Studio Space

At Art school we had studio spaces that were busy and creative-yet did we appreciate? Did we know how wonderful this was? 

Over the years, I have had many studio spaces that have been hugely varied. My bedroom, the kitchen table, the spare room, a shed, a huge studio, a very cold shared studio and now in my current version a converted half garage. There is no doubting that the physicality of the studio space can help or hinder my art process but wherever I have lived, whatever my job I carved out a space, claimed it as mine.  

I believe that studio space can be the place to leave everything as it is, to come back and it is undisturbed, ready to go immediately on arrival. The need for natural light. Yet in my various studio incarnations this has not always been possible. A studio space that is so cold that paper becomes damp curled or mouldy, eventually hinders the process. I like the cold and yet when I can barely feel my fingers another day slips by with incomplete ambition. No matter how convenient the kitchen table can be – everything must be cleared away and cleaned up. Years of no oil painting due to hygiene!  So environmental balance matter and the search, and evolutions of my spaces normally occur when I can’t stand it anymore and the need for natural light. 

Once the natural light and environmental elements are balanced then the studio space allows me more than a physical space. A space to meditate on my thoughts. A space to allow the solitude of mistakes, developments and clarifications. Yet it does not matter about the size of the studio as every studio space I have had allows this freedom of thought. As soon as I sit down or walk into my studio a sense of calm and well-being overrides most other emotions. I belong in this space and this is where I should be at this moment. No Where Else. This state of mind is the studio space.