The Studio Is Not What People Think

Most people imagine the studio as a calm, controlled space. It isn’t.

For me, the studio is a place of uncertainty. It’s where ideas don’t quite work yet, where decisions are made and unmade repeatedly. There’s paint on the floor, half-resolved canvases leaning against walls, and a constant sense that something could go wrong at any moment. That unpredictability isn’t a flaw—it’s essential to the work.

Abstract painting doesn’t begin with a clear outcome. It begins with a question. Each mark is a response to what came before, and often that response creates more questions than answers. That’s where the real work happens.

My training in art education taught me to stay with that uncertainty rather than avoid it. In teaching, you learn that confusion is often the starting point of understanding. I bring that same mindset into the studio. I allow space for things not to work immediately.

What you eventually see as a finished painting is the result of working through that instability, not eliminating it.

Call to action:
Next time you look at a painting, ask yourself: can I feel the uncertainty behind it?