A Word About Studio
May 6, 2009 by Janice
This is my studio today. Yep. That’s a ziploc bag. Ziploc and its contents went to the ballet with me this weekend. Although I did not pull it out ( chose the camera instead) I could have easily done so. Today, I have a black canvas pencil bag courtesy of one of my pencil makers, a tin of very nice color pencils. A sharpener, an eraser, the Exacto. The little orange Rhodia pad . And four freshly torn to size extravagant pieces of Italian watermarked paper. All I need is a flat surface and some time. That’s it.
That’s it.
No questions, no doubts, no will I or won’t I. Just the things to get it done. And my friend, excitement. I get to take the little ink sketches inside the Rhodia pad to fruition. Do proper drawings of them. Still explorations, still play like I do not know what I am doing. But proper drawings with a bit of color.
I get to play with line and shape and form.
For me this is pure wonder. If I let myself go, if I listen. I’ll be capturing the thing I’m meant to capture. Simple? Well no. But let’s pretend for a minute that it is. This is another one of those get out of your own way things. Which is also why I wanted to show you how little it takes to make a studio just that, a studio.
I have a dream studio in my mind. In that one everything has a place and there’s an ease of working in the clean part, in the messy part and in the office part. It has great beautiful windows. There’s room for visitors on open studio days. A comfy sofa for them ( and for napping). It has a fridge. And oh why not, probably a massage table to keep me relaxed. It also has a fabulous view and it is located somewhere lovely to live and work.
I don’t have that one yet.
I have this one. And it is absolutely fine for what I am going to do today. The drawings will be exquisite to do. I could do the drawings at Starbucks if I wanted to walk over a few blocks. I could do the drawings wherever I have a clean flat surface and failing that I can put a piece of foam core under them and voila, flat surface, ready to go. Put the whole of it in a custom plastic bag I make for location work (shipping tape and plastic from the hardware store) and even the rain that threatens today would not be too much of a problem if I wanted a barrista to make my coffee.
Here’s the thing about studios. Never ever let studio or lack of whatever it is you think they are, keep you from your real work. Do not think for a second that you have to have the latest, the best, the most proper place or your muse will not work with you. That is pure, pardon me, bollocks.
Find a way. Just do the work. That’s studio.
It’ll be the same when I DO have my dream one. Because the work itself drives the studio, not the other way around. Make that connection and we are golden. Never use lack of studio as an excuse. That would be silly. Dog ate my homework kind of silly.
Hm, that massage table though.. hah.. that’s a new one for my wish list…and going into the notebook..artist is smiling at the thought.
Now, I have some paper waiting. And yes there will be music.
How about you? How flexible are you in where and how you can actually work?
Comments
10 Responses to “A Word About Studio”
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I’m giving you an assignment…
And it involves FOUR Golden Retrievers minus their paws.
You have to do surgery on them…ahem
Now get to work. I’ll be back later to check and see how far you’ve gotten!
LOL What ?!!! This must be a pre-Paris commission. What are you up to?
I love your experience and your excitement. Yes, the studio is right where you are when you’re excited to create. I’m currently camping my way down the Pacific Coast and my car is my studio!
Todd Smith’s last blog post..Preliminary image selection for next year’s calendar
Todd,
Oh that’ s a fun studio.. love to do location work…you are probably getting soaked with the rain..that’ll make some interesting photos!
I can’t wait to see some of these pics…love that part of the country. What a wonderful trip.;-)
[...] is awesome, and make us believe it too. Karen, the world’s most reliable source of sunshine. Janice with her panache and the color in her words. Michael, the cranky un-guru who makes me laugh. James, [...]
What a great way to put this. I know things come to me better when I find quiet and space. But that conflicts with my visits to the supply store. Reducing the tools to the bear necessities and simply getting away sounds useful. (I think I would add a danish, but that’s really a different issue.)
Fred H Schlegel’s last blog post..Community Creativity: “Let’s Put On A Show”
Fred,
Ooh, a cheese danish?
You are so invited to Open Studio days at the dream studio.
Supply stores….sigh…oops, like a siren’s call…LOL
I have got one room in my flat which I use mainly for working on my photos and writing my blog posts. I have found out that spending some time in a café is very useful for getting ideas – so I take a DIN-A 5 spring notepad with me. For taking photos I have got a small Canon A75 which I can put in my handbag and carry anywhere.
Ulla Hennig’s last blog post..Holocaust Memorial, Berlin
Ulla,
You have a totally complete studio. I’ll have to look up that notepad . I always love to see what’s what in the world of paper.
Funny thing about cafes and coffee houses, our muses hang out in them too don’t you think? It’s that neutral third place we all need.
Think of all the wonderful ideas and movements that have come from them.
Being camera ready like you are is something I am totally grateful for, you’re my window to Berlin.;-)
[...] Janice Cartier, a wonderful creative spirit and New Orleans expat, got me thinking down these lines …A concept where she picks a few artsy tools that fit into a Ziploc bag and heads off to create. Limiting concerns about what to work with leads to limitless creations with the materials at hand. [...]