From Drab to Fab,

From daggy garage and carport to a wonderful Art Studio and Picture Framing space.

What artist doesn’t dream of having the freedom to create and leave things set up to return to?

What creative person wouldn’t want to create a studio gallery where your paintings can be displayed, a place you can share with people who love to see art?

It was 20 plus years of setting up and pulling down art most days before this dream came into being.

With the help of a builder friend and my husband Huw, our daggy garage took on a change. We were inspired by the simple look of the wooden boat sheds seen around Tassie. Where we could, we used 2nd hand materials, doors and windows from Gumtree and timber from the local saw mill for board and batten cladding for the exterior walls.

The garage was dark and dingy, the carport had a dirt floor. But the size of the space about 7x7meters sparked the potential for a fantastic art/framing studio.

I love wood, and Tasmania has such a beautiful variety of wood. One of my favourites is Huon pine, for its colour, smell, figuring and history. The local 2nd hand furniture shop was selling slabs of Huon pine, we bought 2 slabs to become the back bench that also held a sink and had shelving built underneath.

On the framing side, a storage room, sink and bathroom were added and custom made tables to cut and store mat board and cut glass.

The Studio space

The dining table was usually the place I painted from for many years. It was a dream to set up a permanent space so that I could return anytime, and leave things set up in the studio.

We used a combination of Colourbond roofing and Suntuf roof sheets to help light up the space. In some places some material insulation was added, inside walls and on some of the ceiling. We used plywood pine panels for a natural look on the walls. Electrical lighting and plumbing was added to make it fully functional.

I love natural light, it made such a difference to be in a space so well lit up, when mixing colour and painting details. The studio side is made up of a gallery, shop and painting area.

Framing space

Picture framing was always something I wanted to learn, knowing how useful it would be as I developed my art. We were renting at the time when we saw a picture framing business for sale all the manual machines and tools included, everything including a few lessons.

We squeezed it all into one of the rooms, it wasn’t perfect timing as I had a very young family to care for, I just did what I could and developed the skill of picture framing. It was some six years before it finally found its home in the newly renovated carport now framing space.

I’ve learnt many ways to frame, for example box frames for sports jerseys. Floating frames for canvas and the typical mat with frame for most prints, art, and needlework. It has been exciting and challenging.

Picture framing is very personal and unique to the individual their taste and what it is that needs to be framed. It makes the art/ print/ image look its best and be able to display. I love to see the client come away thrilled with how their piece turned out.

Being able to frame my own artwork has helped reduce the costs of creating art which are many. And explore interesting ways to frame my art. I love Tassie wood and like to use Blackwood and Huon pine and Oak in some of my framing.

In conclusion

Whilst the Studio/Framing space still has a few issues that need tweaking, for example it needs better insulation/ roofing ideas to keep out cold and heat.

For a creative person to have a place set aside specifically to create is not only very gratifying but allows one to have the space to thrive.

I hope sharing how we made this old daggy garage into a fab studio/ framing space will be an encouragement and inspiration for fellow creatives to dream and explore ways to make a space, no matter how long it takes.