Studio

This is a continuation of my May writing challenge, where I aim to write and publish something everyday in May.

BV Studios My Artist Studio.

We have just had open studios at BV Studios, once a year we tidy up and open up our spaces for the public to wonder around and see what we’ve been up to. It can be stressful to have such a personal space open to anyone and everyone to have a look but it is now part of my year and something I look forward to. It’s good practice to have a clean and take stock of what I’ve been up to and I am now well versed in how best to present my space and what people are interested in seeing (hint they almost always want to see a messy desk). It gives me a chance to pause and reflect on what I am doing- or not doing. Working as an artist can be isolating and so I enjoy the way open studios can and does hold me to account.

As part of this May writing challenge I thought it would be nice to write about my studio space and what is I do in there. Here is an overview of my studio.

I have been lucky enough to have been a part of BV Studios in Bristol since it’s creation some 17 years ago. After I graduated from Bath Spa university I moved to Bristol with a group of friends, we had heard about a new studio building being created and through one of our tutors. We moved to the city and got jobs, establishing ourselves as recent graduates in a new place. The Studio as it turns out was an ambitious project, led by artist Penny Jones for the owner Robert Anderson. They were converting an old printing warehouse into a complex of studios. I went to look at it when it was still an empty shell, it was completely empty and huge. I put my name down for my own space and waited for it to be finished. I moved in with the first phase of artists, it has since grown and evolved into an extraordinary building home to over 100 creative people.

I have a sunlit corner on the ground floor, inside unit g8 which I share with 4 other creatives. This space has seen the evolution of my art work and has been a creative sanctuary for nearly all my professional life. The unassuming warehouse is across the road from windmill hill city farm, which is a lovely oasis in an otherwise quite industrial part of the city.

I enjoy my commute across the park - my studio is about 1/2 hour from my house. I think this is one of the most important reasons to try to maintain a studio outside of the house, that transition between one world and the next allows for a detachment and a focus that is so valuable to my productivity. This in between time gets my head in gear ready to paint and draw.

My current set up is for painting but the space is flexible and so I can switch it up to accommodate working on glass there too. I have a chair, a set of shelves for books and sketchbooks, an old school desk which I like to write or draw at, a makeshift table made from a MDF board on top of a workbench and an old chest of drawers which I store paper. On top of the drawers I have an old set of slide drawers full of bits and bobs, these always get swooning comments during open studios. I did have an armchair in my space but it took up too much room and as my time in the space is limited I try to be doing as much as thinking. I have another fold down table that I can use as needed. I also have an easel which I love as a sentimental object as well as practical one because it was a gift from my parents when I started art college. A symbol  of there encouragement of my choice to pursue a creative career. It has my name inscribed in the back in my dads handwriting.

When I’m in the studio I often listen to a podcast or radio four or happily work in silence. I recently heard the idea of repeating one album whilst working on a new series of paintings as a way to get in the zone and set the mood. I might try this but to be honest it’s only when someone else is in the space that I realise I’ve been working in silence.

Currently, I am getting to the studio once or twice a week. I always want to be there more but life as a mum of three inevitably gets in the way, luckily I’ve had the space for long enough to know that I will have times of intense work and other times of rest, both are ok. The studio is freezing in the winter because of the solid concrete floors but this means its the perfect temp in the summer. I always intend to make the most of the summer months and yet somehow inspiration inevitably strikes in the depths of winter when one must suffer for their art!

I’m working on a series of oil paintings of shadows and reflections, I have photographs that I have taken and drawings I make quickly with pastel and charcoal to use as starting points. I try to keep a few primed canvases and boards ready to go. The boards are all free offcuts of plywood that have been knocking around the studio for a couple of years. In the past I have been more structured and planned ahead how many canvases to prepare and what will go on each. Right now I’m working across a few pieces, working in layers, trying to capture an intangible feeling you get in certain lights and spaces, especially under trees or in glasshouses.

This feeling of working across ideas and trying to pin down a notion is partly why I am intrigued by wanting to take on this writing challenge. I think I have been building up lots of thoughts and ideas over the last few years and I am trying to explore what links them and what needs more time and work on canvas in the studio.