Chapter Four: As Studios Go…

By James Baker

As studios go, in the old ‘worldwide world’ of artist’s studios, my current studio in South Melbourne totally rocks. Bar visiting huntsman, the toilet’s resident red back, cold nights and yellow drinking water - the studio rocks. No new artist can escape challenging studios; we have all done our time - miserable messy places that defy any other civilised abode. In a studio anything seems to go, damp, cold, asbestos, mould etc. We have all paid to experience it, appreciated it, and endeavoured to work our way out of it, whilst dreaming of the gardens of Giverny.

Not now though. I have swapped water lilies for palm trees in my clean, warmish, secure space. My studio is situated at the back of The Raw Gallery and opposite Melbourne’s (and now London’s) famous St Ali café. I am the gallery’s ‘Artist in Residence’, which offers unique opportunities. Next-door is an independent furniture maker’s, whilst the gallery curator is a professional photographer. The street offers lots of spaces for paste-ups whilst passing crowds ensure a constant connection with civilisation.

My studio spaces tend to adapt to my current requirements. Having never been in a space for more than a year, they have already been plentiful and different. At university in the run-up to my final show, my space was like a laboratory housing many different unfinished experiments, a riot of colour and collections. Thereafter they have become slightly less cluttered but never been tidy.

Currently, I am working on a suite of paintings for a November show in The Raw Gallery with Australian Pop Artist Johnny Romeo. The pieces are a mixture of paint and screen-print, so I am finding myself in both my studio and at the printers. It’s the first time in a while that I have been able to comfortably spend hour upon hour at improving my practice and the sessions have started to pay off.

I am painting up to 15 - 16 hours a day on four or five pieces at once, thanks to the studio size. Such a way of working ensures a consistency of both palette and subject whilst highlighting inefficiencies within my process. I feel I have only just started upon the path of painting. My work in this studio has become more consistent, faster and focused. I am pretty sure these successes have also been aided by dedication and a ready supply of coffee.