I love seeing the work spaces of creative people, especially artists. If you yourself are an artist, or know someone who is, or are just curious yourself, then I’m sure you’ll appreciate this book. Simply titled, “Inside the Painters Studio” by Joe Fig…(more after the jump)
Joe Fig is an artist himself, and the book has an interesting genesis. One of the things he creates are highly detailed miniature scale reproductions of the studios of artists. Originally he started with famous painters of the past, using books as reference. However, he decided to move to contemporary artists, and thus began a 10 year journey of documenting studios and also having those artists fill out a specific questionnaire. The questionnaire asks a bunch of things regarding their daily lives, including seemingly mundane things, like what tools they like to use, how they organize things, how they choose titles of their work… and much more.
The book collects 24 artists, including Chuck Close and Ryan McGinness. It also includes photos and some examples of Joe’s miniature studios. It’s a fascinating read.
Could be a great gift to an aspiring artist, as well as just an art fan to get a glimpse into the variety of creative processes. AND… I’m giving away one copy of this book to a lucky Happy Mundane reader that wants it! (woo hoo!) Just send an email to hmgiveaway (at) gmail (dot) com. Please put “Inside Artist” on the subject, and give me a mailing address in the body text. I’ll select one at random on July 22, 2010. Unfortunately this giveaway is only valid to US residents. The winner will be notified via email. (Special thanks to Princeton Architectural Press!)
More details about the book here.