Tiny Desk Inventory

Musicians have tiny desk concerts, artists just have tiny desks

This is not my desk. This is a very short video of the view from and trinkets above my grandmother’s desk in her office. She was always opening letters (see letter opener above) and signing checks and doing paperwork at her desk because she owned and ran The Sea View Inn in Carmel. I took very short videos of all of the special little nooks in her home to before she passed away so that I could always remember what it was like. I’m glad I did, because a tech executive purchased and demolished her beautiful home shortly after she died. My grandmother was the queen of coziness, leaving a legacy of coziness and trinket appreciation for her many children and grandchildren.

This is a corner of my desk. My desk is a big sturdy dining table I found on Craigslist. I am too embarrassed to show the whole wall, which I sloppily painted pink terracotta. My desk is in a large closet with a window and I call it my office. It’s cozy, I think Mimi would approve.

I found this painting at a creative reuse store and it’s one of my favorite pieces of art that I own. It’s by Catherine Ryan, who describes her work as “an examination of human behavior in the face of fear and the unknown.” Everything is an unknown all the time as a freelance artist, and I generally meet that reality with excitement and hope rather than fear. So maybe this boy is the Patron Saint of The Unknown, looking over me while I work.

Necessary supplies: sharpener, Blackwing Pearl pencil, paint pen, digital pen, and glue. The pencil and the sharpener are central to almost everything I make these days.

Samples: I like to collect samples of things in nature. Here we have beans, rocks, shells, orange peels, and seaweed.

Pee: Just kidding it’s paint water. It just sits there, waiting to either be spilled or used.

Miscellaneous small pieces of paper and stickers: The left one is a business card for La “S” Grand Atelier. The right one is a sticker sheet.

For fun: I’ve been collaging and writing on found photos when I need a break from other work.

Special objects: A family friend and fellow artist, Merry Lion, gave me this pink crystal when I was ten or so years old and told me something about it having creative energy, and I’ve had it next to me while I work ever since. I found the tiger woman postcard at an antique shop as a teenager. It was four dollars and was made in 1966 by Unicorn Creations Inc. Great name!

Letters to friends: These are letters for my friends Hope and Peter in France. Hopefully they don’t open this email before they receive them in the mail. Shhh!

So many drawings and sketches: Does anyone know how to organize this stuff? I sure don’t.

Business cards: I made these business cards once and have never handed them out to anyone. They included taped-on bits of nature, with the name and location of each specimen labeled on the card.

My giant, 64 ounce water bottle: When I don’t drink water, my veins course with my coffee and my heart beats at 2x speed. The water is an antidote to the coffee and anxiety in general. The sticker is by my friend Jason Sturgill and reminds me to just try.

Feel free to leave a picture of your desk in the comments, I’d love to see it!