives, writing instruments, rulers and a scale close at hand. Under the table I store bags of plaster/silica which I use to make molds, like the faces at the far end of the table.

I use wooden crates to store my sheet glass.

I also have space set to accommodate tools I use to cut and abrade the glass after its initial firing. This includes a bit grinder, belt saw, hand held drill and lapidary wheel all using diamond bits/rings and water. Because of the use of water with power tools this area is outfitted with a GFI power source. This part of my workspace can get a little messy.

Carla Ferrera

2008-01-23T23:23:00.002Z

Carla Ferrera, Architect,
Rio de Janeiro,Brazil
http://www.caferr.com/
http://caferr.blogspot.com/

I'm an architect and illustrator, but my main work is about architecture and well, I don't have much space here so I divide my work between two rooms of my apartment. Frida, my drawing desk, is in the living room, where I have a good light and fresh wind all day long. Frida has this name because at some point it remembered me Frida Kahlo's bed since it's such modified according to some phases of my life. I am moving to London in some days and I would bring it if I could...
I can't remember when the mirror came but I immediately started to cover it avoiding to look at my own face while I am drawing

Most of my material is kept inside drawers but I leave some close to me and they fit perfectly for all sketches.

All my projects start on Frida before go to the computer, but I already used itself as my canvas too : )

Sometimes I work during all night long and I got these pics of my view from the window in a Summer day. A storm coming at sunrise.

I keep my little office in another room, where I also keep part of my books and stuffs and try not mess it even more...

This is my “Thing”. Unfortunatelly it doesn’t walk like it does with the Addams Family so I gotta bring my coffee by myself... :)

Virginia Cole

2008-01-07T02:33:00.000Z

Virginia Cole, quilter
Moses Lake, WA USA
website: http://www.gallopingpony.com/
blog: http://gallopingpony.wordpress.com/

I'm a miniature quilt collage artist so I have a few areas to work in. This first photo is my cutting area and sewing table to the right. I don't need much fabric to sew miniatures but I like a wide variety. The stack of suitcases on the left serves two purposes, to hold art and decorate my booth at quilt shows.

On the opposite wall is my collage table, I like having many things within reach. The bookshelf to the left holds old books, sheet music, buttons and frames. Larger frames on the floor.

I have a fondness for painted metal drawers, they're great for storage and you can stack whatever you want on top. On this one is a wooden box of vintage optometrist lens, rulers and a metal container full of old postcards.

Here's some more metal drawers on the collage table, papers, buttons and you can see a collage in the gold frame behind the books.

Katriona Chapman

2008-01-06T22:34:00.000Z

Katriona Chapman, Illustrator,
London UK
www.iris-illustration.co.uk

"I have a very tiny workspace, but my work tends to be quite small so it's not a problem as long as I stay organised. I fit everything around my drawing desk which was given to me by a friend. She lives on the other side of London, and it took three of us to lug it across the city on public transport.

I like having a lot of images around me, and I have a frequently-updated collection of illustrations that I like on the wall next to my desk."

"I keep my printer under the desk, but if I'm doing a lot of printing I take it out. If I don't, I have to keep bending down to retrieve prints and I usually end up banging my head at some stage."

"My work is mainly pencil-based and I use a jewellery-box from Muji to store most of my pencils. I tend to organise them according to how frequently I use them, so that I don't have to hunt through ones that I hardly ever use when I'm looking for a particular colour."

"I hate throwing away pencils that I've almost used up. I continue to use them until they're ridiculously short, then keep the stubs as souvenirs."

"I have nowhere to store large pieces of paper or paintings so I just keep them stacked against against the wall. My dream is to own a planchest one day."

"I have a few shelves for art supplies and general junk that I like to have on display. I have quite a lot of toys relating to children's books and children's TV, and a lot of handicrafts that I collected while I was travelling in Mexico. The big bullet is a new addition to my collection: I occassionally work at a large London theatre, and recently while I was watching a show there, an actor ran past me and lost one of the bullets from his cartridge-belt. I felt bad about keeping it, but I liked it a lot and I figured they would never miss one bullet when each of the actors was draped in hundreds of the things!"

"I've put up various bits of shelving around my tiny room, trying to take advantage of the high ceilings that I have. They may not be the best workmanship that I've ever seen, but I like the fact that I put them up myself." -K.C.

Ellen Crimi-Trent

2007-12-14T20:14:00.000Z

Ellen Crimi-Trent

Illustrator, product designer

Abington, Massachusetts

www.ellencrimitrent.com
http:ellencrimitrent.typepad.com

"My studio is the old garage under our colonial house which is about 500 square feet. We took off the garage doors and put in windows and french doors to bring in more natural light. I get a nice view from my desk of the outside which today is rainy. As you can see its quite the walkway. We go from our driveway through my office up to the kitchen, so I cannot have obstacles along the way and I would love to use this space! To the left is my desk and I have quite the guardian watching over me. He is a reindeer that Fred Meyer stores made out of one of my characters. The kids all think that he is like a horse and climb up on him which has not worked out well."

"This view is looking straight onto my desk as you enter and turn right. I have soo much stuff on it but find it hard to get rid of things when I know I will need them. Below the desk is a round black coffee table that was a prop for one of my Surtex shows which now houses products I get and miscellaneous goods. I try to every now and then clean it off, but it always seems to be the dumping ground. The painting in the back I did when I lived in Brooklyn in '91 and I had a studio with some of my friends. This is one of the few times I painted in oils and loved it!"

"These days I am working on some new xmas patterns for potential wrapping paper and stationery products, so you see them here on my desk. I generally paint in gouache and mix my colors and keep them in these little plastic cups with covers. I used to get them at Pearl Paint when I lived in New York but now I can pick them up almost anywhere. My brushes are not that special, I tend to get whatever is on sale since I got through them allot. I have one of those very large cutting mats protecting the top of my desk and it comes in handy if I need to cut anything right away. My desk is an antique my dad gave me that I had restored along with the flat files. This is where it all happens folks!!"

"Here you can see a close up of one of my cabinets that house some of the many products that have been produced with my designs on them. Also there is a much more closer look at them up close. Some of these were for Fred Meyer, some for Boston Warehouse and some for JC Penney. I have soo many products that I cannot keep them all in my studio, mostly they are in boxes in my attic. I love to use them when the holidays are around like Halloween for instance. those pumpkin candles I put along with matching plates on my mantle in the family room. I love to see my designs turn into 3d products. The kids love to get the fun snowglobes and stuffed toys."

"Here is that same cabinet with another next to it and you can see my treadmill and workout bench! Yes! I do try and workout, and it's not easy with the schedule I have,but I have to make sure I get at least 4 in a week. There is also a mini bookcase behind this pole that has many giftbags that I have designed. I keep them around for when I need to wrap a gift in a hurry! The chest of drawers to the left is an old civil war chest and I use it to house many of my prints/ designs. The drawers are a bit sticky but they work."

"This is what I see when I am sitting at my desk. I love to watch certain shows when I am working, like Oprah just so I do not feel like I am alone all the time. The antique flat files were given to me by my dad and I had them refinished. These too also house many of my designs. Although I wish they were a bit bigger. To the left is a bookshelf that is in the process of being made over, and to the right is a cabinet that holds many of my supplies and fabrics. I know that this studio could use some work, and I am working on it. I would like to give it a major face lift as they say and get more organized and colorful, and add a couch as well. I guess for now I will just have to dream about it and just keep concentrating on work. I know some designers have these swanky work spaces ,which is my goal in the near future. I am hoping by the summer I can get it together to revamp the place but for now I will just be content to designing in the space I have!" - E.C.

Julius Ohta & Terumi Yamamoto

2007-11-10T00:18:00.000Z

Julius Ohta, Illustrator
Terumi Yamamoto, Account Mananger
São Paulo, Brazil
www.fuzion.com.br

"My name is Terumi and I am manager of an illustrations studio sited in São Paulo, Brazil, named FUZION. I found On My Desk a couple of days ago and I would like to showcase our studio."

"We work in a team of four and Julius Ohta is our senior illustrator. There is Samara, my assistant and Sayuri, art assistant. We offer illustrations to advertising companies and we are quite busy here."

"My contribuition on interior design is the coloring pattern, where white and silver rules and an almost red tone orange make contrast. I wanted to show not only how serious our work is, but also something modern and fun."

"Our super cool lego shelves are our salvation, ‘couse they are good not only to separate environments but also to store CDs, books, papers and a lot more."

"This is Julius’ desk. Pretty clean, hun? Well, it is not like that all the time. It used to be a mess, with books and papers everywhere. But nowadays he is creating directly on his macpro – which is hiding under his desk. A sketch drawing on paper is for rough only or for fun - as he says."

"This is my personal desk, with 2 computer monitors. I wish I could work only on my mac mini, but my bank software doesn’t work on mac. So I handle with both, mac and pc."

"These are our assistants’ desks. We ask them to keep it clean, but they are already pretty organized. At a first look, our place seems cold, but it is quite fun."

"We always have a background. music, which makes us inspired to create cool stuff like these little monsters that we call as Poupançudos. They are pretty famous among brazillian children."- TY

Suzanne Buchanan

2007-11-05T00:53:00.000Z

Suzanne Buchanan
designer : illustrator : teacher
North Carolina

http://www.suzannebuchanan.blogspot.com
*coming soon* http://www.suzannebuchanan.etsy.com

Welcome to my little studio. In it I love to draw and make things.

I have two nice work surfaces. The first is this great drafting table found at a yard sale for 50-. My dad cleaned it up and "voila" I have this wonderful place to layout my work.

It is so big I can proudly display my collection of markers and color pencils without them getting in the way. I use these tools on a daily basis and they make me happy.

Above this desk hangs a bulletin board with a multitude of things that inspire me. As you can see, much of what I love comes via snail mail. There is nothing like a handwritten note on beautiful stationery.

In a cleaning frenzy last year I decided to give away all my bookshelves. (Yep, I'm not too sure that was a smart idea either...) As a result, stacks of books decorate every room in my house, including the studio. The first stack is my collection of sketchbooks. Most of the books I draw in I find on sale at Borders. I like the fact that they are big and cheap...it takes the pressure off having to make "perfect" sketches.

Here's my other desk AND my computer. I could go on and on about Mac....but I'll spare you the details. Let me just say this...I love it. Above my desk hangs a painting I began working on a few years back. It's unfinished, but I like it that way.

I keep current projects in files on my desk. I really wish I was inherently organized, but this is something I definitely have to work at.

Under my desk, in his favorite spot, is my studio companion Pokey. Quite possibly the best dog ever, he is an expert at keeping my feet warm and unplugging my computer right in the middle of an unsaved project :(

To the right of this desk is a caricature of my fiance Edgar and I when we were in NYC a few years back. Under it is my favorite painting of Pokey.

Here are two more of my studio friends.

I'm lucky to have two big closets in my studio. They really help in my goal of staying organized. Off to the side of my closet is an enlarged film strip of my parents on a beach trip soon after they got married. This is one of my favorite possessions.

It's funny how some images leave indelible marks on your memory. Ever since I was little I wanted a closet like the one in the children's book "The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room."

While I don't have the beautifully colored shoe boxes, I think this is as close as I'm going to get.

Well, we're at the end of the tour. Thanks so much for visiting and on your way out please feel free to take a card :)

Drew Lawson

2007-10-25T20:17:00.000Z

Drew Lawson
Freelance illustrator and graphic designer
California, U.S.A.

"My work space is split up around the house based on what I am working on at the time. Upstairs is my office and desk which is always covered with papers and works in progress. I cleaned it off and found this collage with a drawing I made with white out!"

"This is one of the things I’m working on at the moment along with a mural design and a old school cut and paste punk ‘zine. This is a pencil drawing of a friend’s brother who passed away recently."

"These are my toys that I collect, and they hang out on this shelf I built and watch over me while I work."

"Here are some art books I keep on this rickety bookcase that I have had forever."

"I also put out a local arts magazine in color with ads, ect. Here is a piece I was doing the other day on B&W photo art."

"The computer room here is also a guest room and looks really stark and plain. The only distraction I need in here is my little tech deck. It helps me relax."

"Here we are out back in the “lab”. This is a piece I did for a contest at my other job. Hope you enjoyed looking around. Keep creating!"- DL

Lisa Stewart

2007-10-13T00:32:00.000Z

Lisa Stewart (ECStewart Designs Inc)
Raleigh NC
http://ecstewart.com
http://ecstewart.blogspot.com

"I wanted to showcase the hard work that my fabulous husband, Andrew constructed. Believe me, it won't stay this impeccable. Three years ago, we designed my office and he pretty much did all the labor (building,installing) including the studio door! At the very least, I painted the walls. Overall, I wanted the shelves to be different -undulating and Disneyesque; areas to showcase 3D work; a cockpit design so that I could roll back and forth (the cats now know to tuck their tails!); and a dedicated place to keep my portfolios orderly (right by the door)."

"The key to my personal organization are plastic bins."

"Unfortunately, I had to remove my drawing table (downstairs in our theater now production area) where I paint my originals and replace it with kitty gear. Pip, our Ocicat has become a permanent studio cat due to his 'not playing well with others' issue. One day I'll be able to reclaim that space."

"Can you tell that I love red?"

"Shrine corner that extends to the bulletin board to kitties in my life"

"I collect gargoyles and have a few guarding the studio."

"I collect cigar boxes in many forms and here's a shot of one I use as a
greeting card holder."

"I have lots of beautiful mugs, but this one is simply unforgettable and has taught me that dogs have a sense of humor and the preferred spelling of food."

"Here is a sample of some of my first printed fabrics."

"Looking out my studio window. In many cases, there will be more than one squirrel fighting and it's entertaining to watch them playing king of the bird feeder." -LS

Katy Horan

2007-09-15T03:06:00.000Z

Katy Horan, Artist,
Brooklyn, NYC
http://www.katyart.com

"My studio is a little room just off my bedroom. A lot of the apartments in my neighborhood have a similiar room. I was confused because it's too big to be a closet and it has a window, but then a friend said that it was once a nursery...mystery solved. So anyway, it's a great little room. I have only been working in it a little while, but it is by far my favorite workspace I have ever had! "

"This is my favorite part. I look at it and feel calm because it is nice and organized. It's the first time I've had this sort of shelving action. I dig it. I keep all my inspiration books there, Gocco stuff, the stuff I sell on Etsy, frames and surfaces."

"Here's my window. God bless it. It get's lovely light during the day so I don't go crazy when I work. I can also look out the window and say hello to brooklyn when I feel like it. I have a lot of old frames, so I just hang them there and they are pretty out of the way. There's also space to keep other random supplies."

"This is where I keep my little stock of merchandise. There are some cards and Gocco prints. I hope to add some books and zines to this very soon!"

"This is a little display area I suppose. The big one and 3 little grey ones are by me. The one with the bird lady is a print by Evan B Harris and the round one is a needlepoint piece by Merrilee Challis. I got it at the first Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn before I was ever familiar with her work. Both of those pieces are very special to me."

"Since there isn't that much room, I keep a lot of surfaces and my in progress pieces at my feet. It's good though, because I can just jump between pieces easily."

"Here's my actual desk area...messy as hell. I actually ordered the wrong desk top from Ikea. I plan to get a much bigger one, because this just ain't working!"

"This is my little paint table. It's quite handy...."

"...because it has this little drawer where I store my favorite mixed colors!"

"This is a jumble of brushes and other things that I need to keep at my fingertips. pencils, tape, sharpeners, my little scraping tool (I've had it for years!), papertowels, sketchbooks, and a little painting that I'm working on."

"Finally this is me actually working, well my hand anyway. I've been drawing a lot lately, which is great. Drawing for me is 2nd nature and much less stressful than painting. I've am planning on using a lot of these new drawings in books I am gonna make. So, to be a big art geek for a second, I have to point out how awesome those Staedler lead holders are (that's the pencil I'm holding). I heart them. Also in this picture is coffee. I love coffee...it is an indespensible part of my work day." -KH

Madeleine Stamer

2007-09-05T00:20:00.000Z

Madeleine Stamer, Artist/Illustrator
www.littlecircusdesign.com
Melbourne, Australia

"I live in an old part restored Victorian terrace that has loads of character. The natural light source is wonderful. My work area is very small for my liking but I no complain! It’s a designated area in one corner of the lounge room. Minnie our 11 month old and the dog have circuit races under the desk; they weave through my legs and around the perimeter of the room and back. We are lucky to have some really cool art made by our clever artist friends such as the ceramic ‘love me’ candy by Nicole Durling. Ebony Postma made the giant hair clips."

"Our home is quite small and I have limited space to work. I don’t have the luxury of spreading my paints and other materials out around me so I store my gear in boxes and get it out when I need it. I just keep ‘the essentials’ on the table and some of my favorite bits & bobs for inspiration which I regularly rotate. I work on the floor if I’m doing larger work. I’m currently designing wedding invites for a client and working on three illo’s for Melbourne’s Child magazine. My hubby and I share another table in the hall where we rest our weary old PC and Mac, they sit side by side harmoniously (the computers and us at times!)"

"I love my little ‘Iggy & LouLou’ dish and this funny duck-on-wheels which I commandeered from my husbands old toy collection. That weird looking gold object behind the flowers is my prized Vaughn Bode limited edition Cheech Wizard vinyl toy (I have all his comics too) I have a stack of collected objects that adorn the house, I love to re-arrange them in clusters all about the place (just like a big kid)."

"Elsie having a kip, also a good place to keep your toes warm."

"Just to the left of my desk we have a kooky rocket shape cabinet that weighs a bloody ton, our artist/sculptor friend Pablo made it. I’ve just finished a new piece so it’s a convenient spot to hang work to dry. We have a grouse balcony with two huge long windows. The balcony gets as HOT as Hell in the summer though."

"I collect crosses, crucifixes and t’s and love old religious imagery and icons. It freaks my husband out a bit though!"

"A view of the fireplace: the leadlight was a lucky ‘find’. To the right, one of my ceramic sunflowers."

"We have collected cacti and succulents for years and have them all round the garden, they’re great with the draught. The shapes and patterns influence my work greatly. They’re a bugger to weed though.

Thanks Linzie for the spotlight on my place in space! " - M.S.

Corey Pandolph

2007-09-04T22:26:00.000Z

Corey Pandolph
Cartoonist/ Comedy Writer
Portland, Maine
www.barkeaterlake.com (comedy)
www.cpantoon.com (illustration)

"Here's where all my bad ideas come about... A cheap drafting table form a college bookstore, cluttered with half drawn comics and spent pens that I don't have the heart, or energy, to throw away. The God of good fortune and creativity, in the middle right, looms over the desk... Taunting me... Always taunting me..."

"This is the first thing I ever built with my tools. An enormous desk that weighs more than a small northern Maine village. This is where I write, browse, procrastinate and cry. So many tears. My laptop is a refurbished MacBook Pro, which I’m considering having surgically attached to my torso. It’s warm glow and overheated titanium casing help me sleep better than an Ambien dissolved in a glass of Maker's."

"That's Norman, the Tubby, snoozing in his favorite chair. Next to him is my axe, ready to fake rock out at any fake moment. Above him is a sports section from the 1946 World Series that I found under the flooring in the guest room." -C.P.

Yolanda Gonzalez

2007-08-30T00:16:00.000Z

Yolanda Gonzalez, Illustrator/ Graphic Designer
Grand Rapids, Michigan.
www.altpick.com/yodraws
www.yodraws.com/yoblogs
www.yodraws.etsy.com
www.flickr.com/yodraws

"I work at home in a mid-century modern house. My studio is just steps from the kitchen and overlooks the backyard. Large paintings are piled here in between shows."

"Sketchbooks, sewing machine, crafts all share space on my studio desk. I often work on multiple projects at once."

"Hours of natural light pour through the large windows in my studio. I love that. Here I'm starting to paint an old cigar box."

"Color is an important part of my work. I keep many paint palettes close at hand. The little round ones hold gouache colors I use for my illustrations."

"Here below an inspiration board made of FLOR carpet squares is where the technology sits. I now have a powerbook so I mainly use this monitor to catch up on What Not To Wear on EYETV." -YG

Giovana Vazatta

2007-08-29T23:27:00.001Z

Giovana Vazatta,Illustrator
Fredericton, Canada
http://ca.geocities.com/gvazatta/

"I took these pictures especially to "On my Desk" while I was working on my illustrations. This is my desk almost all day. But as it is also my dinner table I have to make some changes on it in the evening. Every day I organize things accordingly to what I am using in that week. I try to put around me all my tools so that I don’t have to get up every time I want to use any of them. Depending on the week there are different things on my desk, but basically I always have my pencils, brushes, papers, pots, books that I am reading at that moment, and magazines that use to cut off images and insert on my recent collages. Frequently, I have close to me my paints to make watercolors."

"Here is a detail of my desk in this week. I spend most of my afternoons here. I love to be here and to work while listening to the radio. Good songs have always inspired me."

"To relax during my work I go to my laptop computer where I navigate a little and talk with friends. When I have to finalize some of my works I also come here to digitalize them."

"I really think the sunlight is very important while I am working, so my desk is very well positioned on my room."

"I recently received from a friend of mine this magnetic Hello Kitty. She is like the old paper dolls; I just love it. I put it on the second favorite part of my house, the kitchen." - GV

Irisz Agocs

2007-08-21T15:56:00.000Z

Irisz Agocs, illustrator,
Budapest, Hungary,
artista blog
artista howto
artista website

Here is my desk when I'm working. I have no different places for painting and using my computer, so I need to share the place which is quite small.
Mainly I use watercolor, dye, and pencil for making my pictures, all the other supplies are in small boxes in a case on my desk.

I'm working on a wacom tablet and I don't use mouse at all.

I have also my scanner on my desk.

And there is an always busy and handsome co-worker in the other part of the studio. :)

photo: Dorka Taskovics