I'm so hardcore, I go to school during winter break.

I do, actually. It's nice, I'm working side-by-side with a friend and a handful of our professors, making work and having fun.

It's something I need to keep in mind when I enter (re-enter?) the professional art world. I feel like a communal studio space is ideal for me. Maybe it's because I have been in school so long, but I feel so much more productive when there are other people working around me that I can talk to, bounce ideas off of, laugh with. There are definitely times I like working alone, but I think I prefer to work around other people the majority of the time.

Besides the instant feedback, it's nice to see how other people work. I know I have my own routines and rituals when it comes to working and it's fascinating to see how other people work too. For example: I have one tote bag, easily slung on my shoulder, that houses all of my paints, mediums and brushes. I purposely keep it to this one bag, so that I can easily take everything with me. When I go to work, I dump out my bag and spread everything out so that I can see all my tubes and grab what I need easily. It's not just painting either; in general I like to spread out while I'm working. I don't take up a ton of space, but I like having room.

The friend who's also working at school over break is nearly the exact opposite. She has a good-sized suitcase of all her painting supplies; it weighs a good 50-60 lbs. When she sets up, she just lays open her suitcase and grabs things out as she needs them. Compared to me, she uses up little space around her.

Just observing and absorbing those little differences fascinates me for some reason. Probably in part because I feel like I'm constantly developing my own studio practices and habits. But I suspect all the good artists spend their lives developing and re-evaluating and tweaking the way they work.