Inside the Studio
Showdown Winner, Stephen Thorpe
Congratulations to Stephen Thorpe, Winner of the Saatchi Online Places & Spaces Showdown competition (Fall ’12). Take a peek inside his studio, check out his sketchbook, and best of all learn what inspires him.
Favorite material to work with?
Canvas, masking tape, and expanding foam.
What themes do you pursue?
Isolation and paranoia.
How many years as an artist?
31
Where is your studio?
I’m based at Summerhall in Edinburgh.
Succulents or Cigarettes?
One after the other in that order.
What was the best advice given to you as an artist?
‘Don’t get a job.’
Prefer to work with music or in silence?
Definitely in silence
What could you not do without?
My wife
Day job?
Assistant Curator at Summerhall
If you could only have one piece of art in your life, what would it be?
Anything by Francis Bacon
Art School or Self-taught?
Everyone is a self-taught artist.
How cleanly do you work?
Dirty studio, clean work.
Were you popular in high school?
Not really. I have always had two or three very close friends; I think that is all you need.
Oil or acrylic?
Only ever oil
Figurative or abstract?
Both
Representational or Surreal?
Both
Is painting dead?
Absolutely not; perhaps slightly overlooked for a period of time, but it’s back.
What do you wear while you paint?
The same jeans and shirt I have done for the last four years, which have never been washed in that time.
