The subject of this Work Spaces, an occasional feature that takes readers into the work space of a local artist, is Miami artist Carrie Sieh. We featured work from Sieh’s Consuming Passion series, which was still a work in progress, in our March 23 Fresh Art section. Her solo show of the same title will open July 30 in Miami. Meanwhile, we have a Q&A with Sieh about her work process, and some photos of the place where she creates her work, often accompanied by Piggy, her sassy cat who doesn’t particularly care for her singing..
Where is your workspace?
In the house I share with my husband and our cat.
Three words that best describe it?
Bright and cluttered but organized.
What do you love most about your space?
The light — at least, the light I get when it’s not too hot to keep the back door open.
And least?
The size. I collect everything I come across that I might use in a piece someday, and the boxes of all my supplies kind of take over the room. Plus there are four doors (a back door, the garage door, one that goes to the kitchen and one that goes to the dining room), which cuts down on floor and wall space. I fantasize about having a huge, workspace, but I suspect that if I had one, I would just use it as an excuse to collect and bring home more stuff.
What sort of hours d you work on your art?
I work whenever the mood strikes me, but my best hours are between about 9 a.m and 2 p.m. I like to get up, have breakfast, and start working with a cup of coffee or tea in hand. I’ll work until I get so hungry that I can’t wait for lunch any longer, then take a break. I tend to slow down after lunch though; there must be something about the digestive process that hampers my motivation. I often sketch out portions of a painting and then use a projector to trace the drawings onto the canvas, and that works best in total darkness, so I’ll usually do that part at night.
How much of your work is created here? Where do you create the rest?
I’d say 99% of it is created here. If I’m working on part of a painting that’s portable, I’ll keep it in my purse and work on it whenever I have time to kill away from home. The cross-stitched face in “Protect and Serve”, for example, I worked on quite a bit on the subway in New York while I was visiting friends and family there. The face is stitched on a piece of embroidery fabric, then after I finished it I adhered it to the canvas with acrylic gel and used modeling paste (another kind of acrylic medium) to blend in the edges. And sometimes I’ll take something like that to the Fairchild Botanical Garden, where my husband and I like to have picnics. We’ll spread out a blanket and I’ll work while we hang out.
Sounds while working?
Sometimes I like silence — except for the neighborhood birds — and sometimes I listen to music. When I listen to music, I often choose something I like to sing along to, although our cat usually complains when I do. He doesn’t mind the music but he doesn’t like to hear me sing! He’ll meow at me loudly until I stop, and if I don’t, then he’ll eventually get up 
from where he’s napping and leave the room, meowing reproachfully at me the whole way. A few of my favorite things to listen to while painting are Talking Heads, Dan Reeder, Bonfire Madigan, Billy Joel, George Michael, Queen, and David Bowie.
Three things other than art supplies that inhabit your space?
I’m a knitter, so my yarn stash is in here — that’s all those paper boxes on top of the white cabinets. But the yarn sometimes finds its way into my artwork, so I’m not sure if that counts. And I have some boxes of clothes that need mending. And I keep a lot of “inspiration” files–compositions, color palettes, the work of other artists. I like to keep this as a space only for creative activities, so really all I keep in here are supplies of one kind or another, for various stages in the process.
Any work habits that may set you aside from other artists?
Well, I know I’m not the only one who does this, but I often use pressed flowers and other 
plant matter in my work, as well as the beading and other unconventional materials. I think my approach to the ideas behind my paintings might be unusual, but I couldn’t say for sure.
A work habit you’d like to break?
The impulse to work while caffeinated. It actually often helps me feel more creative, but that’s probably because I let myself get addicted to it. As addictions go, it’s not too bad, but I try to be very health-conscious and I’d rather not have any addictions at all.
Beverage of choice while working?
Coffee or black tea, with sugar (or honey or agave nectar) and soymilk.
What most puts you in the creative mood. In other words, fill in the blank: You are most likely to create art after … what?
Seeing other artists’ work. Every time I go to a museum or a gallery opening, I come home with new ideas, feeling inspired and motivated.
Any pets hang out with you while creating?
Our cat, Piggy. He loves to hang out with me while I paint. What he seems to want more than anything is the company of a few people, as long as the people are sitting still and not making much noise. He likes to nap on my work table while I paint, or if the back door is open, he’ll lie on the stairs there and keep an eye on me. If I leave the room to wash a brush or make another cup of coffee, he grumpily gets up and follows me around, complaining loudly until I settle back down. Sometimes he tries to sit in my lap while I work, but that rarely lasts long because he likes to swat at the brush handles. Or he’ll get annoyed that my lap is moving too much, and he’ll bite me. So then his lap privileges are revoked for a while. There are also a lot of songbirds in our backyard at any given time that are nice to listen to. I’ve become a bit of an amateur birdwatcher since moving to Miami. We have a resident mockingbird who sits in one of our trees for hours, imitating everything from pigeons to car alarms. There’s a pair of spot-breasted Orioles that hang out in our hedge, and they’re so beautiful that sometimes I’ll stop work to watch them.
Consuming Passion, a solo show by Carrie Sieh, will open 7-10 p.m. Friday, July 30 and run through Aug. 14 at Artlab33/Art Space, 2085 N.W. Second Ave., Miami. Call 954-270-7404.
