My Work Table - Custom Built Just for Me!

There's a new blog by a fellow teddy bear artist called Studio Shots - Tuesday. It's a cool blog showing other artists' studios. I love peeking into others' studios! This week the theme is "what have you customized for your studio"

My work table was designed by myself and built for me by my husband. Yes, I do know how lucky I am!

Although I am tall (5.10") , my height is all in my legs. My body is actually short. When I try to work at a standard desk, I am always holding my arms, thus my shoulders - up a bit. After a while this gets very tiring, so I designed my work table to be a bit shorter than a standard desk. It is SO comfortable to work at!

I was asked once why I didn't just get an adjustable chair and raise it up. (a much easier solution!) The reason for this is that then my feet would not be flat on the floor. Feet flat is very important for back health!

My work table was created from solid red oak. The drawers and door were hand crafted from a lovely wood called Paduk. If you'd like to see a larger version of the photos (and be able to read the notes!) just click on the picture :)

Major Studio Overhaul!

I had a lovely weekend in New Hampshire with my awesome friend, Daphne Blau. We had a great time and loved that we were able to "play" all weekend.... this time our visit was not at the same time as a teddy bear show! I'll have a few photos later....

Sometimes the bears just aren't getting made -- it's kind of like writer's block for teddy bear artists. I think it's been going around the teddy bear world lately after hearing from many of my artist friends. This time, I decided I HAD to move my studio!!!!

My studio had been in a 3rd bedroom that I shared with our combined office and our Girls' crates. It could feel kind of cramped sometimes.

Although it does have 2 windows, it really does not get morning light and it can be hard to make myself "go to work" in a dark room (yes, I have lights... but I crave daylight!)

Also, having 5 dogs can be a little crazy sometimes. They are usually fairly mellow, but sometimes they go thru times when they need to pester Mom for one thing or another... one right after the other! Since their crates are IN my studio, I can't just put them to bed for a bit and close the door LOL! Pandora tends to be destructive if she's locked into a room without a person, so she must go into a crate (which she loves by the way :) (Yes, I do see the irony of her personality and her name LOL!!)

Before I left for New Hampshire, I brought up the idea of my moving my studio into the living room (front room, parlor) with DH. We really only used the living room as a place to display my bears and store a book case full of books.

Since my always helpful daughter was home on Wednesday, we just set ourselves to the task of swapping out and moving furniture! Today I was happy to have almost everything in place -- and took photos. I always love seeing where people create!

This first photo is coming from the open kitchen/eat in kitchen to the front door. (We don't use the front door because of the dogs) The next photo is what you would see if you looked to the right, then the left, and then walked into the front room... aka my studio. Please don't mind the tons and tons of nose prints on the window... or the rest of the dirt! That is a project for another day. And yes, I know I need a valance for the top of those vertical blinds... now that I'm actually using this room, I will actually get around to that soon :) Feel free to click on the photos if you'd like to see larger versions of them.

Welcome to my Studio!

Welcome to my Studio!
Originally uploaded by Laura Lynn - Teddy Bear Artist

Yes, the main organization is done! I want to finally make the valances for the windows and have hubby make some shelves and a small cabinet. But for the most part, it is done!

I was going to get a shelving unit for the closet to store my boxes. But hubby convinced me to go with those wonderful clear plastic drawers. Hopefully will get that done this week!

You can see all of the photos here.

My Teddy Bear Photo Studio!

I thought I'd share my "photo studio" with you today! I use this for all of my "Studio shots" of my bears... and my husband uses it for the studio photographs of the model cranes and trucks he repaints! This can be used for photographing any small objects! I do not recommend using it as a studio for people or pets though... it's not quite sturdy enough for that!

This "Studio" was designed for use with a digital camera. Why? Because the lighting used is not "daylight balanced" and would show up as very yellow/orange in the finished photo of a regular film camera.

Most digital cameras have a "white balance" feature. It is different on each camera. Look in your camera's manual for "white balance" and it will show you how to do it.

Here is the list of what I used to make the "Studio".

• 1) The pvc frame from a 3-basket Laundry Sorter - (it's lightweight!)
• 2) At least 3 clamp on work lights with reflectors
• 3) 200 watt bulbs
• 4) 6 outlet power strip with switch
• 5) Wire ties
• 6) Electrical tape & sandpaper
• 7) A big foam board from the office supply store (to use as a background holder)
• 8) Assorted colors of plain colored fleece fabric (it doesn't wrinkle!) I use black, white and royal blue
• 9) A box top and a box to lie across the top of the bottom of the pvc frame, to give a nice "bottom" to the studio. I'll have to take a picture of this next week next time I have the studio up again!
  
  

I took the baskets off the laundry sorter, and clamped the lights onto the frame. I did put some sandpaper on the frame where the lights clamped to make it easier for them to hold. The lights are also held in place with some plastic wire ties, and electrical tape helps to hold the reflectors on because these were giving me trouble. (not all do!)

I also wire tied the electrical power strip to the pvc frame. I wanted to be able to turn all of the lights on and off with one switch. I do NOT leave these lights on for very long as it can be a fire hazard using 200 watt bulbs in these!!!!

I put a boxtop down in between the pvc frame and the box that helps to hold the big foam board. (I really need to take a picture of this, sorry!) I then lay a flattened box or cardboard across the bottom of the pvc frame - so the "floor" of the studio is nice, flat and even.

I then drape one of my fleece backgrounds over the propped up foam board and across the "floor"

Now I am ready for the studio session!

I always use a tripod for these studio photography sessions. I tried both with and without... and using the tripod make a huge difference in the sharpness of my pictures!

I mount my camera on the tripod, turn on the lights, set the "white balance" on the camera, and pose the bear!

After each bear's "Studio session", I turn off the lights with the switch on the power strip for a minute or so. (it gets VERY hot!) Be VERY careful about this! The reflector fixtures for these lamps are only supposed to hold 60 watt bulbs. I am using 200 watt bulbs!!! If they are on for too long... they WILL cause a fire! I can't stress the importance of the safety enough :)

So... why ARE you using 200 watt bulbs if you can't leave them on for more than a few minutes? To get good photographs... you need a LOT of light! I didn't want to have 9 reflector lights clamped on the frame :)

Here are a few more shots of the "Studio" at different angles....

I hope this helps... I'll try to remember to take a picture of the "floor" of the studio before it is covered up next time I set it up! If you have any questions, be sure to ask!

Hugz,

Laura Lynn

My Bearmaking Habits

I find it interesting to hear about the habits of my bear artist friends..... so you make one bear at a time... or work on several at once?

As for myself....I often work on several at once.

Why???

I work on my bears at all hours of the day ... even 3 in the morning if I can't sleep ;) There are some parts of creating a new furry friend that I really need to be fresh.... particularly working on the face.

This is why it is hard for me to work on just one bear at a time until he or she has been born.... I like to have work ready to work on for when I just don't feel quite up to creating that new sweet face. Faces ARE my favorite part of bearmaking! But I've found they just do not turn out right if I am not in the right frame of mind.....

As you can see here.... I have a few bunnies and bears waiting to be born. 2 bunnies will HOPEFULLY be born soon! I have a few bears in there too.... waiting patiently as they will be going with me to Maine for a show in August...

My Studio.... reorganized yet again....

We moved into this new house a year ago... and I've still be "settling in" to the new studio.

Seems I need to work for a while with things in one place.... and as I work I see how I can make improvements.

Last November Pandora... our 4th whippet came to live with us. That put 4 crates in my office (they love to be with "Momma" while she works!) It was getting just a little cramped.... and I just could NOT work anymore!

I had my hubby take a nice bookcase out .... and rearrange the whippets' crates. I thought I'd be moving my work station too (my husband designed and made it!).

Fortunately, however, I decided to just make those 2 changes and see how I liked it... and I really DO like it! Hubby will be so glad that there is no more furniture to move!

Now I need to find a wallpaper border that I like, and then valances for the windows... and I think hubby does need to build me a new cabinet for my bears... and a few shelves LOL!!

The closet.... well.... I think that is a project for fall. It is in BAD need of some serious shelving! But at least I can close the doors on it!

For now... here is where my "fur kids" are born!