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Creatives at Home: Artist Micky Allan in Her Home Studio
A Melbourne artist merges detail with the abstract in a brightly lit Daylesford studio
Artists Micky Allan and Steenus von Steensen appreciate the expansive space and natural light in the converted studio that sits alongside their home in Daylesford. The studio was a three-car garage with oil spills on the floor and roller doors, until the couple renovated it by adding new windows and doors, insulated walls, LED lights and carpeting. The studio currently houses Allan’s vast collection of paintings, along with a series of collaborative works the couple creates together sitting side by side in an office inside their house. Their next reno project for the studio is to put a door through the back wall to the unfinished space beyond and convert it into a storage room for artwork, freeing up more space for creating, displaying and viewing.
Creative Space at a Glance
Name: Micky Allan
Age: 72
Occupation: Mixed media artist and photographer
Location: Daylesford, Victoria
What’s made here: Mixed media paintings and small sculptures
Creative Space at a Glance
Name: Micky Allan
Age: 72
Occupation: Mixed media artist and photographer
Location: Daylesford, Victoria
What’s made here: Mixed media paintings and small sculptures
After the front windows and doors were installed, they found a small vertical window in Melbourne for the studio. “It is so important to have the cross light while you work, and besides the sense of being able to look out and see trees, I wanted to be able to paint all along the wall,” Allan says.
She stresses the importance of lighting from the side with the iridescent paint; “With daylight hitting it straight it can be really disrupting.” Allan describes her studio space as adventurous, peaceful, and inviting.
She stresses the importance of lighting from the side with the iridescent paint; “With daylight hitting it straight it can be really disrupting.” Allan describes her studio space as adventurous, peaceful, and inviting.
The installation of the carpet squares was a big improvement. The garage did not have a plastic vapour barrier under the concrete slab and the couple noticed moisture seeping up from the floor, so they had to move the paintings and furniture onto the verandah to seal the floor again before adding the squares.
The lights were another important addition, which Von Steensen found on the internet. “These LED ones are lovely, the light is like daylight and beautiful for working in,” says Allan. The size of the room is also perfect for Allan, as she says she loves being able to stand back and view her work in progress.
The lights were another important addition, which Von Steensen found on the internet. “These LED ones are lovely, the light is like daylight and beautiful for working in,” says Allan. The size of the room is also perfect for Allan, as she says she loves being able to stand back and view her work in progress.
Allan adds detail to a painting with pencil lines, and she uses an ergonomic chair to take a break from bending.
Allan keeps the windows open to create a cross breeze and vent the studio. She got very sick with one of the mediums she used to use, so she now paints with acrylics, and another medium that seems to be less toxic.
One of Allan’s favourite tools is a Chinese calligraphy brush. She also likes to be able to mix her own paints, and describes her current works as being about seasonal shifts. “These are more about a sense of change, a sense of things just about to change,” Allan says. “But at the same time there is something steady behind this sort of ethereal light quality, and also something very quiet.”
Bold strokes and very fine detail characterise this range, and having the pieces in a collection harmonise is something the artist attempts to do.
Bold strokes and very fine detail characterise this range, and having the pieces in a collection harmonise is something the artist attempts to do.
At her etching station, Allan etches imagery onto glass and layers it over paintings. She uses a Dremel tool and holds a hose of running water over the area she is etching, to prevent the glass from overheating or breaking. Allan says she enjoys the ongoing challenge of “producing adventurous and beautiful work” in her studio.
At the moment, the artist is working on a detailed piece that is similar to an imaginary garden with a variety of birds; she also likes to represent individual stars or elements of the universe touching the ground in her work.
Allan draws on drafting film over pastel and hangs them together in the frame with different layers of paper. Allan’s paintings are blended with layers of paint, line work, collaged pieces of photographs of paintings, as well as glass etchings. She also collaborates with other artists, including a shelf-painting series she has embarked on recently with another artist.
TELL US
What do you like best about this home art studio? Let us know in the Comments section.
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Allan draws on drafting film over pastel and hangs them together in the frame with different layers of paper. Allan’s paintings are blended with layers of paint, line work, collaged pieces of photographs of paintings, as well as glass etchings. She also collaborates with other artists, including a shelf-painting series she has embarked on recently with another artist.
TELL US
What do you like best about this home art studio? Let us know in the Comments section.
MORE
Creatives at Home: Lucinda McKimm in Her Yoga Studio
Creatives at Home: Alice and Richie in Their Living Room Studio
Creatives at Home: Matt Walters in His Music Room
Here, Allan holds up some of her favourite brushes in front of one of her paintings titled Light Blue Sea, recently returned to the studio from Langford120 Gallery.