I’ve been back from Southend for nearly 3 weeks now, and the time and space that I had at METAL for thinking about the work has disappeared into a flurry of adult education teaching, family art workshops, supporting the local arts scene and finishing the work for my New Mills commission.
In amongst all that though I received wonderful news that ACE are supporting my Grants for the Arts application. It was turned down first time, but this time has been successful. So that means that I have funds to pay others to help me make the work for the solo exhibition, funds for materials and equipment and most importantly funds to pay for my own time. This means that I can block out the days that are left in my diary between now and the exhibition opening and use them to really push forward with the development and fabrication of the new works.
I’ve got five weeks until we start to install the work at the Brindley, and after conversations with the curator and my video editor last week, I’m feeling happier talking about what the work will look like in the space. I’ve just moved into a temporary studio space today. It’s provided by Castlefield Gallery’s New Arts Space Programme, and it’s in Widnes, which is where I went to school and lived for a long time. I’ve got a large empty shop unit, with big glass windows, so there’s lots of people walking past, but mostly they’re distracted by the new shopping units that they are building next door. I’m currently feeling a bit intimidated by the space, so I’ve put up some of the work that informs my plans and a timeline for planning the work over the next 5 weeks.
One of the pieces of work that will form part of the exhibition is the commission from New Mills, Derbyshire that was installed last week. Whlist I was in Southend I was struggling with the design for the jet washed pavement drawing, but giving it time and simplifying things has brought together a neat repetitive design that flows across the pavement. I’m pleased with how the drawing came out, the nature of jet washing is a bit it and miss depending on the surface & how dirty it is, but it’s come up beautifully and the organisers of the festival are very happy with it too. I loved installing the work out in the public space as you get such immediate feedback from people. Passers by young and old stopped on their way past us as they noticed that the pavement was different, with one young person telling me that it was ‘mint’.
I’m recording a time lapse video of the work as it deteriorates, I’ve left my camera running and think it will collect 6 days worth of images before I need to go back and check up on it. I just hope that it picks up the clarity of the design really well, and that it has started to wear away by the end of the festival, which is 2 June so that the video can capture the paths that people take across that pavement.
Right, time to crack on with making things and not be afraid of my bigger studio space.
