But, now that I've started to create outdoor installations, I am in need of a larger space. My Studios Without Walls installation was created with three pieces of fabric that are about a yard wide, which was reasonably OK to prepare in my home. My newest project, a new outdoor installation for my back yard, requires one much larger piece of fabric.
Yesterday I had to coat the fabric for the installation with watered down matt medium, so it will have a protective coating on it. My problem was that the printed/painted/stitched part of the fabric is 48" high by 60" wide plus an extra 6" on all four sides.
I live in a small house that has small rooms, and I really don't have a space where can lie a piece of fabric that is that big down flat. Ultimately I'd love it if I could also have a little extra space, so it could lie flat and so I would be able to move around it, because once it's wet, I can't walk on it. My kitchen pantry is exactly 48" wide, not big enough for the fabric to lie flat, nor the plastic sheeting I placed below it so I didn't ruin my kitchen floor.
With some finagling, I was able apply the matt medium to the fabric. Then I managed to hang it up using 3 pants hangers hooked over a slat of wood suspended across the top of the molding of my laundry nook, across to the molding over the sliding door to my side yard. I luckily managed to only drip a few drops of matt medium on the tile floor, and I made sure to keep the plastic sheeting under the fabric as it dried to further protect my floor as the matt medium continued to drip.
Luckily we didn't eat dinner at home (thank goodness for Pasta Night) last night because the kitchen stunk from the smell of the matt medium.
Sorry to complain, but I really really need to find the resources so I can afford a studio space somewhere outside of my home! Or, if not get a new studio, at least be able to borrow one when situations like this arise.
