It is a sheer privilege to sit with a group of artists around a table, with a fabulous curator (Kitty Anderson of The Common Guild, Glasgow), and talk. Not only talk, but ask questions, those simple but sometimes allusive questions that we never really get the chance to ask, or indeed, even know how to ask. Its hard being an artist…lets be honest, we constantly bang our heads against doors, we write things because we think we should write them, we blunder around trying to navigate the vast complexities of the art world, its twists and turns, whilst trying to keep our heads above water. It is hard enough to actually make the artwork itself, let alone the rest of it.

 

This is now my second day at StudioBook, I have learnt so much already, part of me wants to shout…”pause”….so I can put into action already what I have learnt….the other part of me hungers for more. But mostly I just want to shout….THANK YOU….this is brilliant….THANK YOU.

 

The facilitation and quality of the speakers, the care that Mark Devereux Projects has put into StudioBook…is quite frankly, excellent. I’m on a high….because so many doors have been opened inside my head, I know there is absolutely loads of work on my side still to do, but I can see a clearer path how to get there now.

 

I am not going to even to try and attempt to write some of the things I have learnt, but just going to finish this blog entry with a few sentences; some I had completely forgotten and some I needed reminding of, and some I did not know at all.

 

It’s ok just to be an artist, why box yourself in with a subtitle?

 

Its ok to write how you speak….why construct something that bares no relation to yourself, it’s your artwork after all!

 

It’s ok to say no, that’s not the way I work.

 

Did you know its ok to be you?


0 Comments

Mark Devereux Projects work with artists to advance their respective practices and careers by providing high-quality, tailored professional development; they launched their intensive programme called StudioBook in 2015.

 

This fabulous opportunity for early to mid-career artists, delivers seminars, workshops and one-to-one mentoring sessions.

 

I was honoured & completely chuffed to have been selected for the 2017 StudioBook. The quality of my fellow selectees is extremely high and (already) inspiring. There are twelve of us in total. We are:

  • Jilly Morris
  • Anna Columbine
  • Charlie Franklin 
  • Clare Holdstock
  • Claire Tindale
  • Elizabeth Kwant
  • Lada Wilson 
  • Libby Scarlett
  • Lucy May Schofield
  • Mandy Payne
  • Susan Gunn 
  • Suzanne O’Haire

I confess the nerves are beginning to kick in. Its one week to go before jumping on a train to Manchester (a place I have never visited before). I’m looking forward to meeting all the artists and sharing our experiences together. I know also there is a lot of work to be done on Studiobook….and that’s what it’s all about, an intensive time of learning and pushing our boundaries. It can at times be so isolating working as an artist so I’m really looking forward to engaging with others again.

 

I have already taken inspiration looking at the other attending artist’s creative practices, especially the work of Lucy May Schofield, we share one thing in common, having done the same year long residency for VARC; I already feel there is a connection, a place can connect you without even having met before.

 

I experienced my first ever Skype mentoring session with Jack Welsh (as part of the Studiobook programme), he has already made me think more deeply about my work, so if a one hour session can do that….I wonder where a two week intensive will take me!


0 Comments