Where it happens

When you see art or read a book or listen to music, do you wonder where the painting, the words, or the song were created? What kind of space nurtured the artist’s creativity? What kind of sanctuary do people need in order to do their work? 

I am a photographer and artist with my own studio. I know the value of having a dedicated space where we can be vulnerable, sometimes tortured, and sometimes feel gloriously inspired when what we have been trying to create  finally works. 

I love seeing where my creative mates do their work. It has helped remind me that even in our artistic solitude we are not alone.

Frank Spinelli, photographer

My studio is the laboratory where I can satisfy my curiosity, an integral part of my being.

My studio is a place where every single thing in it supports my life long commitment to my art practice, and I love it. I have been an artist all my life, professionally for the last 40 years, and I’ve had many studios. Living in Woodstock has enabled me to finally have a small but separate building for doing all the things I love:  drawing, painting, both digitally and traditionally, printmaking and sculpture.

Susan Siegel, artist

My studio is my sanctuary. I love being surrounded by all my art supplies, books, inxspiration and projects. When I open the door, it feels like I am visiting an old friend. 

Elizabeth Lesser, writer

I began dreaming of the perfect writing room after I read Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own in college. In that book she states in no uncertain terms that if you want to write, or paint, or do anything creative, you need your own space, and if possible one that envelops you, inspires you, protects you. When I sit in the saddle each morning with my coffee, I say a little prayer of gratitude to Virginia Woolf for planting the seed years ago.