Sun Valley Home and Design / Fall 2010 / Creative Spaces

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Creative Spaces

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An artist’s studio can reflect her creative methods more than a final piece, or even a masterpiece, can. The studio is where the process begins, where art is generated from the seed of a thought. In the Valley, we find studios fussy, comfortable, eclectic or functional. These are our creative spaces.

 

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The Compound

Printmakers

Jen and Nate Galpin-Mikesh call their Hailey home and printmaking studio “The Compound.” For several working artists in the Valley, a creative compound was precisely what the area needed. Today, several rent time to work on their own projects here.

The compound’s actual name is the Vita Brevis Printmaking studio. It is open and utilitarian—sun pours in from high windows, but the professional printing press dominates the room.

Build it, and the Artists Will Come

Vita Brevis was built as an attachment to the young parents’ garage. Here, Jen works on her pieces, and clients can book quiet time for their own work. Among the local artists who work at The Compound studio are Abby Grosvenor, Gay Bawa Odmark and Theodore Waddell.

For Grosvenor, the studio space has changed how she relates to her art and how she thinks about printmakers.

“Most printmakers work towards what the artist wants to achieve technically,” Grosvenor said. “[Jen] is completely professional and understands the current technology and helps make sense of it. Her skills are amazing. It’s been a revelation.”

Close Collaboration

Jen is a master printmaker focused on drawing, especially with features from the natural world. Her husband, conceptual artist Nate Galpin, is “focusing on metal work” and has a shop in the Woodside Industrial area in Hailey. One of his recent projects was building both indoor and outdoor tables for Hailey’s popular Powerhouse Restaurant and Bike Shop.

For Jen, working with other artists in her home has increased not only her own creativity, but the quality of relationships in her life. “You collaborate so closely (with these artists) generating ideas, those relationships become great friendships,” Mikesh said. “You have to be comfortable to let people into your creative space.” >>>