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This is a guest post by Kelly Patton – share yours!
I started the life of a tiny dweller when I moved to the country in Northern California. I landed at a sweet community spot where other artists and farmers lived, and was thrilled at the idea of having my own space, no matter how tiny. It was common to find people living alternatively and exploring a range of creative and inexpensive spaces.
Many of these people were artists, and other creative types living comfortably in trailers, buses, cabins, attics, warehouses and barns. Over the course of 1 year I moved around the land from a veggie powered school bus, to a studio with an attic loft in a warehouse, and a small 8’x8′ shack. There was a community kitchen and bathroom available on the land, and the people shared these amenities. It was a very sweet and community interactive situation.
That experience gave me the notion that I could live with less furniture, and so I found ways to make my things more mobile in case I wanted to move my studio at any given opportunity. I learned more about what I could do without, and more about my basic needs in daily life.
As an artist, I tend to collect lots of little fascinating relics and natural objects as reference for my drawings. These objects don’t move everywhere with me, but have proven to be useful as they reflect the environment around me and appear in my paintings. In a special way, they are preserved in the artwork, so there is an ongoing acknowledgement that all stuff is replaceable and this helps me curb my long term hoarding. Please enjoy, learn more and re-share below. Thank you!
Kelly Patton the Traveling Artist and Tiny Dweller
Images © Kelly Patton
My studio had a wood burning stove, many windows and tiny upstairs sleeping loft.
A friend who lived in the little shack.
Working on a drawing, next to my bed in the school bus!
The attic studio, the walls were really slanted and diamond shaped.
Over the years I have lived in these spaces that are affordable and small. Two years ago I moved into the yurt where I currently live. It’s the biggest space I have ever had to myself, 432 sq. ft. and is really just the right amount of room. I love it, and it has been a truly magical experience and would highly recommend it as a full time living space.
Images © Kelly Patton
However, I am excited to say my time of living alone is coming to an end, as I have found the love of my life. We are both interested in the creative travel life and have many plans to build alternative homes where we can both live and work.
My current dream home is a mobile work of art, and is being built as we speak out in Colorado by my sweetie, Tim Seymour. There will be more to reveal about that very soon.
My long term dream home is somewhere in the country, not too far from an artsy/hip town. It looks to me like a ranch-style home, perhaps two yurts connected by a walkway, with a wood-burning stove in the center of the living area, and lush garden out the kitchen window.
Living in some huge mansion with lots of expensive furniture and a big mortgage is completely unthinkable. I have learned that saving money for traveling to new places and spending time with others is the richest life for me.
If you would like to see more of my story as a traveling artist over the last 7 years, visit my blog: https://www.kellypatton.blogspot.com/
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Yay, yurts!!!!!! Quicker to put up, not even a week, don’t need a contractor, more footage for less money!!!!