As an artist in Minneapolis, I have built or converted seven spaces into live-in art studios. I refuse to waste money and pay for a rental studio surrounded by an undisclosed number of other studios with other artists energy and work habits. If I wanted that boxed life, I would have become a graphic designer and worked in a cubical. The money saved on studio rental is money that I have used on needed and expensive professional-grade supplies instead.
I have always obligated to be moments away from my work. I used to keep an easel by my bedside, so when I would wake, my current work I was contemplating would be right there, my first thought, and imprinted into my mind for the rest of the day. I was then able to keep my paintings in my mind, making compositional choices as I went about my day. When I returned home to the studio, my contemplation was over and I immediately could start working.
I have always constructed my studios toward my needs as a painter, which are truly the needs of my relationship with my chosen medium...oil paint. All relationships demand a certain level of yearning obligation, and oil painting is the most demanding mistress. Per her request, I prefer to have the walls of my studio painted to be the bluest white possible. Cold, malleable, and unnatural so I can set the tones with filters on lighting. I use cheap unnatural florescent lighting and have always needed to balance out the yellow quality of that lighting. Studios are what they are: work spaces, and each artist will know what they need. What I use is vastly different than what another will. Working with oils paint requires a certain kind of studio. If my current series of oil paintings is about contrast, my studio reflects that; if my work is about calm, my studio is calm.
I keep my working environment just as a stage in theater, set up conceptually. That way I can have the total experience of my concepts. Sounds silly, fake, or just too much? Maybe, but it is how I do it and it works for me. I can be playful, but when it comes to my work, which I consider my life's work, I am serious.
Over the course of nine or so posts, I am going to tell the stories of my 7 past studio spaces, most of which are interesting tales. The Studios of my past have always been exactly what I need.
Check back soon...
...something interesting is coming.
...something interesting is coming.
