Life is continuing in overdrive at the moment with one set of relatives being replaced by another and two funerals this week. Workwise I’ve been putting together samples for a commission working with children in Swindon hospital. I emailed the photos which went down well, went out for an hour and came back to find the dog had taken the 3D samples off the noticeboard in the kitchen and eaten them. Also putting together a hanging sculpture for the local school with all the wishes of the children leaving for ‘big’ school written on decorated ribbons. So my head’s all over the place – as usual.
I’ve been working on this one piece, bit by bit, sewing the ‘stains’ from duvets, edging them with the words from a romantic novel ‘The business of Loving’ found in a jumble sale, part of a set with the original subscription details of the women who ordered them still pressed in the pages. The piece, I think, will be called ‘Bed time stories’.
I find the process so frustrating. With carpel tunnel syndrome in my wrists (don’t work with wire), I can only do a bit at a time. Like a lot of my work, I have no idea how successful the finished piece will be until all the elements are finally put together, it may be that the materials are entirely experimental and I’m not sure how they will evolve. That’s quite a gamble with a lot of invested time. I’m so hoping this will do what I want it to do. I wonder how other artists cope when an idea requires many months of time invested and an uncertain outcome. I look at Gormleys plinth and think, ‘Why can’t I be that sort of artist?’
