Earlly start again this morning, up at 6 and in the studio just before 7. It's a great time to be in there, a quiet time to reflect and consider what needs doing. I'm lucky, the sun rises directly in front of my window and it streams into my space in the early morning.
The next guest exhibition has been installed ready for the open studios (24th/25th/26th ) October. It's by Flore Gardner, a French Artist from Avignon I believe. The exhibition is called "Embroideries" and it is really good. I spent ages this morning just studying the collection of work and it is really fascinating. Flore will be doing a performance piece alongside the exhibition at the open studio event. If you would like a sneek preview of the work then have a look at Jacqueline Berridge's blog on Artist Talking, she has a few photos of the work.
I have 16 paintings in progress at the moment, all in different stages, it's great having lots of space to spread out and being able to get on with other things whilst the paint is drying. Not all of the paintings are successful, I think a few of them are going to be scrapped altogether, it's really frustrating when a painting just doesn't seem to be going well and just seems to be unrecoverable but it is also a good thing, a chance to learn what not to do.
I spent a good 2 hours mixing paint and cleaning brushes today. It's not a particularly interesting job to do but an important one. I've always been really bad at cleaning and mixing, always too eager to get on with the painting and have always regarded it as a process that stops me painting but over the last 6 months I've forced myself to take more care and more time on these processes, it really does affect the quality of the work and i also find it forces me to think more about the work I am making so I am clearer about what I want to do when I paint.
