Artists from Home
Slow Flow Studio Book Club & Gathering • March 31
I spent the weekend delightfully couch rotting / sofa sprawling, not even cracking the spine of my sketchbook and it was more productive and rejuvenative than much of my time spent all season. I’ve enjoyed reaching out to you from winter’s quiet and stillness, and seeking it together when I resisted wintering even when I truly needed it.
And nearing the Ides of March, it seems the right time to connect and gather from our own homes as artists (however we fill that role) at our virtual studio space. Slow Flow Studio members can register below to join together live on Monday, March 31 at 1pm ET. We will be discussing Artists at Home by Susie Hodge, and in true book club fashion you can come fully read or simply curious without a copy in hand. If you’re not a member and would like to be, you can upgrade right below.
For most artists, their homes are where they are comfortable and can be themselves, where their personalities and inner thoughts can be free and are visible, and where their inventiveness can thrive and flourish….Artists’ homes are literally where art meets life.
—Artist at Home, Susie Hodge
From the Studio Nook
Where ideas, works in progress, and inspiring bits and bobs collect and spill over—
[1] I’m craving more color, exploration beyond the perimeter of my cozy neighborhood, time and space to create with energy and excitement. From my sofa sprawling, I applied to a local backyard art fair in May, and I’m appreciative of a container to work towards when creating work.
[2] Did you know you can tour the studio at the Frida Kahlo museum and other gems via Google Arts and Culture?
[3] Reveling in Georgia O’Keefe’s studio view and looking forward to sunshine and a dose of creative inspiration as we prepare for a trip out west later this month as a family.
[4] My creative book stack lately includes Spring Cannot Be Cancelled: David Hockney in Normandy by Martin Gayford (a reminder I need right now!) and We Need Your Art by Amie McNee.
The lives of creative people may seem chaotic, and their surrounding may indeed be untidy. But, as Tim Harford argues in his book Messy there are advantages in ‘the untidy, unquantified, crude, cluttered, uncoordinated, improvised, imperfect, incoherent, random, ambiguous, vague, difficult, diverse or even dirty’. Those are the circumstances in which insights are found and discoveries can be made. Perhaps that is why Picasso prcoclaimed, ‘I don’t search, I find.’
—from Spring Cannot Be Cancelled
[5] In addition to our Slow Flow Studio book club gathering, I’m also meeting with friends to discuss The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches in a couple weeks. Reading and conversing about any art form are such generative activities for my creative practice, and I’m looking forward to filling my cup!
Slow Flow Studio Gathering: The Artist at Home
Monday, March 31 - 1:00pm EDT
It’s fine to come if you’ve read the whole book or simply perused the discussion—we’ll use the book as a jumping off point to discuss the idea of artists at home, their studios, how space impacts the creative process, and more. Bookmark any favorite moments, or simply come as you are. Pets, family, and general life in the background is A-okay too. The call will be recorded, so we’ll send out a replay after.
Hope to see you there!
To “this solitary work we do together”1—
Nikkita
Ira Progoff via Lynda Barry