Visiting artist's studios is always interesting. Each is as unique as the artist themselves. It is as much a creative fingerprint as the artwork that comes out of it.
Every little corner tells a story. For another artist, the array of paints or materials says much, sometimes, too much. I clearly remember visiting one artist, and being shown around his warehouse studio. When we walked past his painting corner where he still had his palette laid out. I stopped out of curiosity. I was immediately given a dark look, so I tactfully moved along. Palettes can one of the most closely guarded secrets a painter has.
When visiting a studio, you also stand a good chance of seeing works in progress. That is also very revealing about an artist's process.
But if you're not there to snoop on an artist's work process, there is the general ambience to soak up. So while this is the internet, and we can't site down for a tea or coffee and have a chat, I'll open a small window into my creative space.
This current studio would rank with one of the smallest studios I've had, but one of the most comfortable. While warehouse studios might sound impressive, they are very cold in Winter, and worse still if you're living in them. Often with a warehouse studio you have to fit it out with basic amenities just to make it barely liveable. This requires a great deal of time. Time that could be better spent on artwork.
With the studio, I have a small green courtyard to look out on in Summer. I can then retain some amount of sanity, and not feel too guilty for being inside for most of the season. In Winter, I have a fireplace in the corner to keep me cosy. It is such a luxury after some of the cold spaces I called work and home.
The above photo is of the ice flowers that grew on my Berlin studio windows. That was one the coldest Winters of my life. Nature was being creative with the freezing temperature -20C and I was being creative with keeping the studio warm.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and Nature is the mother of creation. So out of necessity, I invented a new life in a new studio, and I survived Mother Nature to go on to create. So a big cold studio space, or a small warm one? Sometimes less is more.
More of my artwork can be found on my website. LeoPlaw.com
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