In last week's article I discussed finding time to relax after finishing a project. This week, I'd like to discuss finding your own space to work productively.
For most artists, whether visual or language-oriented, the single most important issue in making art is finding a safe and comfortable place in which to create. In many cases, the space finds us - a room in the house that no one uses, for instance. It is an instinctual and difficult item to find at times, but without it we are not able to do the real work.
I have friends who have created their own unique spaces in which to work: built sheds one hundred feet from their homes; re-floored a section of a warehouse to squat in an abandoned loft; turned closets into a bedroom in order to use the larger living room to paint in. There is no one solution. All you have to do is look, and listen to your gut.
When you find a place, ask yourself a few questions: Can I get my work done here? How much time can I dedicate in this place? Will I be distracted? Will I be inspired?
If it's the right place, you will know. If it's not right, be honest with yourself. Sometimes it takes a few days to get used to it. Sometimes, changing workspaces is difficult. The way Jack White puts it in the song Little Room , When you're in your little room / and you're working on something good / but if it is really good you're gonna need a bigger room / and when you're in the bigger room / you might not know what to do / you might have to think of how you got started / sittin' in your little room.
Artists who create their own space within their space often include totems and notes and sketches as an inspirational reminder of the work they are doing. In my space (an extra bedroom turned into a library and office), I have a large poster announcing a Picasso exhibit at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence Italy; there's a picture of Picasso in his studio, it's a mess, he is staring at the camera taking his picture, he is young and strong and it's inspiring to me. This is the sort of thing I'm suggesting - something in your space that inspires you to continue returning to this place in order to live out your dreams.
Finding and/or designing your space are one thing, but doing work there is the more important issue. A productive workspace is crucial to an artist; it feeds us and keeps us coming back for more. If we can't create, we won't return. If we don't return, we don't get any work done - it's the whole snowball rolling down the mountain thing.
This week, let's all go to our workspaces and feel them out. Is it aiding your cause or deterring it? What could you do to improve it? Maybe just a little cleaning will suffice. Maybe you've known all along the space you chose was inappropriate, but it's all you've got. In this case, you must make it your space or find another.
It all depends on how important your art is to you. If you're diligent enough, you can and will find and create an incredible space in which to work.
- Benjamin Spencer
Senior Editor
