How to Make – Large Studio Easel in 6 Easy- Peasy Steps

When I built my studio years ago, I needed to have a versatile easel. I couldnt find anything suitable in the shops and my budget wouldnt allow for much.  So, I went about creating one from my left over pieces of timber. I needed one that would take small to very large canvas’s at once. I needed lots of space too, as being an abstract painter, I slosh paint and work very quickly, sometimes on many canvas’s at once. I wanted a permanent space where I could work on small canvas’s 30x30cm up to very large ones 4 x2 Meters . My easel ended up being 9 meters long x 4 meters high and after 12 years of daily use my rough and ready easel is still going strong.

My simple plan…

Materials & Equipment

Cut yourself or buy 2 equal lengths of  hardwood or pine however long you want the easel to be. This is for the floor and wall runner that will hold all the upright struts.

Cut yourself or buy equal lengths of hardwood or pine for the uprights. Decide how many uprights you want to hold your canvas .To get the length of each piece , measure from floor to top wall at the angle you want the easel to be.

Bolts nails or screws

Wooden dowel lengths of wood for pegs

Drill with a “spade” drill bit the with the same circumference as the dowel pieces you have

(Spade bits are used for rough boring holes in wood.)

Tape measure

Hammer

Drill

Method

1.Everything will need to be measured and cut for the area your are working on.

2.Grab the floor runner piece,lay it perpendicular to the wall on the floor, judging the best space between the floor runner and the wall . Screw, bolt or nail to the floor at intervals to secure. (Note) Remember to allow enough space from floor runner to wall for a slight angle for the upright pieces of wood so your painting canvas can to sit without falling

.

3.Grab the wall runner piece and screw, bolt or nail to the upper wall at intervals and make secure.

4. Lay all your upright pieces of wood together on a flat surface together (floor )and take your drill with the spade bit and make holes from bottom to the top on all the lengths of wood. The spacing has to be equal across the whole lot.

5.Take your pre cut lengths of wood with the holes and sit each one so the bottom is sitting in front of the attached floor runner and at the top against the wall runner with the holes facing you. Screw bolt or nail the upright struts to floor runner and to the wall runner at top. (Note)Go along the floor runner at whatever spacing you want with the upright struts to be.

Almost done. Cut lengths ( 6inches) of dowel for the pegs that will hold all your canavas’s

Note: If the pegs dont fit in holes… Round off one end with sandpaper by hand or with an electric sander.

All done!!!  Now grab your canvas and paint to your hearts content

© 2012, Jenny Davis. All rights reserved.

( Ending Soon) MASSIVE STUDIO SALE  20% off everything! Outlook8studio Etsy shop

© 2012, Jenny Davis. All rights reserved.

“Merci beaucoup” to my lovely daughter and partner who sent me some gorgeous art materials from Paris for my recent Birthday. A huge lot of art materials all packed in a very smart wooden case. The case will be extremally usefull when all art materials are gone as well….xxx

© 2012, Jenny Davis. All rights reserved.

“Everything Gains In Grandeur Every Day.”
Giacometti

“The more I work, the more I see things differently, that is, everything gains in grandeur every day, becomes more and more unknown, more and more beautiful. The closer I come, the grander it is, the more remote it is.”
– Alberto Giacometti, Giacometti: A Biography

© 2012, Jenny Davis. All rights reserved.

When I was googling the other day I came upon this question.

“How many cats do you need to acquire before you can officially become an old lonely cat lady?

Ok, it got me thinking about myself and my life.

Do I qualify?

1. I have 3 naughty cats ( is that enough?)

2. I’m a baby boomer (I qualify)

3. As an artist, I enjoy my solitude and quiet life on my own. Choices I made along time ago, so I could concentrate of on my creative life.

4. I enjoy getting up everyday knowing, I can create whatever and whenever I want, or not.

5. I love that I can do what I do.

6. I love and appreciate my beautiful family and friends who understand this strangeness in me and who are my biggest support in my life and work.

7. I love to grasp life using the time I have been given, to concentrate on creative ideas, projects and thoughts.These are the things I need to get out of myself to survive .

8. I feel extremally grateful and fortunate to be given this tiny space in time to express myself, but mainly, I want to give something back…

9. Sure, I can be a bit of a bag lady and sometimes go around with unkept hair, clothes full of holes and paint and pull a little cart to collect wood and found objects, with 3 cats in tow but, I’m also a very creative, intelligent and vibriant woman who knows what she wants.

Am I a lonely old cat lady? No, I’m just an artist who happens to have cats.

Now that’s out of the way I can get back to the studio where the cats are waiting…

Are you a cat lady and an artist?

© 2012, Jenny Davis. All rights reserved.

Although I didnt win the “Aesthetica Creative Works” competition in England, I feel very honoured and pleased to announce my photograph

“Rider across the Light”

was chosen to be featured for the front cover of “Aesthetica Creative Writing Journal” 2012 Edition.

I have also been awarded a feature in “Aesthetica Creative Works Annual” 2012

An anthology of new works that explore contemporary artistic practice and brings together 75 global artists who represent contemporary visual culture across a range of media, from painting to sculpture, photography to installation and more.

Big thank you!!! to everybody at Aesthetica

Website Aesthetica

To buy Aesthetica Magazines

© 2011, Jenny Davis. All rights reserved.

I am very pleased and excited to announce I have been shortlisted for this years”Aesthetica Creative Works Art Award” with my photograph ” Rider across the Light”.It was chosen from over 3,000 entries. (Sorry but cant show you the photograph until judging is finished.)

The winner will be announced upon publication of the Creative Works Annual, which will be released in early December 2012. I will keep you posted…

Aesthetica is a British arts and culture magazine. Founded in 2002, Aesthetica Magazine covers literature, visual arts, music, film and theatre. It has 60,000 readers and national and international  distribution. Cherie Federico, managing editor of Aesthetica was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

© 2011, Jenny Davis. All rights reserved.

Layers layers layers. Did you know? many of my paintings, especially oil paintings, have layer upon layer of pigment and glazes. Each painting can take many hours,weeks even months to complete.

What is a Glaze?
A glaze combines two or more transparent layers of paint, which have been applied over an opaque underpainting. Each transparent layer builds on the ones under them, creating new colors and added richness depth and interest to a piece.

Rembrandt would paint in layers, building from the back of the painting to the front, by using coats of glazes. He would use at least 15 layers of transparent glazes in many of his paintings. That is why they seem to glow and emerge from the darkness of the background.

A few good sites to find out how to create glazes in your paintings
http://painting.about.com/od/oilpainting/a/glazing_FAQ.htm
http://painting.about.com/od/oilpainting/a/Glazing_Tips.htm
http://painting.about.com/od/oilpainting/a/GeraldD_glazing.htm

© 2011, Jenny Davis. All rights reserved.

© 2011, Jenny Davis. All rights reserved.

Lately I’ve been experimenting with natural dyeing processes for fabrics and papers. I’m trying out rust dyeing at the moment. I want to build up a collection of natural and rust dyed fabrics and papers so when my next creative spurt comes around, I’ll have plenty to work with.

Over the years I have collected heaps of metal for welding my sculptures so have plenty bits hiding on my property just rusting away. The gathering of the metal objects, wrapping them with the fabric spraying with vinegar and binding with rope and wire is quite relaxing. I call it mummy wrapping.

It only takes a couple of hours for marks to appear but I like to keep mine for up to a week or two so I can get deeper impressions and colours. I discovered if I wrap fabric around old pieces of copper pipe the amazing green and red patinas are transferred to the fabric as well.

I’m happy with the end result and see connections to the abstract marks I create in my paintings. There are paintings in themselves

Go to my tutorial on Rust Dyeing here

© 2011, Jenny Davis. All rights reserved.