| SPRING 2008 |
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Studio Rant My small squalid studio by Simon Stern  I write this in my studio. Well, I call it a studio. In fact, like most
illustrators, I work in a small, squalid room - our front room, in my case.
The neighbours imagine that my presence in the front window will deter
any passing burglar who may threaten this quiet suburban street. In fact a
herd of migrating wildebeest could thunder past and I would probably fail to
notice.Little in the room indicates that any form of art is taking place. True, there is a drawing board (covered in disorganised papers), and an assortment of rather weirdly shaped brushes - most never used - but the rest is books, more books, endless grubby files and a lot of computer equipment with its accompanying tangle of wires. Lurking in one corner squats a massive, grey metal box, a 'visualiser', once an essential piece of equipment in every graphic arts studio. When I bought it, it was the biggest, grandest model of it's kind. Now it is redundant and entirely useless, but so cumbersome that, though I ought to get rid of it, I never have. God knows, I could use the space. Over the years the room seems to have shrunk as the objects in it have accumulated. I once had a large, spacious studio. It was a mistake. We lived at the time in an immense semi-basement flat in one of the ugly, red-brick mansions that line Fitzjohns Avenue in Hampstead. Commissions were plentiful, and I often worked late into the night - sometimes all through the night - to meet a deadline. Some time later, when we met the neighbours from the first floor apartment opposite, they confided that they had often wondered what I was doing there all night, and in their family referred to me as 'The Forger'. The flat was spacious, but lacked storage space, so the studio gradually became a repository for anything the family could not quite bear to throw away. Eventually I was working in a small corner of a rather chaotic furniture depository. So when we moved to rural Golders Green I opted for the front room. It was small, and has undeniably become squalid, but at least it's my squalor, and my room. Simon Stern is an illustrator and is a member of DACS' Board of Directors.
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In the next issue of StudioDACS Simon Stern hands over the reigning mantle to Rosie Russon, a freelance designer and painter who works in film, TV and theatre.