Welcome to the 238th installment of A View From the Easel, a series in which artists reflect on their workspace. This week, artists mine the history of their buildings, return to discarded artworks, and step into nature as a palate cleanser.
Want to take part? Check out our submission guidelines and share a bit about your studio with us through this form! All mediums and workspaces are welcome, including your home studio.
Marisa Tesauro, Torino, Italy
How long have you been working in this space?
Two years.
Describe an average day in your studio.
I usually ride my bike and get to the studio before 9am. I ride along the Po River and I check the air quality: If I can see Superga in the hills then the air quality is good, and if I can’t see Superga the air quality is not so good. I usually start my day by drawing or making scale models to get ideas out when I am not working on a specific piece. I like to work between drawing and sculpture or installation because one informs the other. It is a dialogue that helps me make decisions and choices. I take a lot of photos as part of my process, so I often look at my photo archive if something specific pops into my head. I usually make myself lunch and eat at my table in the kitchen area and try to just be in the present without checking my phone. Some afternoons I teach language classes for a few hours, so I change roles.
How does the space affect your work?
My studio is an old artisan workshop (bottega) that was turned into an apartment and, now once again, is a studio. There are two floors, and the second floor is a lofted space. It does not affect my work in the sense of aesthetic decisions, but as far as space is concerned, I make scale models on the second floor and arrangements as part of my practice so I can envision how the works look outside of the studio. There are a few corners in the space that inspire me to think about certain installation ideas. This area is my sanctuary. I try to sit with the work and let it answer questions I am trying to figure out, usually how to finish the piece with the support or the relationship between a few different works.
How do you interact with the environment outside your studio?
I go out once a day to get some air. I either walk around the neighborhood, visit the hardware shop or supermarket, or walk along the river. Sometimes I go to have a coffee at the bar. There are artists in the area, but there is no established community between us. There are also a few artist archives in the building in front of me, such as the archive and estate of Marco Gastini. There used to be a lot of artisans on my street, but now there is only a carpenter, a woman who works in textiles, and an architect in the remaining workshop spaces (which are all storefronts of residential buildings). There is a restaurant on my street that has been run since 1956 by a couple who are now in their 80s. I go there to eat sometimes and also because I like to hear all their stories and learn the oral history of the neighborhood.
There is a great independent cinema a block away, as well, and an activist group to save the trees in the area since Torino has a big pollution problem. It is not divided into separate art, design, and small business communities, but instead a more multi-faceted community.
What do you love about your studio?
I love having two floors. It helps me organize spatially. I also love that I have a courtyard where I can have plants and work outside if I need to. I like that I work alone and that I am not in a building dedicated to making with other artists, which has mostly been my experience before this studio.
What do you wish were different?
It is very hard to document the work in the space because of the lighting situation, and I don’t currently have my own kiln, so I have to work back and forth between a ceramics studio and mine, which is precarious.
What is your favorite local museum?
Castello di Rivoli.
What is your favorite art material to work with?
I have many favorite materials — I am kind of a material junky — so I can’t answer this question.
Matt Enger, Newark, New Jersey
How long have you been working in this space?
Five years.
Describe an average day in your studio.
I usually do my best work in the morning. I arrive at my 1880s storefront at 6am and usually drink a coffee and listen to old music — I’ve recently been listening to Jimmie Rodgers. I begin by hanging canvas or paper on the wall and selecting either colors or black-and-white paint. I paint several pieces at once then take a walk around the old neighborhood. I love how quiet it is here in the ironbound area of Newark, despite being a mere eight miles from Midtown, Manhattan. I return to the studio and resume working on the pieces or discard them. Sometimes, I will finish discarded pieces months or even years later.
How does the space affect your work?
I love this old building. I feel the energy of past times and dreams, surrounded by inspiration.
How do you interact with the environment outside your studio?
I know all my Portuguese neighbors and am inspired by this working-class neighborhood. My art community is in New York, but I love the feeling of being isolated out here in my own historical wilderness.
What do you love about your studio?
I love that it’s an original old storefront and I can do my work, make a mess, and then go back to a nice clean apartment around the corner. I feel like I’m stepping back in time or into the future when I enter my studio.
What do you wish were different?
Absolutely nothing!
What is your favorite local museum?
Newark Historical Society.
Robert Oblon, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Describe an average day in your studio.
I usually work from 9am or 10am until about 5pm. I turn the lights on and then plug into my iPhone to start some music. I usually have two to four panels that I’m painting on or in the process of getting ready to paint on. I play music at a medium volume to help me not think about the work I’m doing, which is process-driven. Most of my paintings are started and finished flat on one of my work tables and, as I progress, I hang them on the wall and then put them back onto the table. Most of the time I take photos of the works in process that I’ll look at later in the day once I’m back home. I’m in the studio six or seven days a week.
How do you interact with the environment outside your studio?
My studio is situated on five acres, where our house is and the studio is about 80 feet from the house. I don’t have to worry if I’m using my equipment or playing music loudly since there is no one in close proximity to my studio. Santa Fe has a large art community and I’ve been meeting more and more local artists.
What do you love about your studio?
I’ve separated the studio into a painting studio on one side and a sculpture studio on the other side of a wall, which I built to separate the two work areas. I can walk outside as needed to clear my head and because of the wonderful surroundings, I don’t hear any outside noise from traffic.
What is your favorite local museum?
The new Vladem Contemporary that opened last year in downtown Santa Fe.
What is your favorite art material to work with?
I paint on Birch panels using acrylic and vinyl emulsions. My sculpture is a combination of wood and aluminum some cast bronze elements.
