It’s been a bit of a strange week so far- tutorial with unexpected outcome, spring clean of studio space, and last-minute dash to apply for a residency!
My tutorial was on Monday, with my tutor Virginia who hasn’t seen my work properly since October as she was injured in an accident. Thankfully she’s recovered now, and was able to cast a fresh eye on my studio work. Unexpectedly for me, she was most impressed with the painting I thought was the weakest, saying that it has an “inventive and characterful” quality the others don’t possess, and that she thinks I should use this as the basis for my next line of inquiry. Personally I’d felt that the two other paintings I’ve near enough finished this week (blue and white one, red and pink one) were more successful.
Her advice was to clear my studio space and leave just this painting and two other pieces up on the wall, then to just sit and think about them for a while. I did this, and I think I see what she’s getting at… though her opinion does conflict quite a bit with what my previous temporary tutor said! I’ve had a couple of ideas since then and will start putting them into practice today. Hopefully I’ll be able to strike a balance between the two viewpoints.
I’ve been keeping an eye out for postgraduate opportunities too. There’s one residency I’ve been interested in for a while, but was very confused by the website. I finally discovered the link to the application form at 10 o’clock last night, also discovering that the deadline is Friday and they want applications by post! Cue typing out artist statement and CVs into the early hours, then pre-uni mad dash to the IT room, battling with uncooperative printers and tracking down big enough envelopes. *Breathes sigh of relief* after all that it had better reach them in time!
