Introducing myself; Shop Design

["Stacy Shure" <shurefamily@zzzzzzzzzzzzz>]

Norman:

I have a home studio, and being blessed with good weather where I live, most
of it is outside.  I am shaded by a light screen of tree branches.  This
provides indirect light, not direct sunlight.  This was much like what I had
at my studio at Art City in Ventura.  We had screens overhead to not only
protect us from the sun, but also to filter the sunlight.  Working in direct
light is just too bright.  Diffused sunlight is great.  It creates great
ambient light within which to work and see the stone well.  When using
lights, I use halogen lights.  I have directional lights so I can create
shadows if I need to, can uplight and downlight the stone to check for
imperfections during final sanding, and view the entire piece from all
angles.

It's also fun to play with the directional lights - sometimes by uplighting
the stone I see things that are lost in direct overhead lighting.  When
tackling a direct carve and I'm lost in the stone, sometimes changing the
light angle like this can bring angles and shapes to the stone that I had
not seen before.   I learned at a lecture at Camp Brotherhood (the NWSSA
symposium in Washington State), that how you light your sculpture can
provide striking differences in the design.  You should try it to see what I
mean!  Getting a few good portable halogen lights for this purpose, IMHO, is
a good idea.

Regarding the antifatigue mats for concrete - they do make a difference over
time.  Standing on concrete is just too hard on the feet and knees.  However
I keep the area under the sculptures a clean pad - of either dirt or
concrete.  Easier to clean up and easier for rolling the tables that the
sculptures on are.  The table I like the best is one that is a hoist table
that I purchased from Harbor Freight tools.  I attached about 3 inches of
wonderboard to the top, fastening it with bolts, and then I lay down a layer
of carpeting that I obtain from the odds & ends bin at my local carpeting
store.  The tables allow me to lift heavy stones without assistance and
change the height of the table depending on the size of the sculpture.  The
only disadvantage to these tables are that they are so heavy that I can't
take them on the road with me to symposia that I attend.  But the table has
eliminated (for now) the need for an overhead joist.

Stacy