New studio space!

Lots of light!

It’s been almost two months since I moved into my new studio space. It’s still not Pinterest-ready (will it ever be?) but already it has helped me get more work done. It’s the first time that I’ve ever had a room of my own to work in. Over the years, I’ve worked mainly from home, either on the kitchen table or using a temporary desk in the front room. Most of the time this has worked okay but domestic restrictions mean that work has to be packed away at certain times and it’s difficult to separate work with home life.

Books and art materials 

I have tried a few other options. First sharing with local graphic designer which was great until rain kept on coming in and nothing seemed to be happening to fix the problem. I left there, moving to a desk space area on the top floor of an old building in Croydon Old Town. This worked okay but then the studio owner moved to a different venue and the new space didn’t really work for me. A desk space in a lighting designer’s studio was next. The space was okay with lots of natural light but it wasn’t the sort of place I’d like to stay on to work in the evening or at weekends.

Inspiration on the walls

Of course, the biggest concern from my point of view about renting space is the cost. So I was interested to hear about the new Artist Company Studios (ASC) being built in Croydon and the fact that they might be affordable for me. I’d heard about ASC from a couple of artists so had been on their email mailing list. Although I thought they would be quite a way out of town, I was pleasantly surprised when I went on the Open Day that they were quite close to transport links, had large windows and lots of extras including a communal kitchen and seating area. There is also a gallery area.

The Grand Entrance

On Friday the gallery holds its first exhibition, ‘40 degrees centigrade’ curated by Tabish Khan, art critic and Visual Arts Editor for The Londonist.

The PV will be open from 6 - 9pm. For more details, contact ASC by email at reception@ascstudios.co.uk or view their website.

I'm hoping the new space will allow me to be more productive so that I have time to experiment with new techniques too.