Visit my Patreon Page for more painting instruction and Paint Along Videos!

Sunday, March 08, 2015

A Studio Tool to Make Your Life Easier

'Beyond the Trees'           6x6          pastel             ©Karen Margulis
purchase this painting here $65
 I don't know why I waited so long! It is a good day in the studio and it has nothing to do with painting! I got a new vacuum cleaner and my life just became easier!  I know that sounds strange but I spend the most time painting and vacuuming comes in second!  Yes I vacuum a lot! I have a Labrador Retriever and 6 cats. If that wasn't enough I have a big studio with carpet that needs vacuuming everyday.

It's funny how you don't know how much you need something until you get it. I liked my old vacuum....or so I thought. It worked fine and had a retractable cord. But is was heavy and I had to lug it up and down the stairs every day. I was over it. I was in  Costco today and they had a good rebate on the Shark Rotator vacuum. I was tempted but when I saw three people with the vacuum in their cart I decided to get one. Read more about it here: Shark Rotator Professional Lift-Away

Heidi approves the new vacuum cleaner. She is a fur machine!
 After vacuuming my whole house from top to bottom I can say that I am thrilled! This vacuum is lightweight. I can carry it up the stairs with one hand! Not only that, the canister comes off to make it a portable unit. No more dragging and balancing the old vacuum on the staircase when I need to vacuum the stairs. The hose is long and is very easy to pull out and use....no bending over. The cord isn't retractable but it is very long....I was able to vacuum the whole studio without changing plugs. The vacuum comes with all kinds of attachments that I have to read about and figure out but even without them I know that my life just got a lot easier. (and it is a pretty little vacuum too)

I know! Sometimes it is the simple things that make me happy! But if I can make clean-up easier I have more time to paint and that is a good thing!


'The Stand'           6x6           pastel           $65
 Today's paintings are recent 6x6 pastels done from plein air studies. I used Pastelmat that I toned dark purple.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

i hear you - and maybe there is a nice little adapter there that you can use to vacuum off unwanted paintings! i discovered this very cool trick a few months ago.....maybe you've already discovered it, but i was thrilled to be able to bypass the whole process of trying to brush off old, unwanted paintings, before wetting down and blotting out the remainder of the pastel. works like a dream!

cheers, Linda

Susan Williamson said...

The paintings on PastelMat are truly stunning! Thank you for the tip on the vacuum cleaner. Do you use anything to clean your studio air? I'm seeing ads for Rabbit Air.

joanieART said...

Good morning, Karen. Your post cracked me up. I have a thing for vacuum cleaners myself (4 cats)and have seriously considered the shark you bought. We artists create messes everywhere we turn, even the neater ones of us, so cleaning is part of the creative process. Anyway thank you for sharing Real Life stuff as well as your exquisite paintings. Blessings.

dotti said...

I have had the same vacuum for over a year and I love it too. I just ordered a replacement hose and they are shipping it out free, no charge.

robertsloan2art said...

Interesting new gadget and I can see it'd be particularly great for someone with a large carpeted studio.