Whilst it is great to win a prize, when the dust settles and the cold light of day arrives, there is work to be done. It isn’t enough to just rely on a piece of work that has been successful in the past. This work must be new and be an advance from the work of the past. New audiences will see it and you can’t rely on all those people you were at college with to be there and support you. The pressure can build and the doubts gather, then the questions, am I up to this? The first meeting is fixed and you wonder how it will go. What will you say? Is there a degree of eloquence expected of me? Do I need to read up on some theory, or just rely on instinct? In the end there was no problem, in fact any doubts I had were quickly dispersed and new ideas abound. Even better than this, an energy in connection with the project is apparent and you feel it will not only be OK but a step forward for your practice. Our imaginations are well equipped to foresee any number of problems, when taking the first step is really the only thing we as artists need to do.
