Musings on Working as an Artist
People often ask me do you allocate time and days to your art. Why do I have to do that I think? I work in my studio every day. I wonder if they think I am being selfish or indulgent. I am drawn to be in my studio with a view out to our native garden as others may be to drawn to a good book. It is a large room with a big glass sliding door that leads outside to the garden. One wall is lined with shelves that house books as well as bowls of ‘nature’ items for inspiration. Another wall has a display of my photography. I continually photograph my world and inspiration comes from this. As I am working in charcoal at the moment it is a selection of black and white landscape prints. Another wall is just ‘stuff’, ephemera that I have been drawn to that can be attached to a wall. More windows with plantation shutters that sometimes are draped with long textiles. An easel stands in one corner plus etching press also and large tables that I can work on or draw on are conveniently arranged.
I have two streams to my art practice. One is my drawing, mixed media and printmaking and the other is my textiles art. I also enjoy working with photographic imagery and digital media such as short film clips of my travel or artwork. Depending on what I am working towards my drawing or collaging can be slightly frenetic. If I feel the need for peace or a nature fix I begin an eco contact plant print gathering leaves from the back yard and setting them to boil on the veranda with the eucalyptus aroma filling the house.
My drawings are not elaborate or intricate but they sit on my easel in varying stages of progress for about a month. I may have 2 or 3 different art processes happening in the one week, printmaking, drawing and collaging or constructing artist book. These are found on the large tables as they do not have to be moved and they can just sit until I feel they need more work. I love the stillness and quiet in my working place and do not feel the need for music. I live within a stones throw of a National Park and the bird life is often a constant hum. I am more inspired by real time visits to beautiful scenery or to immerse myself in art in Galleries.
So that is where I create. Why? I am fascinated by the outlines and shapes I see in the landscape, be it the contours and lines of the mountains around the ACT that I grew up with or the layers of the cliffs and rock faces of Jervis Bay, my current home, where I look for signs of the passage of time and the fragility in things.
To be continued………
