Creatives At Home: Artist Kari Henriksen in Her Studio at Home

Kari Henriksen has always worked as a fine artist. Since purchasing this Surrey Hills bungalow, she has juggled a painting career, teaching at the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE (now Melbourne Polytechnic), acquiring a doctorate of fine arts and family responsibilities.

She prefers working at home for the low-to-no rent, safe 24-hour access and having all the comforts of home within easy reach. Her art books, computer and CD collection are easily accessed from the home office and living rooms. Henriksen loves this space. “It is my own special place. I feel very cocooned here, in my own world.”

One of the many attractions of the home is its location across from a park. Henriksen likes looking out into the front garden and across the road to the open space and up at the skyline. Her work encapsulates the shifting moods of landscapes, expressing their subtle transformation from the effects of weather, climate change, light and atmosphere as metaphors for change.

One of the difficulties in locating the studio in the front room is the interruption of work flow by friends noticing she is home and dropping in for a coffee.

Henriksen finds the privacy of the studio of immense benefit to her work and concentration. “This sense of privacy is reinforced by the fact that it is quite separate from the rest of the house,” says Henriksen.

The family living spaces focus toward the back north-facing windows overlooking a pergola and courtyard.

To protect the polished floorboards, Henriksen installed inexpensive grey vinyl from Bunnings, giving her the freedom to make a mess and not worry. She installed three banks of fluorescent lights to improve existing lighting and be more conducive to making art.

Henriksen has acquired several second-hand plan presses over the years. Storage is well organised, leaving space open for painting and viewing of works.
Henriksen would love to have all the storage units, including plan presses, canvas rolls, and plastic bins in another area to free up more floor and wall space.

“The studio has evolved over time, as the media I use in my practice has expanded. I was originally trained as a painter but now my practice incorporates artist books and digital-printmaking,” says Henriksen.

The studio has designated work zones for each of these activities: oil painting in one area adjacent to the wall and viewing space, watercolour painting and book fabrication at individual desks.

The work zone for artist book fabrication consists of several makeshift tables abutted together with the area beneath for storage.

The studio is a conglomeration of office and workspace items (such as storage trays purchased from Bunnings, second-hand doors stacked on top of filing cabinets, and bins full of paint tubes) slide out from beneath drafting tables.

Henriksen likes having the ability to shut the door and leave projects in progress with all her paints out until her next session. She leaves the work zone without having to pack everything away and start over again. “Over the years this has been a godsend, particularly when my family was young and my time in the studio was more fragmented,” she says.

Henriksen has arranged the studio to support her work practice with minimum expense. “I like to work listening to ABC Radio National or music. I am particularly fond of the music by the Norwegian jazz musician Jan Garbarek. His music, which is very atmospheric and evocative of the sea, resonates with me and is sympathetic to my own art practice. Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen also get played a lot. Basically, I am in my own little world when I am in this space,” she says.

Her biggest challenge for the studio was getting the lighting right. Natural lighting from the south-facing front of the house is further reduced by the covered verandah. She corrected this by installing colour-corrected fluorescent lights. “The thing that gives me the greatest pleasure working in this space is when I am in the zone and my painting is going really well.”

Henriksen’s favourite studio tool is a large watercolour brush she bought as a student. “I treasure it. It holds the paint really well and I am able to make great brushstrokes with it.”