Welcome to the 232nd installment of A View From the Easel, a series in which artists reflect on their workspace. This week, artists weld based on the season, focus on one piece at a time, and relish in rare New York windows.
Want to take part? Check out our new submission guidelines and share a bit about your studio with us through this form! All mediums and workspaces are welcome, including your home studio.
Lynn Newcomb, Northfield, Vermont
Describe an average day in your studio.
My best working hours are in the morning, and I am in my shop nearly every day around 9am.
How does the space affect your work?
I work as a printmaker and a metal sculptor. Probably unlike many painters, my workspace is very organized. If not, forging and welding steel would be dangerous, and printing large etchings demands neatness. I worked in the trades for years and this has shaped my work ethic. The work is pretty much seasonal, as the welding shop has minimal heat.
What do you love about your studio?
I love all of the tools that go into the work.
What do you wish were different?
I wish I could afford more materials, and would like an assistant.
What is your favorite local museum?
The Hood Museum at Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire.
Melinda Kiefer Santiago, Queens, New York
Describe an average day in your studio.
If I am not working my teaching job and have the full day in the studio, I wake up early in the morning, make coffee, and observe the morning light. I spend some moments quietly observing the work in my studio and try to listen to what the work needs. I start to paint, collage, sculpt, or sew. I work on multiple pieces at once and employ several media such as painting, embroidery, and found materials. If I’m feeling stuck, I’ll read about an artist, go on a walk, or turn the artwork upside down. I live with my husband, who is also an artist and writer, so I often am in conversation with him and sometimes we collaborate on visual art.
How does the space affect your work?
Having lots of natural light and views of non-human beings such as trees, birds, the moon, and stray cats both stimulates and relaxes my mind as I can feel connected to nature while living and working in New York City. Whether it is a migrating hawk that lands in the tree outside my window or a drove of spotted lanternflies consuming the same tree, I am tuned into the cycles of the natural world, which can be hard to observe living in a dense urban environment. Our relationship to the environment is an essential theme in my work so having this experience is important to my practice.
How do you interact with the environment outside your studio?
As a New Yorker, I am fortunate to be immersed in a vibrant arts community. I love the rich multicultural and intergenerational environment in my neighborhood in Astoria, Queens. Going to the park across the street from my home studio, I see and greet regular faces. I can also see and hear the park from my studio. The sounds of children and adults playing and coexisting are a comforting reminder of the positive aspects of humanity. In the greater New York area, I have been excited about the thriving, creative community on Governors Island, which offers opportunities and events organized by artists such as residencies, public workshops, and parades. The island is a short ferry ride from downtown and does not allow cars so it creates an alternative space.
What do you love about your studio?
I love my studio because it is the only space where I can enter into different states of being — thinking in meditative, dreamlike ways while solving the puzzles that are my artworks. I feel that I enter a liminal zone where I can make my own culture and freely think rather than being a passive consumer. My studio is also a home studio, so I love the direct connection to daily life, the processes of cooking and painting can inform each other.
What do you wish were different?
I wish I also had an outdoor space to work, though I am grateful my studio has windows for being located in New York City. I would also wish for more time in the studio!
Sarah Leahy, Manhattan, New York
Describe an average day in your studio.
I usually arrive at the studio about 9:30 or 10 am. First I eat and read the paper, then look at emails and sort myself, thinking of priorities for the day. After that, I work. I find that because of my practice, in which it takes a long time to build up an image, I tend to work on one piece at a time. The further along in a painting, the more I intuitively “know” the image and what it needs. I am always considering what I am working on, finding my way, intuitively moving forward to understand what I am looking for. As for listening, sometimes nothing, sometimes music, or Radiolab or news. I usually leave around 5:30 or 6pm.
How does the space affect your work?
I recently moved from across the hall into this studio. It is more spacious and has allowed me to complete the large work seen in the first slide, which is 20 feet long. Previously, I worked on it in segments, as it is five separate panels and the only way for me to view the entire work was in Photoshop. In addition, I am now able to display more work while also having the space to begin new pieces.
What do you love about your studio?
My studio is in the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts. I love the community, its diversity, quality of work. It is quiet yet we are always ready to help each other out. Having this community and this organization around to support your practice is invaluable. I addition I am currently collaborating with another artist in the building.
What do you wish were different?
Not much.
