Living and Working in a Live Work Space.

We moved into our loft/condo in June of 2010. It was a fairly quick process in that we started looking in April and ended up closing the deal and moving in June. Because I have my studio space in my home, it was important that I 'set up house' and my studio rather quickly. As it happened it was about 2 weeks of organizing, packing, moving, unpacking and not painting.

I wanted to get back to work as quickly as possible so I organized the space as best I could in a hurry. Unpacked boxes and put things in their new place. I even made use of the few screws that were left in the wall to hang artwork thinking I could get to it in time. 

So here we are three years later and not too much is different from when we moved in. I'm still not really happy with the 'flow' of the layout. Thanks to the builders vision there was certainly not much choice as to how I arranged the living area, working area, pet area etc. We Have beautifully large windows (which I love) but very limited wall space for hanging artwork. This is a bit of a problem as on occasion I have clients visiting to purchase my paintings. I want my space to be a reflection of the beautiful spaces in my fave decorating magazines where my artwork has appeared.

Living and working in the same space can be crazy and chaotic but it provides a lot of freedom as well. Much time is spent preparing to paint, searching for supplies and cleaning up afterwards. After all my work table also doubles as our dining table. 

So I've set a goal for myself to tackle this design dilemma once and for all. I know there is much I could do with my live/work space to make it more conducive to creativity and visually stunning. I've made myself a binder to keep all my tear sheets of design inspiration, ideas, and paint chips. I'll be updating some shelving in the studio and I'm finally getting work together and framing some pieces for an art wall that I've been dreaming of for years now.

This will be a big job but one that I'm finally ready to take on. Although I have no problem making decisions about paint colors in my art, and I think I've done a fairly good job of making use of the space we have, I think it's time I called on a professional for help. Stay tuned.

A New Year.

 First Snow  36x48  acrylic on canvas

Sold  

Canvas Gallery

Canadian House and Home Magazine 

February 2006

It's been somewhat of an odd week here so far. Feeling a bit out of sorts getting back into a regular routine after a few weeks of odd hours, dinner parties, celebrating with family and friends and way too much celebratory eating (is there really such a thing?) Yes! 

I am 4 days into a New Year's resolution of working out before I get into the studio, and I am aching and feeling muscles I forgot I had.

Over the holidays I was given a HUGE pile of home decor magazines and spent many hours going through them. I'm a bit of a magazine junkie so this made me very happy. I was pleasantly surprised when I came across a Canadian House and Home magazine from February 2006. My painting 'First Snow' was included in a beautiful master bedroom designed by Gluckstein Design. First Snow, and a collection of my landscapes and available cityscapes can be seen here at Canvas Gallery.

My Morning at Cityline.

If you know me personally or read my blog you know how much I like the show Cityline. I've been trying to get a spot at a Home Day taping for what seems like over a year, so I was thrilled to get an email late yesterday informing me that I got a spot in the audience for this mornings Home Day. 

The last time I attended a taping of Cityline I was on the show. Well not me, but my paintings. Kimberley Seldon was so nice to include two of my small paintings in a design segment that she did. You can read that post here.

 Kimberley Seldon with Tracy Moore

 'Gossip'  8x10  Acrylic on canvas

Available at Art Interiors

 Host Tracy Moore chats with the audience on the old set.

Today's taping was a little different as it was on the new set. It's smaller and more intimate than the old set, I think. There is so much to see behind the scenes that never gets to air. It's well choreographed chaos but everyone does their job so professionally, while having what looks like a ton a fun. Looking forward to seeing the episode when it airs next Thursday.

 Today's taping, in the green room.

 Behind the scenes with Suzanne Dimma

Editor in Chief, Canadian House and Home Magazine.

 Chatting it up after the show.

Tracy and I after the show.

So nice, she spends time after the show speaking with audience members and posing for photos.

Magazine Junkie

I'm addicted to magazines!!! I'm the first one to admit that I'm a magazine junkie. This is quite evident by the piles and stacks of magazines that can be found throughout our place. I just can't get enough of them. Above is a shot of what I'm reading right now. OOPS! I just realized that Oprah and Martha aren't in the shot. Of course they're included!!

I like all kinds of magazines not just the art or crafting and scrapbooking mags. I especially like the home decor mags with Style at Home and Canadian House and Home as my favorites (if I really had to choose!). It's really very exciting for me when I open up a magazine and there's one of my paintings hanging in a beautifully designed room. Sometimes my paintings are lent out as props for photo shoots. This is wonderful publicity for me as my name (or gallery name) is mentioned and in most cases the client purchases the painting. Above are 2 examples. My painting "Spring Birches" in Style at Home, October 2007 and "First Snow" in Canadian House and Home, February 2006. You can see more on my media page right here.

New Work at Art Interiors

I delivered six new paintings to Art Interiors last week. They are a wonderful gallery here in Toronto and have been providing beautiful, wonderful art to decorators and art collectors for over ten years now. Their philosophy is that everyone should be able to own an affordable piece of art. I highly agree with this and especially to "buy what you love". It's one thing to buy a piece of art as an investment but if you are buying a painting for your home or office and you are going to be looking at it everyday, it should definitely be a painting that brings you joy and "speaks" to you.

Lisa Diamond Katz and Shira Wood came upon my booth at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition in 2003 and asked me to bring some paintings into the gallery. Good fortune on my part as my work is carried by such a well respected and well known gallery. Not to mention the publicity that my work has received-this is bonus! My work has appeared in Style at Home magazine and the 2008 Benjamin Moore colour brochure-Tranquil House. My paintings have also appeared on numerous occasions on the television program Cityline with Marilyn Dennis with guests designers Kimberley Seldon and Brian Gluckstein.

If you're thinking of buying some original art for yourself or as a gift, check out Art Interiors. They even have a wedding registry. Pretty awsome, I don't know of any other galleries that provide this service. An original piece of art makes a great gift. Perfect for weddings, birthdays, Mothers Day, Fathers Day or "just because". Wouldn't you love to receive a beautiful piece of art?? Let's face it, who really needs more bath salts or chachkas!!!