Inside the Painters Studio by Joe Fig

How do the workspaces and routines of these artists support the work they do?
It was very interesting to see how different each artist works and what kind of atmosphere they need in to create their best works of art. One artist for example, Ross Bleckner needs complete silence when creating his artwork. He hardly leaves his apartment and cannot listen to the TV or radio. He works 7 days a week because that is the only way he can stay concentrated and stay in the rhythm of creating art work. For Mary Heilmann, the location of her studio really impacts her work. Her studio is in a barn and the wide open fields that surround her cause her to include a lot of green into her work. The barn and the wide open space surrounding the farm influence her to show the difference between deep space and flat space in her paintings. Alexis Rockman travel a lot to the Amazon and Long Island so location definitely influences his art work.

Which artist did you relate to the most and why?
I can relate to the artist Mary Heilmann. For her, the scenery really effects her paintings and I feel the same hold true to me. If I am in a place surrounded by mountains my art work will probably look different than if my studio were on a beach. Heilmann also takes breaks through out her day and is not working on her art work all the time. Similar to Heilmann, I cannot work on my artwork for an entire day. I am able to sit and work for 2 hours but I definitely need to take breaks and remove myself from my art work for a little bit. Lastly, Heilmann listens to the radio or her i pod while she works. I cannot work in a silent room, and I also need to be listening to music while I create my art work.