Friday, October 28, 2016

Art mirrors life


The studio got to a tipping point this week. I was cultivating a nice nest of papers and canvases and just a bit of madness, Francis Bacon style. It felt good but at the same time if I want to have patrons visit the studio it was time to clean it up.

After a meditation, I envisioned a new way to use my studio space and went to work on making it a reality.

A wall of cupboard doors came off thanks to help from Stewart. Suddenly I could store all of my paints and materials where I could see them and easily access them. This storage space had been so under utilized and now it is teeming with use, purpose and my beautiful materials. This excites me to no end! Also, because my materials can now be seen I know exactly what I have and what I need as it runs out and as my materials are no longer covering my table, I have space to work there. This also presents me with a good space to package up prints and small paintings. It all just makes so much more sense. I am delighted! I moved my table across the room and now I have more space to stand back from my paintings as I am working. This is a much better arrangement!

We signed the lease on the studio in the second week of December 2014 (just three months after I arrived in Edinburgh from Fayetteville, Arkansas) and I have been working in Studio G23 at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall on Dalmeny Street in Leith since January 2015. It has taken a lot of time to get to know the space and be able to feel comfortable and loving towards it.

I barely speak to anyone there and don't know many of the artists that work in the building but the space has been a wonderful companion here as I create my work. I am glad to be seeing it for what it is and utilizing it's potential. After losing a studio space once that I dearly loved back home at the end of 2012, I have been hesitant to commit or believe this space is really mine or that it is really here for me. It's time to trust again. I finally think I am ready.

Art mirrors life. I finally think I am ready.

No comments:

Post a Comment