Essay by Luke Foster
“The secret of happiness you see is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”
Socrates
For my whole adult life, I have quite often lived in small living spaces both in Australia and abroad.
Now that I finally got my own place, I am happy that it is a compact one- bedroom apartment across the road from the beach. I couldn’t afford or need a big house to live in by myself. However sometimes I feel my garage/studio is a bit small to make sculpture, installation art and big drawings.
However, I go to a studio residency at the Big Ci in the Blue Mountains once a year and enjoy the opportunity to meet Australian and international artists and make big installations and drawings.
“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. “
Hans Hofman
I love living so close to the beach and I feel there is a lightness in the feeling of my apartment due to this proximity to the ocean. Now that I have my own place, I have a slightly larger space than my previous rental studio apartment in Bogangar that I can now hang my own artwork and those of friends who I have done swaps with over the years.
“There are two ways to be rich. One is acquiring much, and the other is desiring little.”
Jackie French Koller
In conclusion I love compact living spaces. I have a friend in New Zealand who lives in a tiny house and loves it. I was thinking about going that way but instead decided to get a one-bedroom apartment instead.