The 145th installment of a series in which artists send in a photo and a description of their workspace. Want to take part? Submit your studio — just check out the submission guidelines.
David Manley, Kegworth, Leicestershire, England
We are lucky to live only 112 miles from London but out in the “sticks” in the English shires. Over 30 years back I acquired an old chapel for living and working space. This is the main part of the church with the old school rooms behind it that we live in. The studio has plenty of space for the various bodies of work I’m engaged in at any given point. Here are some of them, the “Paintings Standing Up,” the “Landscape & Memory” collages on the walls, and plan chest and the works on paper and canvases from “Wonky Geometry” — a longstanding project that already comprises hundreds of pieces. Working practice intermingles with other aspects of life, reading, listening to music (still vinyl) and playing with the dog — though not the one seen in the painting (by my wife, Sarah R. Key) on the wall.
Al Goldfarb, Cambridge, New York
Surrounded by farms in Cambridge, New York, my studio is a re-purposed two car garage I have been in for 15 years. Each of my works tends to be eclectic in subject, image style, and choice of materials. I believe every work should be represented in a manner that is unique. The stance of employing a continuity of style in every piece works well for some, but not for me. Working like that makes me feel like I’m repeatedly funneling my expressiveness through a filter of sameness. My process is an attempt to compose the components of a work in a way I think of as a synthesis of strength and gentility. This hopefully will lead to a work’s full realization. When any work of Art is fully realized, I believe it achieves a presence and an autonomy of existence in the world. It “is.” I strive for this unity in all my works, and when I do find it, that is the moment that feels magical. I think of this point in the process as a demonstration of the mystery of clarity.
Nancy Manter, Bernard, Maine
I grew up in Maine and have been living and working between Brooklyn, New York, and Bass Harbor, Maine, in the tiny village of Bernard. My studio in Maine is located in an old 1860 farmhouse in an attached barn, which I am told has been owned by the same family since the 1870. Therefore, the barn has been used for bible classes, building wooden lobster traps, and carving buoys — all markers of past generations. I have since installed plywood on the walls and track lighting, but left the original doors and beams in place. I painted it all white, although I do have beautiful light coming through the old barn doors which I installed screens to protect me from black flies, mosquitos, et al.
When I am working here in Bernard, my work shifts somewhat in that my observations of extreme glacial rock formations and surfaces, weather, including fog and salt infused air, influence what I work on. My awareness of what exists below and above the jagged edge of an extreme landscape are powerful images as metaphors for the human experience in a precarious world.
Michel Moyse, West Brattleboro, Vermont
The photo included is a montage of two halves of my studio located in West Brattleboro, Vermont. This because 1) I can economize on heating costs during the winter months by heating only one section and 2) I can isolate the other section when I work on my computer using the Ultra Short Throw touch-screen projector. I work both in oils and on computers, often combining work done in what I call ‘motionpaintings’ (see website michelmoyse.com).
The two photos show both sections of my studio – the bottom photo is the area where I work in oils on clear acrylic. The top photo shows the computer area and wall projection along with the ultra short throw projection on the righgt (which gives me a 100” touch screen surface to paint on).
I built the studio in 1973, and have remodeled it over the years. It is now approximately 1800 square feet (there’s another section which is not visible in the combined photo montage).
Ian Latham, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England
This is my current working space, the first floor of an empty retail space in Doncaster, a town grown from railways and mining in South Yorkshire in the North of England. There are two floors above this that are uninhabitable. The space is rented affordably from AxisWeb, an independent charity that supports artists throughout the UK. I have drawing space between two tables here, to the left out of shot is a kitchen area and the structure in the background is a 15.75-foot by 12.1-foot installation. You can just see the edge of a shelf on the right where the projector is mounted.
Downstairs I have a workshop at the back of the retail unit, walled off a space I use as a pop up gallery. This is the best space I’ve had for a while but it’s in an area of town earmarked for development and is likely to be turned into apartments before the end of the year.
