Workplace pictures

[novabelgica]

TMR had an interesting suggestion a couple of days ago, about posting pictures of our workplaces, so I thought I'd go ahead and post some. I think it would be cool to see what everybody's shop looks like.

Our workplace is basically devided in 3 area's. Remember I work in a family business which makes wrought iron stairway railings and marble/granit/white stone fireplaces (although we've decided as of next year to say goodbye to fireplaces and concentrate on the iron work).

The first area is where we cut marble, but now it also serves as the place where we cut steel. We use a SAF Nertajet ZIP plasma cutter.

The second area has a hydraulic table. Here is where we polish and assemble fireplaces, but also do some welding. Equipment includes a MAGSTER 200 welder and a COMMERCY CYTIG 400. You may also notice the pin-up calendar in the back, which apparently is mandatory for our line of work. :D

Third area has a long (fold out) worktable and most of the iron-working equipment. There's the furnace in the back, an ERFI TURBO MIG 4000 under the workbench and not in the picture, 2 drills, and several other machines of which I do not know the exact English name. :rolleyes:

Then there's also a 4th area with our wood-working machines and a lathe(?).

We also have another shop further down the street where we do our bronze casting.


So... Who's next?

[TMR]

Hiya novabelgica,

So, had a feeling you might start the ball rolling :) well done...

The initial idea was because I'm just reinventing my studio @ home, my older workplaces being factories, bathrooms etc.... :D
And now I've joined the ranks of homeowners, I've decided for a home workshop, pros and cons for this I'm all sure we know...

Therefore interested to see where other people spend a large portion of the day/night :)

So here are a few pics . The old shed is 4 by 7, and the new slab I've just put down is 8 by 6, so a decent sized workshop will be born soon, fingers crossed:)
Though it will look pretty bizarre, planning a skillion roof for the new section,high windows, sunlight sunlight sunlight....

yea yea, I know the old workshop looks pretty scary, and it is :rolleyes:

BTW, what an awesome place to create from you have novabelgica,
tre groovy indeed...

[sculptorsam]

It took me a bit, but here goes. I'd like to say that I took these at a particularly disorganized time, but that would be dishonest. This is where most of my work happens. To assemble the larger works I move outside in the summer and next door in the main shop in the winter. There my dad has his metal shop where I can find most all the equipment I could ever want to use. Break, shear, plasma cutter, MIG, TIG, etc.

[Araich]

My happpy little shack...

I took a bunch of shots this arvo, you can see them here: http://www.roberthague.com/sculpture/gallery/studio.htm

[fused]

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v239/fused/ART/Art-studio-Wiz.jpg
This studio tends to be very cluttered and dirty.

[Julianna]

My studio seems to be more of a cubby-hole in comparison, but here it is... And just out of curiosity, where are your studios? I've just got a corner in a former warehouse.

[obseq]

I've got to say I am slightly jealous of your spaces ;)

Having a place devoted to work is great motivation, however, having recently relocated to Los Angeles in June, everything is ridiculously expensive here.

Laughably, studio spaces here are often peddled as affordable at ~$1000+/mo for something small. For now, one-third of my apartment is occupied by three large pieces I am dying to cast, so I cannot work on them.


I'll just 'work' vicariously through your studios for now. It is always nice to see the spaces where we all plug away at those insistent and sometimes fleeting visions and moments of inspiration.

[icreate]

this is such a good thread. I must run right to the studio today and take photos. Some of the best shots have been in the videos by the press, wish I could make some of those in to stills. I will shoot some photos as after 12 year I am now considering leaving my studio. It has been great for me. An old shotgun house set back within the property of with old oaks surrounding it. small kitchen area and bathroom. It is getting old though and run down, and because I rent I do not put the money in it that I would if it were my own. Cold in the winter, hot in the summer... but then aren't all studios?

I would be more sad about leaving if....

I were not building my own space. Yep as we speak I have the architect drawing up plans. It is on our own property and technically we will be calling it study/gameroom/storage because of the neighborhood restrictions. It only measures 24 x 28 with some various outdoor storage added and a place under the steps for the cement mixer. 2 offices upstairs and mine will have a door! I think I am more excited about that then anything else. A door, shut everyone out! The yard is incredible with the streams and ponds we have added so it will be a wonderful place all together ( see photos of pond and stream at http://www.creativesculpture.com/myponde.html)

I can't wait to share as things progress on the new place. I will miss many things about having the old studio. By the way if anyone is in Houston and would like it, renting for about 250. a month let me know.

[ExNihiloStudio]

Here's where I work. It's a crumbling brick building with a leaky roof in the heart of the old industrial center of an old mill town in the Northeast. Most folks might turn up their noses at it, but the owner lets me melt bronze there and no one else is around to complain. Has anyone ever had trouble finding a work space because the other artists already there don't want someone who will be grinding, pounding, making flames or other atmospheric disturbences? Sculptors have such demanding space requirements but so many artists buildings seem to be set up only with painters in mind.

[fritchie]

Mark - Thanks for posting these pictures. Maybe I’ll have to, also. My long-term founder had a somewhat similar situation when I first met him about 1966 or ‘67 during his MFA days. He was in an old New Orleans commercial district not too far from the university, in a building that might have been a store, warehouse, or something similar.

I saw one pouring there, but only pursued sculpture classes for three years before running out of new material and not being able to go further professionally at the time. Later, he shared the space with someone who did metal assemblages, which obviously seem less threatening than the firestorms that occasionally come from casting facilities, and that artist finally bought the building.

My man moved to the country about then, some 70 miles from N. O., and has lived there since. He says that he always notified the N. O. fire department when a pouring was scheduled, and they sometimes came to observe, but obviously it became too much at some point.

Can you imagine the liability costs for a foundry today, in the midst of a city business - residential neighborhood?

(My studio is in a nearby suburb, but all I do there is work with clays, make molds, and from time to time do some grinding as part of bronze-chasing.) A bit noisy on occasion, but generally innocuous.

[sculptor]

OK studio trouble uploading seems over

1st) pix of house and studio I built in Iowa-----studio is on right---woodshop on ground floor, and clay and office above----storage in center and in outbuildings

2nd) is of office's south east corner shot from n-w corner

3rd is of sketch i used to isolate my concepts for the mermaid redoo---which is in background of office pix

next, I'll show the studio portion

rod (http://home.mindspring.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://home.mindspring.com/~mandali/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/rod.patterson.jpg&target=tlx_new&title=American%20figurative%20sculptor;%20Rod%20Pa tterson)(sculptor (http://sculpture.alturl.com))

[sculptor]

OK 2nd installment

1st) is of studio from n.w to s.e. It is well fenestrated and has excellent cross ventellation with 2 south facing patiodoor-sets of 6 and 8 feet, one of 12ft facing east, and a smaller 4x5ft window facing north. There is also a built in exhaust fan capable of one air exchange every 2.5 minutes.---in hot weather, I can use this to draw air from the cool woodshop and attached sub-basement wherein resides the woodstove surrounded by excellent thermal mass in concrete at 10-12 inches thick on all six sides.

2nd) is of studio facing s.w.

3rd) is of outside of studio shot from s.e corner of deck/balcony next to my bedroom

[sculptor]

OK---3rd installment

here is pix from the e.studio doors looking out onto deck where I do most of the work during decent weather

1st is facing n.e. over the coralville lake(the damed Iowa river) lower down, you can see the greenhouse just completed

2nd is facing due east looking over the garden and balcony clutter----clay is soaking in the tub to wash off cured plaster.

so------this is what I built so-as to have a place to work. the studio floors have a 1:270 deflection when loaded and a 1:360 when not loaded, kind of takes it easy on these old knees and ankles. the woodshop has a concrete floor, so I wear padded insoles and lay down plywood or foamboard when i have to work there for long periods-----nothing quite like cleaning up the tools and starting early in the morning with the rising sun shining into the east 12ft patio doors----the whole place glowsand I feel empowered and free.

rod (http://www.artists-gallery.de/img/sculptor4.jpg)(sculptor (http://www.dailyiowan.com/news/2002/10/18/Metro/Truly.Trucking.Art.To.The.People.Of.Iowa-300617.shtml))

[rderr.com]

quote"...nothing quite like cleaning up the tools and starting early in the morning with the rising sun shining into the east 12ft patio doors----the whole place glowsand I feel empowered and free."

rod(sculptor)



Rodin said, “We (sculptors) are a luck group. We do what most men would like to do” And I would add: If we are gifted we are not envied for doing it but admired. And that is a glow, without hubris, equal to the sun’s That said I love your "nest".

Robert

post scriptum

Cleaning the tool(s) is the best anti-funk I know.

bob

[steponmebbbboom]

I just came home from a meeting with the director of the Cotton Centre and he confirmed what Ive been hearing all along, we move-in by mid-month and we have an opening on October 2nd. This really is the first artists' collective of its scale in Hamilton, and we're all really excited about it. I should be able to get some pics of the place in a couple weeks. The third floor gallery is really the jewel of the place; it's this beautiful Baroque-style warehouse thing with exposed beams and brick walls, about 30,000 square feet with new lighting. Anyone in the area can PM me for details, I think we even have a couple spaces left.

[fritchie]

Beautiful work and living space rod, and the best part is, you did it all yourself; a live-in sculpture.

[Julianna]

Here's where I work. It's a crumbling brick building with a leaky roof in the heart of the old industrial center of an old mill town in the Northeast. Most folks might turn up their noses at it, but the owner lets me melt bronze there and no one else is around to complain. Has anyone ever had trouble finding a work space because the other artists already there don't want someone who will be grinding, pounding, making flames or other atmospheric disturbences? Sculptors have such demanding space requirements but so many artists buildings seem to be set up only with painters in mind.

When I was looking for studio space, I certainly found that most of the space was meant for painters, with some which seemed friendly to sculptors who work in clay. I did have a strange experience with a woman who was renting out a room in her home as a studio and/or studio apartment. It took quite a bit to convince her that she didn't want a stone sculptor in her home creating potentially hazardous dust... especially when the room was next to what would be her dinning room... and I'd have to walk through the dinning room AND the kitchen before I could get to the bathroom. It would have been great for a painter though.

I was lucky with my current studio, because it has other sculptors/tenants who are noisy and/or create atmospheric disturbances. And because most of us are there now before the building is too full, new tenants know they need to put up with us (instead of us having to convince the non-sculpting tenants that it's okay for us to be there).

I'm sorry to hear that folks turn up their noses at your space. The folks who know I have a studio in an old crumbling building seem to think it's perfectly in keeping with the image of an artist. But then again, who knows what they say about it when I'm not around ;)

[rderr.com]

Guys I’ve been off line now for about a month trying to prepare this workspace. The warehouse was built in the 20ies as a produce warehouse. The photos is of about a 1/3rd of the floor space that has been transformed into a gallery, gallery3.com The rest of the 5000+sq.ft. is divided between me, rderr.com and an architeque, Robert Burrows.

Robert Derr

[rderr.com]

I've had to post this in two times as the file is too heavy.

RD

[fritchie]

Looks like a very nice gallery space, Bob! The overhead lighting is especially dramatic. Congratulations!

[jwebb]

A very nice space, Roberrrrt. And I believe that some or all of that overhead lighting is itself your work, nez ce pas? Is this your private gallery? Who's the painter? Have you moved, or is this the same warehouse you've been in? Congratulations.

[rderr.com]

Yes Joe the light suspension is my work and, yes, it is the same warehouse space. I’ve taken management control, “of a heard of cats”. End quote one of the painters. The painting that is so visible is by Beck Soria. I’ve placed it on an easel so that the light can shine through. It is very sculptural that way n’est pas.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrroberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr(t )

[sculptor]

Once I spotted flamehead-john the baptist, or.....
i looked for the roo crew with lights

"gallery"..."a long narrow corridor or room"...(websters unabridged #9)
gotta love the light---and the way the space helps direct the eye from one piece to the next.

what really amazes me is that it is soo clean

more pix of the wall hangings?

rod

[rderr.com]

Mornin' Rod,

It's a gallery, long 100 feet and narrow 15 ft. The outside wall is 15 ft. and the inside 25 ft. The mornin' sun comes through two large and tall windows shines on the pieces that are in the photo; two african mask, and one of my spirals.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrroberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr(t)

ps I'll post throught-out the day the Sun's trajectory.

[rderr.com]

The back of the gallery at 10:00a.m.
The 'roo is just visible against the entry to my studio. If you will magnify you can see the sign STUDIO RDERR, with the D of studio serving and STUDIO and DERR. The work over the mid-century buffet is by one of my 6 painters, Becky Soria. The Fishballs are painted footballs by Solomon Kane. On the left side of the buffet is my take on Grant Wood's American Gothic. On the right is a wire hemi-hemisphere by James Fryer. The 8ft. circle is the birch wood and canvas panel for a Christ Pantocrator that Lucy Caire is doing.

[rderr.com]

The middle of the gallery at mid-day
On the coffee table in walnut by Tammy Bracha, is Sailfish in ipaie, Bravillain ironwood, by my student, Don Ray. This is his 7th project. The man has progressed in a very step curve from beginning in March with learnin’ which end of the chisel goes against the wood, to now doing his Sailfish in lost was bronze. That will be the subject of another thread.
The Left from left to right: My chair, called Dog. It will follow you where ever and I will demonstrate it one of these times. Over the Door are two paintings by Omar McDonald followed by two photos by Carra Bara. The next grouping is my anthropomorphous chairs and tables in oak. with painting by James Fryer, followed by photos by Linda Walsh. The middle is cut off from the front gallery on this side by the back of Becky Soria’s beautiful study of soft sensuality in yellows.
The Right from right to left: This uncluttered view shows how I’ve organized the gallery. Each artist has 10 square feet of wall space in the middle gallery. There are eight of them. Each of them has a one-man one-month show in the front gallery. And two one-month group shows. There is space for guest and I curate two guest show in the year. So, there is first 10 feet of James Fryer, followed by 10 feet of Solomon Kane, followed by 10 feet of Becky Soria.

[PeterG]

STREWTH!!!....You are all so horribly neat!

I'm going to turn up at my workshop tomorrow and weld the door shut in embaressment...Hmmmm..actually, I'm not sure that I can even close the door any more due to the piles of steel strewn about the place.

I'll think about posting a few pics of the mess for your horror/amusement :eek:

P

[JAZ]

STREWTH!!!....You are all so horribly neat!

I'm going to turn up at my workshop tomorrow and weld the door shut in embaressment...Hmmmm..actually, I'm not sure that I can even close the door any more due to the piles of steel strewn about the place.

I'll think about posting a few pics of the mess for your horror/amusement :eek:

P
Go for it Peter! It wasn't all that long ago when I could actually keep my space fairly neat, but in the last six months I've been sweating over a seven foot steel piece that has a hex on it, learning how to do small cast paper things, trying to photograph and format things no one has seen so that I can bring a portfolio around, and enlarging my own collection of steel, etc., etc., etc. For the first time since I moved into this space five years ago I will not be participating in our local Open Studios tour (tomorrow and sunday) because there are just too many tripping hazards and too much mess in my work area. Fortunately the corridor outside my studio (like a little gallery) is chock full of my sculpture, steel and wood wall pieces, Holga photographs and paintings. I am capable of keeping that fairly neat - because of course I don't work there. And I'm setting up a display in front of my (locked) door with images of that steel piece that's just waiting for paint, some wooden wall pieces, and other images of recent stuff, my guest book and a big bowl of leftover Halloween candy. (We usually get about 200 kids knocking at our door on Halloween, but my husband said that this year only about 150 showed up, therefore lots of leftovers). Anyway, I know what you mean about the - can't let anyone see this mess - thing!
JAZ

[PeterG]

OK! Heres the mess... Is there a prize for the messiest workshop?

I'm going to have to do something about all of those weeds before summer really sets in and they become a fire hazard.

Hidden in the shadows is a 210Amp Unimig MIG welder, Esseti Plasma cutter, various grinders/cutters, a self made ring roller and a self made gas forge.

I am fortunate in having a 10 acre block in one of the last semi-rural areas still within the city limits. I hope to one day set up a sculpture park at the back of the property.

Its great to see the spaces everyone creates in.

Peter :D

[JAZ]

Lucky you to have the land. Also, today it snowed here, so we don't have to worry about weeds just now! You have four pieces that look like fountains of steel rod with a vertical rod sticking up. Are these meant as all part of one installation? Nice dog.

[sculptor]

OK! Heres the mess... Is there a prize for the messiest workshop?

I'm going to have to do something about all of those weeds....

Its great to see the spaces everyone creates in.

Peter :D

Hi Peter
10 whole acres-----gee------yer mess could have an exponential increase without running out of space

If you really want that prize, you're going to have to try just a little bit harder

rod
sculptor (http://home.mindspring.com/~mandali/index.html)

meanwhile, ¿how about posting some closeups of the work too?

[fused]

A few recent shots...

http://photobucket.com/albums/v239/fused/ART/April%202005/th_working01.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/fused/ART/April%202005/working01.jpg) http://photobucket.com/albums/v239/fused/ART/April%202005/th_working03.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/fused/ART/April%202005/working03.jpg) http://photobucket.com/albums/v239/fused/ART/April%202005/th_April2005-01.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/fused/ART/April%202005/April2005-01.jpg)

[fritchie]

Fused - Thanks for putting up these pictures. Both the sculpture and the shop space are impressive.

In light of recent discussions on workplace safety, I can’t help commenting on your helmet. It looks as though you have your head inside a TV set. Is there a fan of some sort inside? Or does the rectangular shape hold extra “getters” for foreign material?

[fused]

Actually fritchie that is my welding helmet in the first picture, although it has a 'auto darkening' lens, I'm still in the habit of 'nodding it down' as I strike an arc.

I am far from politically correct --in a similar fashion to the public sculpture thread-- as image #1 catches me arc welding wearing a T-shirt and image #2 captures grinding steel without a protective visor/shield. I do have a full face shield for grinding and also a welding helmet with a flip up lens, both of which offer full face security from the projectiles of grinding. I use both ear plugs and head-phone type hearing protection (as music is a huge inspiration to me) and usually employ some form of breathing protection when conditions are bad.

I'll never be the poster boy for personal protective gear.

[Araich]

That's interesting about ear plugs + ear muffs - I thought that I was the only one out there who did that. I pretty much put -29 decibel ear plugs in as soon as I arrive, and add -30 decibel ear muffs when I grind/cut etc.

I have come to like the 'cacoon of silence'.

[Araich]

I'm stunned at how much stuff I've accumulated since I posted on page one... I had to shoot the studio for a portfolio I'm doing and the images from today make my little space look positively empty back in July 2004!

http://www.roberthague.com/sculpture/gallery/studio.htm

[steponmebbbboom]

Never did get any pictures of my studio, I have since moved into a smaller space while I await a suitable space for blacksmithing.

Last March I discovered Peak Oil theory, which I wont get into here (do a google search using those keywords) but it completely changed me, I have since decided to focus on a low-energy skill that allows for creative expression as well as the possibility of making useful tools and hardware, I now have an anvil, coal forge with blower and several tools I made awaiting a suitable space, I may be settling into the loading dock area on the first floor of the main building at the Cotton Centre. Here I am at www.thak.ca using Robb's coal forge to make a hardie spike.

[Landseer]

Looks like a fellow long haired there :) your tail is only about 6" longer than mine though mine doesn't show in the pic much due to the angle.

I don't have much to show yet, still have finishing work on the new studio room to do inside and outside this summer. I'm in the room I added on, it's only about 8x10 or so but has a cathedral ceiling, large skylight 2 windows and a door to the outside. I still need to get the door and 1 window- had to close the roughout openings up for the winter.
I use the basement for casting but the studio room for modelling and mold making.

[F.C. White]

I prefer things simple....(hahaha)

[Landseer]

LOL!!! thats a good one

[F.C. White]

At last, I finally got a chuckle out of you, Landseer :) I'm the one doing the pour, by the way. My buddy Jim is the gaffer. We posed that pic a few years back to poke fun at the art community here in Alaska. It's theme... "it ain't rocket science, ya know". It also comes in handy when people make the statement, ..."I didn't know anyone could cast metal in Alaska". I hear that a lot, believe it or not. We're work'nn on one for next year using an igloo and frozen surroundings as a back drop.

[rderr.com]

FC,

Love your sense of humour. You should add bone to the list of materials that you use. The pelvic basin in the work place pic. is from what animal? I use a lot of bone and would love to have the scapula and pelvic basin from bear, moose, seal, and whale. add the brest bone of trumpeter swan, while your at it. In the photo here in my new studio are two of my totems in wood and pelvic basins of buffalo and beef.

Bone can be burned out?

Robert Derr

[iron ant]

hey now it took me weeks to clear 9 years worth of "crap" out of my space so I could pony up for my show.My former studio was in a old chicken house.Get this 600'x30'x16'.I scabed in 1500 square feet and when I opened my door at night I would see a single lightbulb on every joist for 550',it was bizzar,but the best damn storge I ever had.I guess I will have to post a shot of my studio,which constanly is turned upsidedown,but workable....IA

[iron ant]

Talking about helmets too my photo cell helmet had been acting up for awhile.This weekend it only worked on one side,so I closed one eye tilted my head to the good side and welded with one eye,ya lots of fun.Late yesterday my new helmet arrived,4 cells so you dont block as much and I could see.I think I welded my show half blind.Had to get the flames,my 8 year old would not have any other way. :) IA

[steponmebbbboom]

Hmm, got any shots of the old coop?

[iron ant]

Hmm, got any shots of the old coop?

Actually I do,but one problemo,somebody dowmloaded Adobe photo album 3,and it is overiding my photo shop,and I have no freeking idea how to change image size and so forth, so I can't get it small enough to download on this site.The reason it was so long,z chichen house,was because they buit two back to back.When we moved the new owner would not let anybody have the tin,and he dug a hole and plowed it under,thought that was pretty sorry,but he kept my shop.Local red knecks trashed it with grafitti,and he never moved anythinfg in it,pay back for burying 600 feet of very usable material....IA

[steponmebbbboom]

I took some shots of the space Im working in for the moment as well as a couple shots of the space I hope to be moving into. They are all way too large to upload to this site so I have them hosted elsewhere. Here goes:

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/steponmebbbboom/100_0569.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/steponmebbbboom/100_0568.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/steponmebbbboom/100_0570.jpg

[steponmebbbboom]

So there's where Im at currently, it's about 150 sq ft with not much room for anything except storage, until another suitable space comes up. Since Im doing blacksmithing it has to be pretty specific. This is the space Im waiting for:

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/steponmebbbboom/100_0565.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/steponmebbbboom/100_0566.jpg

I would love to use the stack functionally, but I dont think it will draw naturally so I'll probably have to pipe straight up with a 14" stack. But it sure looks cool. Almost 1000 sq ft inside. But it's huge money.

[steponmebbbboom]

And lastly, here's the anvil I just had machined and some tools I made during training:

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/steponmebbbboom/100_0571.jpg

The large white bag is filled with bituminous coal, the fuel I use for forging. Once I get setup in the new space Ill post some photos of the forge and tools in action.

[Landseer]

Oh cool, you'd have WAY too much space there to ever use, I love it nice old 1900 factory warehousy theme :)
Used to be loads of spaces like this in SOHO area of Manhattan, where artists were able to get entire floors of raw space CHEAP with high ceilings in some of the old manufacturing buildings- usually 24 feet wide by 100 or so feet deep.
And since it was illegal to live in these buildings zoned for manufacturing most of us had to keep that a low profile.

Around 1980 I had 1,000 sq feet in one place on the 7th floor, on the corner with 6 huge windows offering views South, East and West for $331.00 a month. It was a cool building, was once the power plant for the cable cars on Broadway.
No heat after 5 PM, none after 1 PM on Saturdays and NO heat on Sundays or Holidays, unless outside it got to 1º F, no hot water either. Believe me it got damn cold fast- lots of windows are nice for light but the heat goes out like they were open. It would get down around 45º in there by Sunday nights

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/Randall2/room725collage.jpg


http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/Randall2/cable-outwindow.jpg (http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/Randall2/cable-outwindow.jpg)


I also had a view of "The Wall" barely visible on the extreme right in the photo below-which at the time I thought was just a structural support for the brick wall but turned out to be "art" go figure ;)
You can see how the pieces of steel channels at each floor level looked like they were tying in a weakened wall that was starting to give way...
These were the kinds of buildings you could find such space in cheap, at least till the area became fashionable and started changing from manufacturing to adding discos, apartments, chic stores and the dead-at-night-and-weekends life suddenly became "THE" Place to go for night life and rents started going up-WAY up. Mine doubled in one year to $656 and now the same space rents for several thousand dollars a month, so, few of the marginally profitable artists could afford these lofts any more and were largely driven out.

Sometimes I miss the atmosphere there on a warm summer late Sunday afternoon and evening, often I was the only one in the building.



http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/Randall2/south-out-window.jpg

[steponmebbbboom]

Stop, Im going to cry. :(

[David Aponte]

Hi here my shop Hacieda Fortunata. the place were l get away from it all.
my home away from home.

[tobias]

Wow what a wonderfully varried bunch of studios I like a few of you am inthe middle of building a new studio as I just bought another house with a garage. Actually I bought a garage and it just happened to have a house attached to it.haha I have been working for about a month on the new place and studio but just recently had an accident and dislocated my right shoulderso things have ground to a halt. But I will post my old studio and some in progress pics of the new one. So the first pic is my old space in the basement of my house. It worked well but was very small. The rest are of the new garage with studio and bike storage and the last is of some of my stone and my bench and other stuff outside the garage dismantled and not being used at all.

[steponmebbbboom]

surprised i never shared this with you guys.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/steponmebbbboom/Picture001.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/steponmebbbboom/Picture002.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/steponmebbbboom/Picture003.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/steponmebbbboom/Picture004.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/steponmebbbboom/Picture005.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/steponmebbbboom/Picture006.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/steponmebbbboom/Picture007.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/steponmebbbboom/Picture083.jpg

[evaldart]

Just a portion of My old studio in Jersey city. 11000 sq feet, 27 foot ceilings, Manhattan views. A stretcher for a 22 foot painting has cleared some floor space for a day or so. Manwich looks on in disgust (rest his soul, he always hated paintings). Sentry (red) to the right prepares to be dethroned as the tallest art in the building) Bicycle's under the knife again (my 240, balancing a case of Natural Ice in the beer basket and a pothole). They're building condos there now.

My current space is smaller but I work outside most of the time so there are actually no limits.

My 365 lb Peter Wright anvil. We have been blissfully beating each other up for many many years. Also note my favorite 4 lb cross pein sledge.

[Landseer]

Not quite a workplace photo, but I acquired a pair of solid oak doors from work- they had replaced them when they replaced all the windows and stuck them in the warehouse, now they are cleaning it out and were going to throw them away!
I took them home, figure I'll either use them individually in my shop to be built, or as a pair. They are 8 feet high, about 36" wide, 2" thick and made of SOLID oak with double glass, solid means they must have used 10/4 thick boards to build it as there are no laminations or veneer.
They were either custom made (typical for this company) or they were made in the shop itself about 20 years ago.

They are in great solid shape though painted on the one side (the exterior)
I couldn't believe how heavy they are, I can't really lift one dead up so they are probably a good 150# each. They are designed so that they can be shortened top or bottom considerably.
Those hinges are as thick as I've ever seen- 5/16" I think.

And yes, they travelled home on the roof of the car individually :)
If nothing else I can make solid work tables out of them, sell them on Ebay or re-use the lumber out of them, so they are worth the effort to haul home and store- somewhere.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/Randall2/door.jpg

[underfoot]

My shed started out as an 8 week project , three years ago.
it's made completely from salvaged and recycled stuff.
and it's about 150meters from my favorite surf break.
I'll finish it one day.
for google earth people its 30,07'36.40"S 153,11'50.28"E

[steponmebbbboom]

im laughing at those old pictures of my shop now. here's the 1/4 of the shop left i can move around in:

[AKady]

im laughing at those old pictures of my shop now. here's the 1/4 of the shop left i can move around in:

Well if you need to make some room I would be more then happy to take one of the v-dubs off your hands

[steponmebbbboom]

you mean my cold dead ones? ;)

[GlennT]

Robb: I enjoyed the website and the history and religion of Thak.
Thanks for the link. Hope others check it out as well.

[AKady]

you mean my cold dead ones? ;)

One mans junk...

[Aaron Schroeder]

I drove a Vanagon for ten years.......I loved that piece of shit. I don't know why.

Life got a whole lot better when I traded it in for my fifteen passenger Ram Van. It has much more power, is bigger, more reliable, better gas mileage, cost less, easier to repair......just better.

[suburbanartists]

Under - you call that a shed? looks like paradise to me. gives me an idea for new thread.

[steponmebbbboom]

aaron - youre making me blush.

glennt - robb is my teacher and occasional supplier. for those that missed the link i posted it's www.thak.ca and the theology page is on one of the tabs on the left. enjoy.