When we feature artists' studios in STUDIOS, we ask for a floor plan so readers can get a better idea of how the studio is laid out, the flow of work, etc. It's funny how many of these amazingly talented art quilters and mixed-media artists blanche at the thought of drawing a floor plan. Many worry we want something akin to an architect's rendering. I always assure them that a quick pencil sketch with the basic shape of the room, dimensions, and placement of the major pieces of furniture is fine. Some artists do send in a precise, to-scale drawing. But either way, our STUDIOS designer, Christina Williams, transforms each one in the computer so all of the floor plan designs have a uniform style within the context of the magazine.
However, when I received award-winning Australian quilter Helen Godden's floor plan, I wanted to laugh--or maybe cry. Instead of a rough sketch or a tightly drawn rendering, Helen sent an illustration of her studio, aka "The Zone," in her own irrepressible style. It's complete with a key to the coded shapes, captions, and an outline of her beloved dog Kosci, "asleep, not dead" in the middle of the floor. That's the part that made me laugh. What made me want to cry was that a) it had taken a circuitous route to our Stow, Mass., offices and therefore arrived after press time and b) we wouldn't have been able to use the floor plan in the format Helen had sent, anyway. So no one would see it.
But wait...QA community to the rescue! I could show Helen's floor plan here.
And so you have it. Be sure to get your copy of the Summer 2009 issue of STUDIOS to see the photos of Helen's studio and read her hilarious description of "The Zone."