Having a designated place to create is necessary, but it also might be impractical. If you’re living in an apartment, if you’re sharing your home with kids and pets, if it’s just too small or you don’t have the money, I get it. Up until exactly two weeks ago, I can say that I’ve spent 59 years on the planet without a designated place to create art.

And here is where I become completely overwhelmed. Now what? My husband asks, “do you feel pressure to create great art now?” No, that wasn’t it. I don’t feel any particular pressure in that regard. I realize, quite clearly, that the Holiday House means that I have value to my husband, but also that he values my art. It’s not “just” a hobby, he knows it matters. I began to reflect how my art never held as much value as it did when I moved into the Holiday House.

A 12x12 outbuilding on our property had been used for years for storage and my husband offered to turn it into an art studio for me. This might have been due to the fact my scrip scraps of paper were pouring out of our shared office and he was getting tired of my paintbrushes in the sink. Or that he just happens to be the best husband ever (more on that later). Once we decided to clean out the shed, things start to get real. How in the world does one begin to “have an art studio”?