Pam Reinke

Painting, Art Education

Walk us through the design of your space.

Location is important for me. I chose The English Village because if I was going to spend time down here, I wanted to have this great view. I wanted it to be soothing and relaxing like I was on vacation while I was going to work. For how I decorated, there is no space unused. Most of my stuff came from Goodwill, definitely the furniture. I was very frugal. It’s gonna get paint on it, it's gonna get roughed up. I also love my stage. The kids can stand up here and show their work. It was already here when I moved in. My stools are really fun. The kids love them because I say, “They are being inspired from the bottom up.” They were all done by hand.

What is currently your favorite piece created in your studio?

The one I am most proud of is this hot air balloon collaboration; there were 16 of us. If there was a fire, I would probably run out of the door with this one because I wouldn’t be able to replace it. It has the energy of 16 people and some of them weren’t even painters before this. Everyone picked the balloon they wanted to paint and we printed a giant background on a piece of paper. We took our little cut-outs of balloons and we arranged them. We took a picture of that and we had to print them up and cut them into 9x12 sections and everyone got an individual picture. It was probably one of the hardest things we ever did.

How long have you been working out of this space? How has it evolved over time?

It will be five years coming in August. It’s become like a little art school more than just a paint ‘n’ sip. It was never intended to be my own gallery... I always planned on it being a studio. I spent so many years promoting and selling my artwork. It’s exhausting.

“I always tell my students to have a space. Without it, there is always going to be this distraction or feeling of being in the way.”

Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?

My projector. When I added the camera and projector it’s been just so much better because I can do my artwork up there. Before then, I was doing whiteboard drawing and I am not good at drawing on a whiteboard. I have four kids classes and two daytime adult classes. So now, I can do whatever I want up there and they can see it way in the back. They can really see what stroke or technique I am doing. That is my greatest tool.

Why do you find it important to have a space solely for creativity?

I always tell my students to have a space. If you have to put your stuff out and put it away to have dinner, you probably aren’t going to put it out as much. There is always going to be this distraction or feeling of being in the way. A lot of my students end up with a space somewhere in their house where they can work.