If anyone’s been noticing a dearth of content this week, that would be down to the process of shifting studio spaces this week, from the convenient smallness (and suspicious black-moldiness) of my home studio to a spacious slice of paradise on James Street North. I look forward to introducing the new digs in a future post, but being a bit worn out by the sublimely creative process of scrubbing out my newly-adopted mini fridge to the sound of Tenacious D, I’ll stick to a quick trip back in time to other studios I’ve known, and sometimes loved.
Glasgow UK, 2004-2005
Second year on my MFA at the Glasgow School of Art saw me upgrading to a larger space in the cubicle farm of the Barnes Building, a former children’s hospital that got downright creepy at night. Bonus features included my own sink (trust me, not a guarantee in these circumstances) and a view of Glasgow’s Chinatown (more a strip mall, really) and, on a clear day, the Campsie Fells to the distant north.
Repton UK, 2005-2007
As artist-in-residence at the Repton School, the teaching gig came with a studio more than twice the size of my grad-student cubicle, conveniently located down the stairs from my flat in a former boys’ boarding house once occupied by Sir Basil Rathbone. I had to sneak into the neighbouring artist-in-residence’s studio to use the sink (thankfully, he was never there) and there was a large funny bump under the linoleum in the corner - ingrown tree root? buried corpse of past artist? - but it was spacious and dirty and the second-best fun to be had in the village.
At home in Hamilton Canada, 2007-2010
Moving back to Canada without any job prospects in sight meant setting up shop in the back room of the family suburban homestead where my mother used to rock her stained-glass habit. Massive windows meant lots of natural light but the fact that the room is essentially a walled-in porch meant it was freezing in winter, sweltering in summer, and plagued by some damn curious ecological issues. All the same, the constant access to the outdoors was a lovely bonus - great views of the birds and rabbits in the backyard, and until my dog came into the picture I was getting regular visits from an inquisitive loner of a squirrel. I called him Sammy.
Next time: the new studio, complete with freshly-scrubbed-and-stocked mini fridge.
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