My art studio setup is atrocious. I have far too much clutter, and not enough room to function efficiently. Most artists have too much stuff. The real problem is the size of the room. It is the spare bedroom, and it is small. In order to switch from wax carving to metal finishing, for example, I have to put an entire set of tools away and pull another set of tools out. Sterling silver charms and wax carving do not mix - one is supposed to keep the work areas clean. It is very difficult to do in a small space.
I was at... class? practice? at the Tibetan meditation center last night, which is located at the Second Street Studios here in Santa Fe. My mind wandered - it counts as meditation if I see my mind wandering, right? I hope so - towards two topics while I was in their space. The first was the color of their walls. They moved in recently, perhaps a year ago, and the main space has altars and this wonderful Tibetan artwork, and the background color is a delicious saffron yellow. We were talking about dependent arising, and the teacher was using a flower on his desk as an example. A lovely little daisy, and it too was the same sort of saffron yellow, slightly paler, maybe less orange. I wondered in my mental wanderings if that yellow had any sort of symbolic significance, as it seemed to be present in the paintings and fabrics also.
Back to white... I also remembered that white has a spiritual significance, because that space is chilly. I have taken to wearing a scarf - but I almost, accidentally, pulled out a white scarf to wear last night. Then I remembered, a white scarf may not be appropriate, since this is a token? talisman? gift? that the Dalai Lama hands out.
Haha, this made me laugh - I went searching for a picture of the Dalai Lama with a white scarf, and the first one I see is with Arnold Schwarznegger. I wonder if there is a certain white for scarves the Dalai Lama prefers?
My mind also wanders to using that space as a studio. From what I have heard, quite a few artists and creative types live and work in the Second Street complex. It would make a wonderful studio, the windows and the rooms are large. There is lots of space for cabinets and tables and work areas. I imagined a wax carving station over there, and a polishing station over there, and rows and rows of cabinets to hide away the clutter. Or, at least to put the clutter away once in a while, I always seem to be working in clutter. And multiple simultaneous projects. There's a painting leaning up waiting to dry in one spot, piles of inspiration from magazines in another, the silver charm carving of the moment on the jewelers bench....
This column in the New York Times talks about what color white to view art in. It is also important to know what color white to create in. One of my first art teachers, Brett Barker, advised me to use a grayish white when I moved into this house. I look at it now, it is fairly neutral, but perhaps a bit yellow more than grey. I can't even remember if I painted it, or if it was this color. It hasn't distracted me or thrown off my color sense, though.
The column "Damn White" agrees - gray would be better. Some white is so blinding, and the light streaming in the studio, especially when combined with a snowfall, makes this room a little too bright sometimes. The Denver Art Museum has some of their art hanging in rooms that are painted in the rich jewel tones that I love. Ooooh, they have a bamboo exhibit - I might have to try to get to Denver.
That article covers an art exhibit I would like to see. That looks very interesting. I just finished a "treasury" at etsy.com about tiny things, and here is a selection of tiny things at the Whitney. Be sure to look at the Whitney site to get a sense of the size of Charles LeDray's work.
Well, this post is quite the ramble - I hope you enjoy it!
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