BBC Radio 4, the artist’s friend… What I love about Radio 4 is – well, lots of things. Most of all, it’s the way I can hear other creative people speak, particularly writers, but also visual artists, dancers, choreographers, musicians, etc, etc. It opens up fresh ways of looking at things, which after all is what creativity is. I know several artists who listen while they’re working.
However – unless I’m doing something routine such as stretching canvases or something, I don’t have the radio on when I’m actually in the studio, because it takes me into a different space. I need music whilst I work, but it needs to be somewhat familiar to me, and reasonably predictable (i.e. an album, not ‘shuffled’) so that I can be present and responsive with my work in a particular way. Having said all that, in doing these portraits recently, I’ve found that it’s okay to have my sitter watching a DVD or listening to a comedy CD [What I’ve Learned About Portrait Painting Lately, Part Umpteen – make sure it’s comedy, in an attempt to stop the sitter looking too mournful…].
Top choices for studio CD’s vary, I go through phases, but probably the most enduring is the Cocteau Twins.
Time to stop blogging and get in the studio…
