Your Studio - Better at Home?

The Canadian painter Robert Genn recently sent round an article wherein he strongly recommended that a young man have his studio in his home in order to overcome his procrastination. His argument for this stance is that everything is right there so you have no excuse to not get to work. Mr. Genn spoke of how, while his house was full of company at holiday time, he escaped to the garage to paint.

My reaction to this story was a mixture of envy and longing. I tried to picture myself doing the same while entertaining company. Nope, I don't think I could get away with it. Is this a gender divide or am I just not brave enough to put my own desires ahead of my perceived responsibilities to other people?

Mr. Genn did have the good grace to send a reply to my reaction, and I quote, "You got me there Laurel, men do get away with murder". So I think my suspicion that men have an advantage working from home is correct. The dust bunnies and piles of dirty dishes just don't call out to them in the same way. I am sure I am generalizing somewhat and there are male artists who also have trouble ignoring the other tasks at home and women who are better at using their time, but I don't think I am alone in my difficulties working at home. When other jobs are not the issue, my own inherent laziness sometimes surfaces and I find myself making a sandwich or calling a friend or trolling the internet.

I recently decided to rent a studio outside my home. I am not sure whether this will improve my productivity, but I suspect it will. Maybe it is just me, but I often find myself putting in a load of laundry or cooking something when I had every intention of working on a painting. My feeling is that having a space solely dedicated to my work will mean more painting gets done.

Don't get me wrong, I love my work and spend hours and days happily immersed in it, but interruptions are sometimes frequent, especially when the three other people I live with are around.

How about you? Do you have a studio outside of your home, or do you create your art at home?

By the way, if you do not already receive the really terrific twice weekly letters from Robert Genn, you can subscribe at http://www.painterskeys.com and be sure to search through the backlog of clickbacks from the past as there has been some terrific information discussed.