I always prefer to work in the studio. It isolates people from their environment
Genius is not only a what or a who, it is a where. It is grounded in a place every single time.
I want a place. It has to do with the kind of person I want to be. And how I fit in to everything. I want people to listen when I open my mouth. And know I'm worth listening to." She stared at me. "That's all?" To me it was not all, it was everything.
Well, I have an idea, usually a visual image of some sort. A setting. A particular, I don't know, urban scene, a particular time of day. Something that grips my imagination for some reason.
And that sweet city with her dreaming spires, She needs not June for beauty's heightening.
If you’re doing something you love with people you love in a place you love, you are going to create something of value to the world.
I tell my students one of the most important things they need to know is when they are at their best, creatively. They need to ask themselves, What does the ideal room look like? Is there music? Is there silence? Is there chaos outside or is there serenity outside? What do I need in order to release my imagination?
All clean and comfortable I sit down to write.
I always write well in New York.
I like the idea of having a calm, quiet room to work on my [art] while knowing that outside there's noise and a lot happening. It's reassuring to know the 'everyday' continues even though inside the studio you feel so disconnected from it.
I consider myself hugely privileged to work at such a wonderful place as Ashdown, where I can step back into history and be inspired by both the setting and the people associated with it.
Here on the edge of the river, the motifs are very plentiful, the same subject seen from a different angle gives a subject for study of the highest interest and so varied that I think I could be occupied for months without changing my place, simply bending a little more to the right or left.
The coffeehouse is good for genius, and the Viennese coffeehouse is a classic case. Freud had his favorite coffee shop, and so did Gustav Klimt.
