Every artist needs their creative place like a bird needs it's nest when it's time to lay eggs. You need a place to go to that says create. You must do what you can to make it a place that will inspire you. It must feel good in there.

Allow your self time to make it the place you want to be. Clean it out and de-clutter on a regular basis. Have art up on the walls even if it is just flea market oddities and pictures clipped from your favorite magazines or old rock and roll posters. The idea is to surround your self with an environment that will get your artistic juices flowing.

Though I prefer a clean and uncluttered place, the painter Francis Bacon had said that his studio was the only place he could work because he could not work in places that are too tidy. "It's much easier for me to paint in a place like this which is a mess," So I guess figure out what you need and make that.

The photo above is the carriage house in back of our house which is surrounded by our micro urban farm. Inside it has the feel of a northern Michigan cottage. The walls are reclaimed tongue and groove pine from the old 1840s Pike house here in Grand Rapids. It has a wood stove for heat and plenty of windows for good light. We rent the upstairs out for young artists to live inexpensively and at the same time they get a regular look into the life of a full time working artist.