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Author: Cori_Nicholls, Contributing Editor
| Anyone can run right out and buy a pricey pastel storage box from any of a number of retailers, but there are so many different solutions just waiting to be adopted. With a little time, a drop of patience and considerably less money - you might just find your perfect pastel box in a most unlikely place!
This article is not meant to provide every possible storage solution that is out there, but merely to get you thinking creatively about what will work for you and your studio space (either indoor or outdoor). I hope it will help you to see that affordable, workable solutions can be found in unlikely places. |
 | The Tacklebox
The fishing tacklebox has come a very long way in recent years. No longer is it necessarilly a littly carry case with stair-like shelves feeding out of it. They now come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. They have big drawers and little drawers. Various size containers with adjustable compartments that are perfect for storing pastel pencils, conte crayons, hard pastels, soft pastels...you name it... To provide cushioning, you can pick up slim sheets of foam at pretty much any camping supply store and line the drawer sections with it! |
 | The Toolbox
Like the fishing tacklebox, the household toolbox has come a very long way. Metal, plastic, on wheels...they are a great working solution for your pastel storage. For an indoor studio, you can often find really good prices on large red, metal toolboxes (picture what you would see in a mechanic's shop). These are heavy, but they are usually on wheels and they come in many different sizes to accommodate many different studios! One of the nicest features, besides sheer durability, is the fact that many of the drawers are really shallow. Pastel shallow, in fact. In a mechanics shop, this would allow for something like wrenches to be laid out in a single layer for easy accessibility...in a pastelist's studio, it allows for a single layer of pastels to be fully visible to the artist and just as easily accessible. Recently, I was perusing through the toolbox section at my local Walmart and saw a really interesting toolbox that I thought would be a good solution for the plein air painter. It looked like a large toolbox when it was folded down, but pull up a long handle and suddenly it became a portable painter's dream! It had two wheels on the bottom that meant it could be pulled along behind as you hit the trail to paint. I also liked the fact that there were enough compartments to hold things like sunscreen and bug spray, pastels and tools. Another nifty feature on this, was the fact that you could load up the top of the box with your easel, stool and any other paraphenalia that was needed for outdoor painting, and it would allow for portability without the pain of hauling everything in. A simple bungee cord to strap the extras in and you would be set to go. |
 | The Tray
Perhaps you aren't looking for a storage method that will hide all of those beautiful colours away in a drawer. If you are planning to have your collection out in the open and on display in your studio, and you have the space to do it, you might want to think about a tray of some sort. Trays come in all shapes and sizes - chances are you have a few right in your own house. I am not suggesting that you should take Aunt Edna's tray that has been in the family for six generations down, dust it off and throw your pastels in. Think simple. You could use a cookie sheet or an inexpensive plastic or metal tray from a discount or thrift shop. These are deep enough to keep the pastel dust from flying over the edge, yet shallow enough to not inhibit quickly grabbing your favorite red! in most supermarkets, you can even buy aliminum baking sheets for very little money and use those. Hobby and craft stores often have shallow wooden trays that could be painted and decorated to your tastes and/or decor. |
 | Kitchen Essentials
There are many things in everyone's kitchen that can make an ideal storage solution for the pastellist. For example: Cutlery Trays - make a nice sized tray to organize your colours in. They are usually very inexpensive and some of them have holes in the bottom that would allow the pastel dust to fall through to a separate tray. Baking sheets - There comes a time in every baking tray's life where it is has a higher calling...as a pastel tray! I know I have several cookie sheets in my cupboard that I am embarrased to bake with... |
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