> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # A View From the Easel - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/a-view-from-the-easel-238/ - Published: 2024-06-13T19:58:44.000Z - Updated: 2025-11-24T16:37:34.000Z - Description: “Sometimes, I will finish discarded pieces months or even years later.” - Author: Lakshmi Rivera Amin - Tags: Community, A View From the Easel, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 09:36 (2023, 2024, part 2) Welcome to the 238th installment of A View From the Easel, a series in which artists reflect on their workspace. This week, artists mine the history of their buildings, return to discarded artworks, and step into nature as a palate cleanser. Want to take part? Check out our [submission guidelines](https://hyperallergic.com/47316/submit-your-workspace-to-a-view-from-the-easel/) and share a bit about your studio with us through [this form](https://forms.gle/Erq7cyGEmMUxKrLe9?ref=hyperallergic.com)! All mediums and workspaces are welcome, including your home studio. --- ### [Marisa Tesauro](https://www.marisatesauro.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), Torino, Italy ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2024/06/tesauro-studio-2.jpg) ***How long have you been working in this space?*** Two years. ***Describe an average day in your studio.*** I usually ride my bike and get to the studio before 9am. I ride along the Po River and I check the air quality: If I can see Superga in the hills then the air quality is good, and if I can't see Superga the air quality is not so good. I usually start my day by drawing or making scale models to get ideas out when I am not working on a specific piece. I like to work between drawing and sculpture or installation because one informs the other. It is a dialogue that helps me make decisions and choices. I take a lot of photos as part of my process, so I often look at my photo archive if something specific pops into my head. I usually make myself lunch and eat at my table in the kitchen area and try to just be in the present without checking my phone. Some afternoons I teach language classes for a few hours, so I change roles. ***How does the space affect your work?*** My studio is an old artisan workshop (*bottega*) that was turned into an apartment and, now once again, is a studio. There are two floors, and the second floor is a lofted space. It does not affect my work in the sense of aesthetic decisions, but as far as space is concerned, I make scale models on the second floor and arrangements as part of my practice so I can envision how the works look outside of the studio. There are a few corners in the space that inspire me to think about certain installation ideas. This area is my sanctuary. I try to sit with the work and let it answer questions I am trying to figure out, usually how to finish the piece with the support or the relationship between a few different works. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2024/06/marisa-tesauro-studio.jpg) ***How do you interact with the environment outside your studio?*** I go out once a day to get some air. I either walk around the neighborhood, visit the hardware shop or supermarket, or walk along the river. Sometimes I go to have a coffee at the bar. There are artists in the area, but there is no established community between us. There are also a few artist archives in the building in front of me, such as the archive and estate of Marco Gastini. There used to be a lot of artisans on my street, but now there is only a carpenter, a woman who works in textiles, and an architect in the remaining workshop spaces (which are all storefronts of residential buildings). There is a restaurant on my street that has been run since 1956 by a couple who are now in their 80s. I go there to eat sometimes and also because I like to hear all their stories and learn the oral history of the neighborhood. There is a great independent cinema a block away, as well, and an activist group to save the trees in the area since Torino has a big pollution problem. It is not divided into separate art, design, and small business communities, but instead a more multi-faceted community. ***What do you love about your studio?*** I love having two floors. It helps me organize spatially. I also love that I have a courtyard where I can have plants and work outside if I need to. I like that I work alone and that I am not in a building dedicated to making with other artists, which has mostly been my experience before this studio. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2024/06/tesauro_studio_1-marisa-tesauro.jpg) ***What do you wish were different?*** It is very hard to document the work in the space because of the lighting situation, and I don't currently have my own kiln, so I have to work back and forth between a ceramics studio and mine, which is precarious. ***What is your favorite local museum?*** Castello di Rivoli. ***What is your favorite art material to work with?*** I have many favorite materials — I am kind of a material junky — so I can't answer this question. --- ### [Matt Enger](https://www.mattengerstudio.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), Newark, New Jersey ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2024/06/matt-enger-studio-motorcycle.jpg) ***How long have you been working in this space?*** Five years. ***Describe an average day in your studio.*** I usually do my best work in the morning. I arrive at my 1880s storefront at 6am and usually drink a coffee and listen to old music — I’ve recently been listening to Jimmie Rodgers. I begin by hanging canvas or paper on the wall and selecting either colors or black-and-white paint. I paint several pieces at once then take a walk around the old neighborhood. I love how quiet it is here in the ironbound area of Newark, despite being a mere eight miles from Midtown, Manhattan. I return to the studio and resume working on the pieces or discard them. Sometimes, I will finish discarded pieces months or even years later. ***How does the space affect your work?*** I love this old building. I feel the energy of past times and dreams, surrounded by inspiration. ***How do you interact with the environment outside your studio?*** I know all my Portuguese neighbors and am inspired by this working-class neighborhood. My art community is in New York, but I love the feeling of being isolated out here in my own historical wilderness. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2024/06/matt-enger-purple-buffalo-art.jpg) ***What do you love about your studio?*** I love that it’s an original old storefront and I can do my work, make a mess, and then go back to a nice clean apartment around the corner. I feel like I’m stepping back in time or into the future when I enter my studio. ***What do you wish were different?*** Absolutely nothing! ***What is your favorite local museum?*** Newark Historical Society. --- ### [Robert Oblon](http://www.robertoblonstudio.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), Santa Fe, New Mexico ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2024/06/robert-oblon-studio.jpg) ***Describe an average day in your studio.*** I usually work from 9am or 10am until about 5pm. I turn the lights on and then plug into my iPhone to start some music. I usually have two to four panels that I’m painting on or in the process of getting ready to paint on. I play music at a medium volume to help me not think about the work I’m doing, which is process-driven. Most of my paintings are started and finished flat on one of my work tables and, as I progress, I hang them on the wall and then put them back onto the table. Most of the time I take photos of the works in process that I’ll look at later in the day once I’m back home. I’m in the studio six or seven days a week. ***How do you interact with the environment outside your studio?*** My studio is situated on five acres, where our house is and the studio is about 80 feet from the house. I don’t have to worry if I’m using my equipment or playing music loudly since there is no one in close proximity to my studio. Santa Fe has a large art community and I’ve been meeting more and more local artists. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2024/06/robert-oblon-studio-2.jpg) ***What do you love about your studio?*** I’ve separated the studio into a painting studio on one side and a sculpture studio on the other side of a wall, which I built to separate the two work areas. I can walk outside as needed to clear my head and because of the wonderful surroundings, I don’t hear any outside noise from traffic. ***What is your favorite local museum?*** The new Vladem Contemporary that opened last year in downtown Santa Fe. ***What is your favorite art material to work with?*** I paint on Birch panels using acrylic and vinyl emulsions. My sculpture is a combination of wood and aluminum some cast bronze elements.