A Portrait of an Artist as a Very Late Starter

Well, I’m back!

Three months since my last post is a little long but I do have good reasons; I have been extremely busy and, if I think about it, a little stressed.  Here’s why: I applied for a place on the AA2A scheme, (artists’ access to art colleges), at Teesside university way back in September, was selected for interview and awarded a place!  This, according to the letter I received was in the face of stiff opposition and many applications. . .   which threw me into a bit of a panic because I had not expected to be successful.  I know, where’s my confidence?  It comes and goes. . . . .

Also, I have been knitting. . .  my youngest daughter is due to have her first baby in about a week’s time so I had to finish projects begun when I thought I had all the time in the world.  What with the anti fracking activities, my own work and baby preparations, I had not factored in a big project with deadlines like the AA2A one.  So, along with Christmas in the middle of all that, it has been a busy time.

However, the project is under way, if a little tentatively at the moment; I am still at the research phase but I am pleased with the way ideas are coming together.
I have not begun to make any final works for it yet;  I am still busy collecting material to incorporate into it. My aim is to combine text, image and mark making to create a visually interesting surface in three dimensions.  The use of print and paint on a roll of Chinese paper will have a beautiful way of diffusing light and creating shadows, depending on where it is shown and how it is draped or hung. This will mirror the hoped for quality of the acrylic piece I am planning as part of the trio of free standing pillars. I am already thinking about other venues where the work could be shown but not approached anywhere as yet.

My aim from the outset was to produce work in three dimensions, something that has been occupying my mind since the ballot box work I did last year; the only installation piece of my own work I have ever made.  As time progressed, and after giving a short lecture to students at Teesside University, where one of them asked me if I would use fracking as my subject matter, to which my response was at the time, “probably not”, I have found myself becoming more and more preoccupied with the possibilities of using fracking as the idea behind the work.

I am planning to make at least three free standing pillars that represent the qualities of earth, air and water.  (This is the working title of the piece).  These are the “holy trinity” of our life support system that will be threatened if fracking is allowed to take place.  One pillar of steel sheet (homage to Middlesbrough steel manufacturing as well as a nod to my original ballot box piece), one pillar of ply wood and one of acrylic sheet, all painted and printed upon with a variety of text, imagery and mark making to produce an interesting surface.  The work is not meant to be polemic; it is my personal response to the threat that fracking poses to the land, water and air where I live, and beyond.  Alongside this work I aim to have some small, folded artists’ books; three dimensional art works that can be hand held and put in a pocket.

I put out a call last Friday to local people fighting fracking to provide me with a few sentences each about how they feel about it.  I have had ten responses back already and am hopeful of a lot more; this community engagement aspect has grown out of my continued thinking process about the whole body of work.

I am also continuously surprised at the connections I am making with ideas within the project; I have already mentioned textile construction, its relation to “taking a line for a walk” in drawing and recently the ideas of darning to repair holes has become a metaphor that I have begun to speculate on.  Recent research into chemicals used in the fracking process or those that are brought up to the surface of the earth as a result of fracking has startled me; the diagrams of the different chemical bonds looked very similar to crochet diagrams!

Attending the recent lecture at Teesside University by Alice Fox was interesting; her method of collecting, refining, thinking and producing, have certain parallels within my current work. Also; her absolutely beautiful artists’ books (I have been lucky enough to own one for a few years now), constantly inspire me. Alice self publishes books as well; kind of catalogues of each body of work she produces; this is something I need to seriously think about too because, like her, I simply do not manage to sell many of my original pieces and as Alice pointed out, everyone can manage to buy one of those for a few pounds.

I may not be around Teesside University campus very much during February; my daughter is due to have her first baby in about a week.  I will however continue to collect material together and to make small drawings so that when I am able to be back, I can get going with producing the final works.

I am beginning to feel excited and a little daunted!

I am shattered.  Why is life so very complex and energy sapping, requiring thought, planning and actions on several fronts almost all at once?  I am yearning for a bit of time and space to simply get on with some work uninterrupted.

However; there have been some successes to do with all aspects of my life.

Success 1:  My local council actually came out and called for a five year moratorium on fracking.  Not legally binding, I know, but after all the hard work campaigning, it was a real lift.  We still have a fight on our hands though.

Success 2: A couple of weeks ago, I learned that I had sold a drawing; one that was left at Priestleys at No. 36 Bootham, York after the group show in their White Room Gallery, last year.   It has covered the cost of printing some cards for my current solo show there.

Success 3: Then, after over a week of waiting for an email, I was becoming despondent about my chances of gaining a place on the AA2A scheme at Teesside University.  I had been shortlisted and delivered a poor presentation so wasn’t really expecting success.  What a total surprise then, to learn via letter on a Saturday afternoon that I have been offered a place!  OK, it is not one of the MIMA afilliated ones that I coveted, but it is still going to be brilliant to have the opportunity to develop some new works while using the facilities at the university and to talk to students.  I am looking forward to beginning the process and being able to concentrate on my work for a day a week over there.  The whole process will require me to reflect on my progress in a blog and I know that I will need to find some more time to continue the development in my own studio.  While I am slightly worried about fitting this in with everything else that is happening in my life, I am relishing the challenge and opportunity.  The induction meeting is next week, where I will meet two of the other three lucky participants and then it will be on with the work.  My aim for the time spent there is to develop new work into three dimensional pieces, using my current concerns.  I will make paintings, prints and books.  I am becoming intrigued by the idea of small books that are held in the palm of a hand and unfold into almost sculptural form.  Among other things. . .

During my prep for delivering the presentation I spent some time thinking hard about MIMA’s new plans for becoming a space that represents art as “useful”.  I find this very interesting and agree with Alistair Hudson’s ethos that art should be a democratic, useful part of society.  I have made a few notes about this and will blog about it later, when I can find them!

Success 4: Family stuff I won’t bore anyone with, involving considerable logistical planning and team work but still worth listing as it was a huge success!

Success 5: Solo show, Laminar Flow has been installed at The White Room gallery and looks great, although because I had to dash off for a week after I dropped the work off, placing it roughly where it should hang, I have only seen it via photographs.  I’m off to York tomorrow to see it properly.      http://www.priestleys-york.co.uk/category/gallery/

As I asked at the beginning, why must life be so crammed and complex sometimes?  Listing these successes has helped me keep positive although I still feel a bit overwhelmed at all I have to fit in between now and April, when my AA2A placement ends.  My new grandson will be born in February, which means I need to plan my time carefully and make the most of all the available hours I have for my work.