David Storey, Open Studio

Welcome to David Storey's studio, at the Elizabeth Foundation building. I entered Mr. Storey's space on opening night of Open Studios 2009, and after looking at some of the studios that night this one was the most enjoyable.
Many artists were saying that night that they had cleaned up their space, that their studio "never looks this neat." So I asked Mr. Storey if this was the case with his, since everything was orderly and his paint table was set up with a surgeon's meticulous organization.
Believe it or not, he replied no. "This is how I always try to keep it...you waste too much time setting up before painting," he said. I admired that and I do know that not having a neat studio can take away from painting time, having to dig for things in various places can mess up the flow of a working day/night.
Just like his studio, Mr. Storey's paintings have a sense of order. The colors are crisp and rich. And why wouldn't they be since he has his color ranges mapped out on his table.

I felt at home in his studio, every where I turned I was stimulated by tubes of paint, buckets of used brushes, paintings hanging and or leaning on wall; everything was inspiring. I appreciate Mr. Storey letting me go around his studio and taking pictures, I know that an artist's working space can be a private place and it is understandable that they would guard it. But he was the opposite, he welcomed it.

Ten Aphorisms, Two Epigrams and a Quip

TEN APHORISMS

Painting is trans natural.

Good and bad colors reflect the same light.

Painting is always about here and there.

All thought is a manual skill.

There are no adjectives in black and white.

Looking's erosion.

Blue is a monument to the memory of red.

Beauty is like a rock on the ground, hard and still and everywhere.

Some colors are detergent, others solid steel.

TWO EPIGRAMS

1

The oracle stutters, our Sybil's asleep -

My themes, it seems, are not so deep

2

Any shape needs arms and legs

(one head and a few small feet)

Overlapped and clarified,

Mute, but born to speak.

A QUIP

Style is sanity

by David Storey