by Hans Heiner Buhr
I think I dream as every artist often of the perfect studio. The place outside of the noisy world, the place to be lonely with your crap art, the place with the changing day light, with the huge ceilings, where you can wander around and think and listen to your favorite music. Listen to Rakhmaninov, to Rammstein or the Art of Noise. That perfect place should be somewhat hidden, only a few chosen people and friends should know where it is and who comes without any notification that must bring a bottle of wine as a law. These were the times in East Germany, where phone land lines were mostly broken, and cell phones not invented. You would go for a try to the studio of your friend, teacher or master, thinking, if he would be there and if he would be free for a nice afternoon talk, or not. It happened, you left a postcard as a message at the closed door, and maybe after 4 weeks you got another postcard back as answer or not.
The perfect studio I still plan to build for myself in the future, because most studios are really not very perfect: Too small, often too dark, too expensive happens as well, bad neighbors, bad smells or just a place with a bad karma. Now, half a year ago, I by chance started to rent a nice space, that is right in the center of Tbilisi in Georgia and I look down from the windows to the entrance of the National Bank. I don't think the banksters down there have any need for art, and I can not imagine, what would the Bank make up from my studio watching down to him. It is very noisy most of the day, because of an important crossroad below and it is difficult to bear with hot temperatures. I do my best paintings in a cold studio at Wintertimes. I try not to drink Alcohol, but tea.
I share the 4 or 5 rooms with another artist, who is living there, Nugzari Natenadze. He owns a free, pure and poor life in that studio. He borrows my paint and brushes sometimes, what I hate, but he is laughing at this life plus loves me and my works. He brought one time two kilos of bacon fat from his village in Western Georgia to feed on it, and after a while it started to rot and made the whole space unbearable to me, I got so sick from that smell and could not work there anymore for a while.
A good studio should have a good light, most artists prefer Northern light as the one which is the smoothest and less changing over daytime. Often that wish is pure luxury and the light situation needs to be improved somehow. With the light being central to color and form a bad light can be the reason for a bad work. Not always. Even worse is a light to bright, as a full Summer sun light, that can kill every mood for painting.
My "best" studios often had been these places, where I was living and working together, and by far the best, was the Villa Marie in Dresden at the foot of the Blue Wonder Bridge over river Elbe. More important than light, the heating or the size of the space is for me an inspiring view from the windows. When watching out of my window I see the young girls gallop on their horses on the meadows along the Elbe, and waving my hand to the most beauty and tall, with her long hair and educated, she comes in my room to sit and show me her classy silhouette with a glass of sweet wine.
A good studio of course must have a big comfortable sofa for the models and it must be in general a beautiful space to make us happy. Only a free and happy heart can make a good work, don't you think so ?
When poor and young, 25 years ago, I dreamed of a ATM in my studio, that would spit out a 25 bucks per day, to keep the money problems from my painting day. That poor days were the lucky days, and the strangest is the feeling, when my fingers glide over the paint drubbles of the early works.
I have a small office, located on a so-called Italian balcony in Old Tbilisi. I can watch from the balcony on eight old Georgian and Armenian churches, some of these had been destroyed by Tamerlane in the 14th century and then twice every next century. In my so-called 'office' I do my daily Email and Computer "Art" work, I optimize my images, make digital collages, animated gif's, upload to Youtube and follow the newest creations in the world of the Internet. In this space I am actually more often, than in my studio, so I also paint here, or rearrange works of my collection on my walls. Many good ideas for my art I get here, but the realization in paint is on another page.
I think from time to time it is important to make an exhausting work session of 2 - 3 days straight in the studio. I did not do that in a while, but I miss it. When completely ignoring time and space, being just a slave of your art. Sleeping in a dirty corner or on your sofa, getting hungry and ignoring it. And making some really huge steps in your art forward, attacking the Unknown, the Hinterland, the real Niemandsland. Also to get loose, to throw away your vanities, fears, and the arty fuck ghosts, to let your inner freedom joining your best talent and vision.
Then your friends coming, joking, and bring you back to reality
Keeping your independance with a studio is probably even much more essential, when you're lucky to have your own family, which really gives the artist lots of love and support and also always takes his time away ... and energy and faith, pulling him back to the real life and money track. The studio allows me to be alone or to invite models and keep a distance between art and life.
Keep your independance with your Studio !
A friend came over to sit model
Back in Georgia again in 2010, I tend to take the studio space less important, making my best works sometimes under the free sky in open air, the studio is, where the artist makes his work, a good place is that open balcony in Eastern Georgia, smiling at the ripe grapes of wine.
With a mediteranian climate there often even is not a need for a studio, as long as you have a way of transport for your various paints and canvases from one place to the other, like we often do drive from the capital Tbilisi to various places in the country side. Here you see us working in our Eastern Georgia hide out, at the Art Villa Pona Khechili's balcony. There is almost no way to spend any money, again a good situation to get hungry for art.
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Shall we paint a landscape, or from our inner landscape ? The world - our studio ?
Landscape in Eastern Georgia, Kakheti region, Caucasus