I had the pleasure of re-visiting Dudley Zopp’s studio yesterday. I always look forward to spending an hour with this artist, sipping white wine, sitting in the middle of her creative space and hearing about her new project.
Her studio is large with a high ceiling, and windows placed for the best natural lighting.
Organization and cleanliness flourish. Her easel holds a canvas on which she is currently painting. Brushes and paints are arranged in an order that suits her process. Paintings hang on the walls and lay on the floor, leaning against the walls, some of which she is still working on. Dudley likes to sit and look at them before starting work. There is also a huge storage rack for her finished work, large and smaller paintings. I assume they’re categorized.
“I paint in dialogue with what’s happening around me, wherever I may be…[I] find inspiration in geological and cultural histories of place.”
Dudley is an artist who makes her living by her creativity. Exhibitions of her paintings, drawings and installations, lecturing, holding workshops and, in the last few years, publishing limited editions of exquisite books, composed of her essays and paintings. Her intelligence and creative skill are matched by her marketing ability. I marvel at all of it.
She presented the prototype for her next book. As with all her work, thoughtfully conceived and executed. It will be made up of a series of walnut ink and mucilage drawings combined with prose that she has created as her emotional reaction to what happened at Abu Ghraib fifteen years ago. They are powerful images and inexpressibly poignant. I look forward to seeing the finished piece of art.
Dudley Zopp, The Mystery of Five, Artist’s Book, December 2019
An opportunity to visit and see new work at another artist’s studio arose a few days later. Monica Kelly’s studio is small with many windows, a propane stove, and an easel, some paintings on the wall and others on the floor, leaning against the wall with their backs facing out. I had the treat of her sharing and taking me through the process of three different groupings of paintings.
Each collection had its own particular style. Monica related what life’s emotion she was experiencing when she painted each one. I looked deeper into each painting and could sense those sentiments. The images pulsated. My attention was drawn to one of the paintings, called “Unaccompanied Crossing.” It’s a powerful, compelling image. I asked Monica about it. “I painted this as I was thinking of my mother who came to this country from Rome at the age of thirteen, alone. It must have been terrifying to arrive in New York City without an adult as a young immigrant.” Again, as I looked into the images and colors I could feel that terror.
Isn’t this what we writers all want? To evoke an emotion in the reader? As a painter, a photographer, a sculptor wants to evoke in the observer? The composer and musician in the audience?
Listening to Monica’s thinking process as she encountered each phase, while working on all three at the same time, was revelatory. Having the ability to work with the pressure of a deadline while keeping her creative focus amazed me.
In addition, this artist has a ‘real’ job in order to earn a consistent living income beyond the intermittent sale of a painting. That leaves weekends and an occasional evening before dark in the off season for her to paint. Her job requires 100% of her time in the summer. I left her studio with admiration and respect.
These two creative women so profoundly inspired me that I promised myself I would make my studio habitable and in working condition as soon as possible. A little over a year ago, we moved my studio to be closer to the new house that I was building for my family. No power, heat, and some carpentry repairs made it unusable. I edited my manuscript in my home office. After I sent it off to the editor, I slipped away from doing any writing, with the weak excuse of not having a good place to work.
So, here I now sit in my studio, all systems working. And as the result of those two amazing women, I will begin again.
Monica Kelly, Unaccompanied Crossing, 20” x 24”. Oil on Panel, 2019
Dudley Zopp’s work can be viewed on her website, https://dudleyzopp.com, and Monica Kelly’s at https://www.monicakellyart.com