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I have always worked with messy forms of art — printmaking and clay — that are unwise to attempt inside your home. So, over the years, an assortment of outbuildings served as my workspaces: a pumphouse, a carport, even a chicken house.  Now I have three wonderful, sunny rooms in an old wooden house. It feels very luxurious.

My printmaking supplies are in the kitchen.  These old wooden candy boxes make a great place to display old printing blocks; the painting on top is by Fairhope artist/designer Patti Miller.

The back porch is enclosed to create a peaceful spot with three large north-facing windows. It’s a perfect spot to read, to meditate or to teach small-group drawing classes. I keep an easel tucked in the corner, but it’s mostly for the use of company, since I seldom paint in oils or acrylics.

The largest room houses the clay studio. The long table gives me room to lay out big wall panels or dry freshly rolled slabs. The adjustable steel shelving is from a restaurant supply store.

I love to find new uses for “rescued” materials. This old refrigerator door makes a good magnetic bulletin board, and can be detached from the wall and carried to shows to serve as a magnet display.

Mark designed and built this rolling workbench with storage. It consists of two salvaged office file cabinets, some plywood, some canvas and four heavy-duty coasters. The stool came from a turn-of-the-century candy factory in New Orleans.

A strip of sheet metal and some recycled soup cans make a tool organizer. Each can has a magnet glued to the back, so I can grab the can and pull it right off the wall if I need to have it nearby while I’m working:

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