do you get up? when do you come to the studio? Do you have specific clothing you
change into? Do you listen to music, radio, TV when you work? If so what, and does
it affect your work?
I don't really have a typical day. I think I am more productive when I stick to a schedule but more often I don't. Each semester I have a different teaching schedule so this effects when I can get into the studio and for how long, etc. For example this semester I teach at 3:00 each day and I get up around 8:00 or 8:30. I can be in the studio around 9:30 and work for about 4 hours. I don't do that everyday but I have the potential.
"Caped Man with a Hoe" and preliminary sketch and image.
The painting is 60" x 36"
When I have a show coming up, I will slowly add more and more studio time. In October (2012) Travis Townsend and I had two Smith Townsend Collaborative shows. In the 4 months leading up to those shows I was in the studio most days. I worked each day right up until I had to leave for class and then some days back in the studio afterwards. After both shows went up I slowed way down for a bit. It seems to go in cycles with me. It seems this is the way with most of my artist friends. The years where I have more shows, I am constantly trying to find studio time leading up to the show. Then I go through a slow down period and gradually start building to the next thing. In these slow periods I am usually doodling, thinking and looking around. When I start back up I don't really know how to be in the studio at first. I look around, stand around, rearrange, cleanup and sometimes build a shelf to de-clutter or some other form of avoidance until finally, I'm squeezing tubes. Then I am working until the next show.
"Fat man with Redwing Blackbird Stowed" and preliminary sketch.
The painting is 48" x 48"
I drink an absurd amount of coffee. I usually listen to NPR for several hours until the overwhelming redundancy and general ridiculousness of the situations begins to distract me. Then I either listen to RadioLab, audiobooks or music. I have a high capacity for reruns and repetitive stimulation. I spent over a year listening to nothing but Johnny Cash. I will listen to the same episodes of RadioLab over and over. I also tend to listen to audiobooks by people like Malcolm Gladwell. I gravitate towards social psychologists and neurologists in audiobooks - big fan of Oliver Sachs. I really don't think any of this effects my work, at least that I am consciously aware of. I do think most of these things effect the way I teach which really does underscore, in my mind, the importance of research for teaching.
This conversation about time, studio time and teaching makes me want to mention the idea of how much studio time is enough. I had two years of not teaching. During this time, I worked only in my studio and I got a lot of work done. But I will say that while teaching full time, there are lots of opportunity to get in the studio. I don't always use it, and sometimes I have to reallocate the time to grading and such but I don't find that it is quite as overwhelmingly burdensome as others. I don't find that I am that useful in the studio for much more time than I currently have allocated to the task now.
Next Week: What kind of paints do you use? How long have you had your painting table, and
how did you decide to set it up? DUE: FEB 21ST
Good luck with this one Joe!
Check out Peggy's answer to this weeks question here and don't forget to check out new comer Joe Molinaro to the the Blog watchers group. His answer to last weeks question is up and running!