As visual artists, the environment around us greatly contributes to our production of work. Painting in both the Glasgow Artist Studios and Southside Studios has permeated my line of work with differing affectivity. In GAS, working in Govan filtered my paintings with a stark loneliness, a melancholy fuelled by the barren streets and rows of dilapidated pastel-painted housing. Inside GAS was a vibrant, collaged common room stacked with books and peppered with primary colours, a welcoming environment that contrasted the bleak outside.

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A similar world awaited me at Southside Studios, Govanhill – while the streets were alive with conversational locals and typical everyday mundanities, the studio itself was a wonder to behold. Long winding strings of studios and a display of toys, multi-coloured wax, sculptured hands and greenery greeted me in the centre. The naturalistic aspect of the studios contributed as a secondary decoration to my surroundings, providing an otherworldly element to a location that I was already curious about. Since moving in, I have noticed a change in my production of work – while the element of isolation is still evident in my work, there is a lot more liberties and fluidity in its production. It is less realistic and restrained, but more expressive and playful.