The Hikarui Interview Series; Elaine Michell of Studio 1850
A registered councillor, creative consultant and multi-talented creative being, Elaine Michell is the founder and practitioner of Studio 1850.
Sometime in recent years, Elaine and I connected via Instagram after my intuition led me to her. She was on my radar for a long time, and I knew in my bones that I was going to hire her as my coach one day. That day came in early 2023 when divine timing allowed for me to have a creative consultancy session with her immediately at a time when I felt completely lost, even though I knew her schedule was busy. I remember that day so well. Having personally worked with her, without her my confidence and vision of Hikarui wouldn’t be what it is today. I could write poems and love letters about this incredible human and her gifts because she changed the trajectory of my life. But I’ll leave her words here for you to discover her magic for yourself.
01. What is an environment that nurtures your creative practice?
This can go one of two ways for me: really full, or really minimal. 'Full' equals people (conversations that typically don't start around 'art'), galleries, artist spaces piled with paint and paper, nature (vast landscapes or tiny details), books, words, drives... here, it's all about input, and is typically sought at the start of projects or ideas. Then, this has to be balanced with 'minimal' – an almost empty studio, no manufactured noise, blank paper sheets... this is my space in which to carefully add and remove the earlier inputs until I find the right fit for me... for this project.
02. What does home feel like to you?
I wasn't going to answer this one until I saw the question asking how I make foreign places and spaces feel like home. It gave me pause to wonder if I like my spaces feeling like home, or not. Perhaps I don't. Perhaps I like the entry into another world where I can see who I might be in this space... to explore how I feel within it. Dressing up was one of my favourite childhood games, and it brings me this sense again – a modern-day Mr Benn. I do wonder if I would get bored or uneasy with this after a while. Perhaps then home means objects staying where I left them, or being moved by my husband or daughter (subsequently glimpsing a moment in their day); my pillow, my sheets; knowing the time of day or year through the light patterns, which window the moon is visible through, or the noises of neighbours. For me, home is all about those sensation-based reminders.
03. When you are on your travels, how do you create a sense of home away from home?
Through this, I've realised I purposefully don't. I seek escape from my day-to-day routine (who would have thought I am a Sagittarius??) and therefore dive into the sense of 'not home'... it means I'm away.
04. What is a word, concept or quote you love?
Reverence. I have practiced ballet since I was 5 (and miraculously still have the same teacher), and so for 33 years have ended each class with a révérence – a movement (and moment) that is designed to acknowledge the work of your teacher, the audience, your company, and yourself. This is a concept I feel strongly about for all artists... thanking our own work, as well as those that have come before us, with us, and the audience that has witnessed our creations. It is an approach that I often bring into my client's consultancy sessions – have they mindfully acknowledged themselves? Have they mindfully acknowledged their teachers? Have they mindfully acknowledged their peers? Have they mindfully acknowledged those who watch and buy? Reverence as a regular practice.
05. What is a constant pool of inspiration for you?
1. Nature. 2. Our internal beings. I will never have the time to be able to fully explore and create my perceptions of these.
06. When you are feeling soul-tired, what brings you energy?
Nothing. I need time with nothingness. No input, no thought, no evolvement. If the time needed here is short, I am content but the older I get the longer it seems to need, and the less trust I have in it. I wonder if it's a sense of losing time, and the growing feeling I have of needing to hold onto it...
07. What is a fable, story or scene from a fairytale, book or film that you carry with you still, from childhood into adulthood or long after first encountering? How does it still resonate?
I used to hire Jim Henson's 'Labyrinth' from the video shop every chance I had. As an adult, I still watch it at least once a year. I never questioned 'why' it spoke to me so much (aside from my undying crush on David Bowie as Jareth and the fashions of both him and Jennifer Connelly) but time and time again the many scenes have come up in my personal therapy. "You know that part where the door knocker manages to get the handle out of his mouth and then refuses to put it back in until Sarah holds his nose shut?" It's always met with a curious "erm, no....?" But there is something in that film that has either meshed with my psyche due to exposure, or holds something I recognise as my own fears and desires. It feels like me – a foothold I am so thankful for.
08. What keeps you motivated/ passionate?
Reading. Counselling as a profession is ripe for burnout, and holding the many sadnesses, upsets, traumas, angers and losses of my incredible clients can obviously take its toll. When I start to feel this weight, I turn to the writings of those who came greatly before me (Carl Rogers and Mick Cooper to name two) and I feel a sense of curiosity and hope re-emerge.
09. What are some of your small joys?
Muddy fingernails / paint-flecked hands / preparing a Sunday meal with BBC Radio 4's Sounds of the Seventies / the Gardener's World theme tune / the evolving fashions of Murder She Wrote / camomile tea / paper textures / browsing Jackson's Art for materials or Cloth House for fabrics / an empty day / planning without importance / tiny arts / my Toast sheepskin hot water bottle.
10. If you could be a kid again, how would you spend your days?
I spent it well, and wish I could go and immerse myself again: Creating characters through fancy dress (I had my favourites – the old lady, the party girl, the fairy) / researching Feng Shui / pouring over the 'Unexplained Mysteries' range of cigarette cards (my favourite was 'Ghost at the Alter' / reading Point Horrors, borrowed from the library / traipsing over streams in my best friend's garden / watching Neighbours in the dark, near to my December birthday / open thinking when the afternoons seemed wide.
You can find Elaine here:
WEBSITE | CONTACT | INSTAGRAM
Beautiful photographs taken by Siriwan Champorn
