I’m a painter and it was important to me to have my own space to create. I think it’s important to surround yourself with objects, colors and lighting that sets your mood and gets your creative juice flowing. In fact, I’m very sensitive to my environment, so I made my space comfortable, light and enjoyable to me.

My studio is in my house basement. The walls are white to keep the space bright. When I bought the house, I changed the lightning so it can be very well lit everywhere in the studio. My favorite color is red, so as you can see, I’ve put a touch of that vivacious color.

At one point, I had so many different paint tubes and medium bottles that it was overwhelming. Since I always start my creative process with the choice of one or two colors, I bought a bookcase piece of furniture and turned it into a paint storage. Every section contains a group of color; reds, blues, neutrals, yellows, greens, violets and pinks and oranges.

Since I work either on a flat surface or vertically, I’ve put a large desk in the studio and two easels (one small, one very big). Sometimes, I have to throw paint so I also use the garage floor.

And finally, I kept an entire wall furniture free so I could install a gallery hanging system. When a client comes to my studio, I can hang and organize the wall with pieces that are available. It looks like a real gallery.

As you can see, there are a lot of canvases on the floor. I often have a couple of paintings in progress and I put them there so I can look at them. It helps to put a piece aside when I feel stuck and uninspired. I can look at it and come back to it later when the inspiration kicks in.

I’m very happy with my working space! If I were a man, I would say it’s my escaping cave.

Nathalie was born in Montreal in 1971 where she lived with her parents and her younger sister. She was into art and creativity at a very early age, drawing and crafting a lot. She first chose to study in Architecture but didn’t make a long career out of it. Something was missing… Although she studied in many different fields, something was off. In 2009, she met with one of her favorite artists and finally got hit by lightning. She realized what she had to do in order to feel alive and in tune with herself. She had to create and express herself. Since then, she started to paint and reconnected with her true nature.

You can connect with Nathalie on Twitter and Facebook and check out her work here.