We have decided, after twenty-seven years in our current home, that it would be appropriate to find somewhere more convenient as we grow older. The process of putting our house on the market, and looking at potential new homes, is turning out to be interesting …. and challenging. Already I have learned something interesting about myself, and the criteria I am likely to bring to the search.
As we have begun to look tentatively at other places, and compare these with our present accommodation, several things are becoming clear already. One of the things which has registered very early in the process has been the importance to me of space in which to work. I have been aware ever since we moved into our current home of just how very fortunate I am with the studio space. Even ‘though it doubles as an office and a library the room is so spacious that it can accommodate also plan chests, storage racks, equipment cupboards and a comfortable settee, as well as my easel. The situation is improved in part by the fact that by leaving the door open it is possible to retreat into the hall in order to obtain a better long view of my work as it develops. A chair there gives me a distance of about four metres from the easel. (Heaven only knowns how many miles I must walk in the process of completing a large piece!)
Pin boards cover another wall, so that it is possible to put up work, usually sketches, where I need to obtain a longer-term impression of material.
I have come to realise just how incredibly lucky I have been to enjoy such luxury over the years. As a consequence I fear that I might become very picky indeed when it comes to evaluating somewhere new in which to live and work. It is equally clear, however, just how important to me is my situation as an artist, and by extension the conditions which enable me to continue to do that. I realise already that space will be a very important criterion in bringing our search for a new home to a conclusion.