Phillip Retuta's Blog

The Life and Times of a Filipino-American

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Stu-Stu-Studio.

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Before (Morgan’s old room) and after (studio space)

Ever since my friend Brian moved in, my other roommate (and Brian’s girlfriend) Morgan and I converted the middle room of our railroad apartment into a studio. Because Morgan and I are artists and have both longed for a personal workspace without spending an ungodly amount of money to rent an actual studio, Brian moving in has been quite beneficial for all parties involved — including my dog Nico, because she has another caring individual to look up to as well spend some quality time with another living organism equally as furry.

So let me explain the set up: I hung the old shelves that our old roommate Patrick left behind, bought a steel workbench, and covered one side of the room entirely in cork for us to hang drawings, paintings, etc. I bought some clamp studio lamps for adequate lighting (and offset the disgusting yellow glow of the ceiling lights), and for my photography and video shoots, I bought a backdrop support system including a bunch of muslin black, white, and green screen backgrounds. Furthermore, I added a floating rack so the three of us can display our zine collections and a locket/closest combo to store supplies.

All in all, with my own personal space to work on projects, I’ve felt more productive and more comfortable in my creative endeavors. Confident, even.

Attached are some pictures:

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Hashtag Dog Pillows.

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Late Christmas presents for my dog-loving/dog-loving friends.

 

As most of my friends know, I try to be a little crafty — almost to the point where I’d make an excellent, domestic housewife. This past Christmas, I used the great services at Spoonflower to print out pictures of my friends’ dogs onto fabric. I then constructed pillowcases using the printed cloth swatches and materials that I got at this affordable fabric store, Trumart, as well as some old Ikea pillows my roommate has been wanting me to get rid of (two birds, one stone: making presents and getting rid of furniture). I used a combination of hand-sewn stitching and a cheap-ass, hot pink covered sewing machine my mom got me before I moved to New York to create what I consider one of the more thoughtful gifts I’ve ever produced. Let’s just say that the skills I learned in 6th grade Home Economics have helped me immensely (shoutout to Mrs. Schaudt), and with a little hard work and a budget of 40 dollars, I was able to create something my friends loved.

A part of me thinks I should open my own Etsy shop or sell a bunch of shit at Renegade Craft Fair (the latter, I did once back in 2008). Hipsters and twees would eat this shiznit up.