This is where it all happens – ART SPACE PORTSMOUTH – the hub of contemporary art in Portsmouth ! It’s also my home from home and where my studio is ! As you can see, Art Space used to be a Victorian Chapel. It’s currently divided into artists studios and a small gallery space known as GASP (“G” for Gallery and ASP for ARTSPACE !). Above is a photo of studio 3 (all mine) plus my crowded desk and my latest linocut, which is part of a series of images Portsmouth public houses. The studios vary in size but most are similar to mine which is 20 x 10 feet. I am lucky in having a tall ceiling and reasonable light from the east and best of all on hot days its lovely and cool – the down side is that in winter it’s also very cool !! The building is owned by Portsmouth City Council who rent it to the organisation, who in turn sublet the studios to Art Space members.
When I first joined Art Space, back in 1995, I had to join a waiting list for a studio and my first “space” was a shared studio at Omega Street, where Art Space used to rent part of the sprawling Omega Centre. In those heady days we had three studio sites in Portsmouth and latterly we have condensed down into the one site in Brougham Road. I have moved studio many times and had one at all three sites before finally settling into the studio above, where I have been happily entrenched for approximately 4 years.
My practise as an artist has changed over the years and I now produce many more 2D pieces and seldom dabble with 3D. Most of my current output is either drawings, prints or large scale oil paintings. I am lucky that I have recently retired at 59 and can focus on what I enjoy doing rather than running myself into the ground 24/7 and constantly having to catch up with myself. Over the last month I have been tidying my drawing studio (that I have at home). As a result of my teaching, there were piles of boxes of handouts and teaching aids that went back 10-15 years and I have been frantically sorting through everything and making space so that I can work more from home.
I must draw to a close now as my car is full of an assortment of studio detritus which is off to the dump !
Bye for now – if you have any comments on studios or better still links to other studio groups I would be very interested to hear from you.
The backs of the house that face Art Space Portsmouth in Brougham Road. You can just see the top of the Chapel above the rooftops.
chriswoodartist 