Photo credit here.
I wandered into the most inspirational room that I have ever seen in Manitou Springs, Colorado. The walls were white. A gigantic statue of Atlas stood in the middle of the room, huge hands holding up the ceiling like a globe. Books, scraps, scribbles, statuettes were everywhere.
The man at the table turned around, and we talked about art and creation before I moved on. He had a magnificent handlebar mustache, and he gave me a scrap of intricately marbled paper for inspiration, to see what I could see in the random lines. He kept stashes of these pieces to inspire creative thinking when he began a project.
The space, light, and color of his studio created a habitat for creativity. I've always wanted to recreate that magical feeling of stumbling into an intimate canvas.
Researching work spaces, I discovered the concept of an atelier. An atelier is an intentional space designed to hatch ideas and productions, not to be confused with a home office, a study, or even a workroom. An atelier is an artist’s workspace, a place where dreams come to life. It’s not only a fancy name for a studio, but a powerful concept with motivational connotations.
The word began as the Latin splinter of wood “astella,” and moved into French as “atelier,” a woodpile. The term came to designate a woodshop or a workshop. It now carries the connotation of a studio, or “a room where an artist works,” according to Merriam-Webster. It’s a place where ideas spark and grow into more ideas, designs, and productions, as outlined by the contemporary classical approach on Drawing in France.
My Pinterest search for inspiration reveals palaces for Steam-punk inventors and French artists, havens and hives of creativity (“Five Unforgettable Artist Ateliers" on MessyNessychic.com, "10 Famous Artists’ Stunning Studios" on Flavorwire). The concept explodes. Artists intentionally use the whitespace, light, and color of an atelier like media. The room is a canvas for creativity.
Use your own whitespace, light, and color to create a habitat of creativity. What do you see in the colors and lines of your space?
How can you transform your space into an atelier?