Well, back to the routine of term time and my head was distinctly knocked back into reality when I attempted some experimental life drawing excercises with 31year six school children. Moving desks to new places, getting children to pose, covering them with masking tape etc, – generally anything outside the norm – is enough to send them sky high with excitment. Add to that that I had no helper and had to change over for another thirty (paint covered desks and paper to be cleared up) at break neck speed and a large mid week emergency G&T was called for when I got home.
Today I have had a wonderfully, quiet day in the studio. Slow going at the moment as I’m waiting for coats to dry between each little change in the work. The piece photographed here, like another I’m working on, has evolved over a year of taking it out of it’s wrapping, spending time with it on the walls, adding or taking away aspects, then putting it in storage for another while only to re-emerge again. I quite like that slow, periodic development but it’s hard to stand back and see the work with fresh eyes.
Monday I got together with Laurence to talk through ideas to put on a show ourselves in Salisbury. Over the last few months I have been pushing doors and exploring possibilities, looking for a suitable space. One wonderful space, a listed ballroom in the centre of a derelict mental health hospital has alas proved inpenetrable and it looks like I’m not the only one (along with other artists, conservationists and ghost hunters) to have tried.
I’ve had more luck though with the council who, if it all goes ahead, have a large and newly refurbished space potentially to offer. With a meeting booked soon, it could prove promising.
