Studio Rituals

I have been in many artists studios across Australia and around the world. Some are grand and some are modest. I have come to realise that space dictates a lot of how the work comes out. Big spaces accommodate big works and big visions and the opposite can be true. Having experienced both large and small spaces for my own work the thing about getting into flow is something different again.

For me there are different stages of the arts making business. The ideas formulation, the testing and tentative mark making, the confident execution of the work, the layering and resolving.

It is a given whether your studio is large or small that you will have your tools of the trade around you. There are some things that are mandatory in my opinion.

• good light for day and night

• enough space so you can get right back and observe the work from different angles

• permission to be messy

• places to put inspiration or resource material to hand

• windows to see out of

• doors to shut the rest of the world out

Studios are not usually about places to show off to the world they are making spaces where you can go within. So what do I do to get into flow?

First I am disciplined. I go into the studio almost every day. Its my job and I treat it like one even though the hours are crazy and the pay lousy! Whether I am sitting at the computer responding to emails, doing research, grinding pigments, preparing surfaces, painting or just sitting. I am in the studio every day.

I keep artist journals with ideas, thumbnails, random quotes, exhibition or series plans. I keep a diary of what I am doing when and now I am also tracking how many hours I spend on prep, artwork creation, business and volunteer work.

I volunteer in the arts, by supporting other artists I cultivate a community and generate cultural capital for my region.

I read about artists, I visit exhibitions, I explore techniques I haven’t tried. I experiment, I play. I plan.

I wake up with a busy mind, so I like to get active straight away. If I can get out and go for a walk or do some yoga that is great to get that done early on. Sometimes the busy brain takes me to the computer and I end up working on the arts business ( aka busy-ness) side of things. The checking emails, paying bills, writing…. can take a fair bit of bandwidth but its good to tick things off my list.

Once that is behind me I get into it. If I have a painting on the go I might begin about 8 ish in the morning and finish about 6 pm. Even after dinner when its time to chillax, I keep my hands busy with stitching or sketching.

When I am at the beginning of a new work- I don’t want interruptions- no visits, phone calls, distractions. No talking, no need to listen to anything other than my own instincts. A diffuser with basil fragrance wafts in the background. This is the birthing stage, when things can be brilliant or go to s**t. I will have my journals out, perhaps some music on low….nothing with words. I use charcoal a lot to mark up the canvas or paper- even though it is messy I love the feel of it in my hands and the tactile-ness of the mark on the surface and my fingers smudging it this way or that.

I work mostly in layers. How I prepare the ground be it paper, board or canvas informs the work. I like to have a lot of grounds prepared in advance in different ways ready for me to select for particular works. I have done a lot of works over maps in the past few years. I may also incorporate other textural collaged materials like pages from old books or texts.

When I have my surface, a thumbnail of what I think I am going to work on, I start the underdrawing. This is the stage where I want no interruptions. Once I am happy with the composition then its the application of whatever media I am using. Once it is beginning to take shape then I can listen to music, listen to podcasts, audio books have conversations … whatever. I get into a rythym of mark making and building layers and texture. This stage is a meditation. Hours can pass. I am always reluctant to leave the easel.

When I look and see that it is dark outside I drag myself away.

Once the artwork is completed I look around at the chaos in the studio and put everything to right for the next work.

That’s me, that’s my process in the studio.

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This Art Life- Seasons Greetings 2023

As the year clicks over……

Here on Tamborine Mountain I wake and notice the generator has stopped but the sound of chainsaws at 6.38 am on a Sunday still sounds on the breeze. It is New Year’s Eve no revelry is planned. It seems unwise, frivolous, when more introspection is required.

On Xmas night as we sat drinking champagne, full from too much food and joyfully belting out carols, a tornado hit the mountain and surrounding areas. For 30 minutes lightening flashed thunder roared, wind swirled in all direction forcing rain and hail in a horizontal frenetic dance.

When it stopped our roads were blocked and power was cut. Giant trees lay on the ground completely uprooted. Massive branches hung precariously over power lines. The tops of trees were snapped off and flung far from where they grew.

On daybreak driving to get petrol for our generator we were shocked by what we could now see. The whole mountain had had a bad haircut and the forest canopy we cherish was shorn and vulnerable. Along ridges houses and sheds lost roofs and structures laid mangled by the side of roads or up trees or on power lines. Branches came through verandas, carports and rooftops. Power poles were bent at odd angles, collapsed under the weight of fallen limbs or broken with snaking power lines strewn all over the place.

We have been very fortunate. No damage only the inconvenience of being without power for6 days. We have a generator and gear for camping which has made things relatively normal.

Not so very many. In community meetings people’s frustration turns to anger and bad behavior. The stress tips people over an edge they have held themselves back from. Tears flow, bewilderment and confusion.

Others spring into action, chainsaw champions clear debris, SES and rural fire brigade teams work around the clock. Neighbours check on neighbours. Power lines reach between houses sharing generator power, people open their homes for showers and hot meals made on camp stoves.

Day 6 and ENERGEX crews have set up a huge operations area at the sports ground to work on getting the network back. Crews only just retuned from cleanup of cyclone Jasper in Cairns have arrived to help. Huge generators have been placed strategically to get essential services back on line. Helicopters are used to peruse the area and check for damage. It is predicted that by January 5 the mountain will be back online.

We are reminded that though power from the grid is not being delivered, power from our solar panels and batteries may still be activating the fallen wires.

The council sets up daily briefings and has opened a community recovery centre where people can charge phones, get news, apply for emergency payments or get support physically or mentally.

The rural fire brigade centre, aged Care home and swimming pool open their doors for people to access showers.

The bushrats local football club will host a free bbq on New Year’s Day for people to come together, be fed and connect.

There is duality in all of this. The paradox of disaster and warm heartedness. Destruction and new growth. Loss and appreciation. Giving and receiving.

This is not the first disaster I have experienced and I’m sure it will not be the last. I know as more carbon saturates the atmosphere we will see more wild events across the world. We will need to be resilient, adaptable and innovative. We will need to think beyond our own backyard. We will need the support of family, neighbors, friends. We will need to think of the greater good, to be of service where we can and to think of ourselves as one part of a greater ecosystem where the more than human world that sustains us is reliant upon us to be good stewards and custodians.

So as 2023 ticks over to 2024 I will light a candle for the loss of habitat, the loss of patience, the loss of humanity that pitches countryman against countryman. I will light a candle for the peacemakers, the environmentalists, the caregivers, the rescue teams, the medicos, the charity workers- the menders and the healers.

On this day, the last day of this year, I will contemplate all the blessings I have had this year. The travels far and wide, precious time with family, hearty conversations, exchanges of ideas, shoulders to cry on and friends to laugh and sing with. On this day I am truly grateful for this art life. The privilege to be an artist, to have my own studio, the good fortune to have a partner who loves me, and to live on this rainforest mountain and it’s community which has sustained me for almost 33 years.

Looking ahead I hope I can give back and vision forwards with my feet on this precious ground in an attitude of gratitude.

Happy 2024!