I spent this week finishing up my studio move. I had done all the heavy lifting, literally, and had a very nice Open House last weekend. This was more about unpacking the rest of the boxes that were stuffed under the tables and coming up with systems. I have hopefully bought my last plastic storage box and now have everything stashed away, yet accessible and clearly labeled.

Now that it’s all organized I’m going to take everything out from under the printing table so that I can paint it and pad the printing surface. I was originally thinking that I’d paint it white but now am leaning toward a light gray, just to ground it and make the inevitable splatters less obvious.

I also moved in the last van load of stuff yesterday. Phen, the owner of Foster/White Gallery where I show, had offered me some things for the studio that came from Alden Mason’s last apartment. Foster/White had represented Alden for many years and Phen, and the other employees there, were a big part of his life. They helped him move, drove him to events and openings, and were supportive way beyond the usual relationship between a gallery and artist.

I’ve always felt a connection with Alden Mason, probably because of the shared last name, but I started paying attention to his work long before I started making art. Being represented by the same gallery, getting to meet the artist, hear some of his stories, and sharing a table at the Gallery’s holiday parties were special. It’s not often we get to meet living legends and Alden was always so full of life, even as it was clear that his was near its end.

It makes me happy to have a few things from Alden’s studio in my studio: a wooden ladder, a metal stool, some fans, and a very comfortable wicker chair. They are all well used and have touches of paint from his hand. I also still have and use silk screens that I got from Su Job’s estate, a vibrant fabric artist that passed on a few years ago. These objects, pedestrian as they are, give me a sense of history and continuity and the feeling that I am part of something larger. Using them is a way of honoring those that have come before me, a way to keep their memories active and alive. Their presence in my new studio is part of its becoming more than a numbered room down a hall. It is part of its sense of place, a place to create.

Alden’s chair