It has been 5 years since my degree show in Exeter. I remember thinking at the time that I’d definately still be making work in the years to come. Saying it is one thing, and I was pretty clueless back then (and I still am), but I am still making work. I’ve learned an awful lot in those 5 years, the first three were pretty tough, but the last two have been more productive and I’ve been a bit more proactive and focused. I remember leaving Exeter and thinking that I’d get a studio and it’ll all be great and then I’d go and do an MA after a year or so, but I quickly learned otherwise. I did get that studio, but it took 6 months or so. It was important I guess that I set myself the target of getting a space to work as my number 1 priority, otherwise who knows what would’ve happened!
Although I’m happy to have kept going when so many of my uni friends have given up, I can’t keep going on the way I am. I need to build a sustainable practice, I need to be more proactive in finding opportunities for myself and my work, I need to be brave! I watched ‘Mary Queen of Shops’ the other day, and Mary Portas went into this bakery in London to help out the business. The silly woman who actually applied for this help was completely dismissive of the help and advice she was given. She was so stuck in her old ways, and it made me think/worry about me in the not too distant future, going nowhere due to staying with what’s comfortable. I don’t want to let me or my work go that way.
