Q: Besides your art materials is there something you couldn’t live without in your studio?
Barbara’s studio
A: I would not want to work without music. Turning on the radio or the cd player is part of my daily ritual before heading over to the easel. (Next I apply barrier cream to my hands to prevent pastel being absorbed into my skin, put on a surgical mask, etc.). I generally listen to WFUV, WBGO, or to my cd collection while I’m working.
Listening and thinking about song lyrics is integral to my art-making process. How this works exactly may be a topic to explore in a future blog post.
Comments are welcome!
Posted on March 5, 2016, in 2016, An Artist's Life, Creative Process, New York, NY, Photography, Studio, Working methods and tagged absorbed, art-making, barrier, before, Besides, collection, compact, couldn't, exactly, explore, ffuture, generally, heading, integral, listen, lyrics, materials, pastel, player, prevent, process, ritual, something, stereo, Studio, surgical, thinking, turning, WBGO, WFUV, without, WNYC, working. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
barbararachkoscoloreddust.com 
I could’t work without color.
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Certainly but color is included under ‘art materials.’
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Do love my music in the studio. Cream and masks? I guess I should be dead by now. I constantly forget to ventilate (turn it on). I spray indoors in winter (though I do leave the studio until the smell dissipates). I often clean brushes in the palm of my hand and my wife knows exactly which colours I’ve used that day simply by looking at my fingers and arms. I never wear a mask or protective anything.
Actually, I’ve been painting and drawing for nearly 50 years and am still at it 10 hours a day. I am more worried about genetically modified and chemically laden “preservatived” grains, fruits, vegetables and meats we “willingly” eat everyday even though they destroy our immune systems and make us contentedly obese. In the end, I feel more secure (hate the overused word “safe”) in my studio than in the “outside world” because the studio is a more encouraging than discouraging environment; a more creative than a destructive space. .
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Thanks for commenting! Pastel is particularly toxic because of all the dust that results so I protect myself from breathing it and from particles entering my skin via any cuts on my hands. I’m not familiar with safety measures that painters are advised to take, but dangerous lead and cadmium can be found in all pigments.
I’m with you about the sanctity of an artist’s studio. Certainly mine is my favorite place, and I don’t mean just in New York.
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