Tools of the Trade

I thought that some of you might be interested in the nifty "still life stage" that I use in my studio. When I paint a still life, one of the first things I try to do is nail down the relationship of the background to the foreground. So I wanted a stage that included a back wall, so to speak. Here it is:

My husband built this for me. I thought he was very clever to create a hinged back, so that I could put it up, or drop it down, as the situation might require. 

My whole contraption is on wheels, so I can easily move it around the studio. Sometimes I roll it right up to the window, and paint using natural light. Other times I put my back to the natural light (so that it falls on my canvas), and roll the props to the other side of the studio. I hate to give away the subject of my next painting, but in the interest of showing the stage in use, here it is:

The stage sits on an auto mechanic's tool stand, which I bought on Amazon. A great feature of the stand is that the height is adjustable. I can put the still life almost at eye level, or can drop it down to normal table top level, depending on the angle I want to capture.  I got the heavy duty model, which holds up to 50 lbs., so if my composition includes heavy objects, I can feel safe about using them. I am enjoying this new toy so much that I don't know how I ever got along without it!

Fellow painters interested in a more enclosed stage might want to check out this one, pioneered and endorsed by Carol Marine.