Here at Art on a Postcard, we are always so grateful for the extreme generosity of our artists not only for donating a postcard-sized work of art to help us raise money for The Hepatitis C Trust, but for the amount of time that they set aside to support us.
This year we are delighted to be hosting our exhibition at WeWork in Devonshire Square. WeWork provides beautiful, collaborative work spaces offering ambitious businesses the space, community and services they need to thrive. Taking inspiration from WeWork we decided to meet up with some of the 170 artists who kindly donated work to this year’s Secret Auction to discuss their studio spaces and how it influences their practice.
We met with exciting artist Olivia Kemp to discover what makes her studio so special.
How would you describe your studio?
My studio is a bit of a hodgepodge, somewhere between workspace and an elderly lady's living room. All the furniture is collected from past studios and although I change up what’s on the walls, some things have been there for years. It's practicality and comfort. I want to be surrounded wall to wall by the things that inspire or interest me.
How does your personal environment affect your creative practice?
The environment I work in has a massive difference on my practice. I like to be comfy, I even have a studio cardigan and big wooly socks. I've got rugs on the floor of my space and plants, if I'm in here 6 days a week, it needs to feel like home. I like the light in here in the mornings, it cheers me up when I come in. I find it hard to concentrate if I'm not comfortable, it becomes a distraction. I want to be able to welcome people in, but only on days when I like what I'm working on!
What makes a good space to create art in?
I think a good work space is different for everyone. I only know what works for me, some people would find all my clutter distracting and the furnishings impractical.
Artist Bio:
"I draw in order to make sense of landscape but also to construct and re model it. I build worlds and imaginary places that grow out of a need to interpret the sites that I have known, expanding and developing them across a page. This encompasses everything, from the visions of a grand landscape right down to the details of the land, the plants and creatures that may inhabit it."