Q: What’s Your Artistic Outlet?
For our art-themed August issue, we asked, “What’s your artistic outlet?” Check out a sampling of replies from designers and architects:
“I like to paint, and, oddly enough for someone who works with the land, what I paint is about the sky. I paint in many layers, on large canvases, using acrylic with glazing compound.” —Margie Ruddick
“As an architecture student, I fell in love with the spontaneity and energy of glassblowing. It’s very much like architecture—form, surface, and color married in one discipline.” —Jeffrey Beers of Jeffrey Beers International
“My longtime pursuit has been photography. It’s how I first discovered architecture, in fact—developing chiaroscuro images of buildings in the darkroom. I’m now basing a wallpaper collection on my images of Rome and New York.” —David Nosanchuk of Nosanchuk
“Currently finishing a set of drawings inspired by a visit to Baja California, I’m also exploring abstracted landscape paintings and working on illustrations of sustainable design in Seattle.” —Doug Wittnebel of Gensler
“I always have a camera on hand to capture something that catches my eye. Then I use mixed-media techniques to create layered color and texture studies.” —Patricia Malick of Array Architects
“I find myself doing art work as soon as I find some free-time after work or on weekends. In the taxi or subway, my sketchbook is always with me. In this time, there is no client or deadline or any kind of pressure. . .it is time for myself.” —Alexander Nikanpour of EDG
“Sketching is therapeutic—there is a dialogue between my eyes and hand that allows my brain to enter a realm of deep concentration, where I can forget my worries and lose track of time.” —Carol Hsiung of FXFOWLE Architects
“In addition to interior design, I have been designing and sewing men’s and women’s garments for as long as I can remember, but in the last 10 years, I also started designing and creating unique hats and bridal veils!” —Jennifer Nilsen of IEI Group
“Following an architectural blueprint explains my fondness for following a recipe. Baking cakes, pies, tarts, crostatas, cookies, and crumbles—they all rise forth from my oven and are sent immediately to friends and neighbors to enjoy.” —Ray Ehscheid of Bank of America
“Vitruvius posited that drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, and photography guide and shape an architect’s eye. That’s why I do them—lifelong training for the eye and soul.” —Michael Lehrer of Lehrer Architects
“Painting is a great outlet for release of the daily stresses of managing a 30-person design team. Large-scale abstract paintings in acrylics or oil help me escape into my own world, where the creative process exists the way I want to see it.” —Bernard Holnaider of RD Jones
