After the bursary year of questioning, challenging and explaining my practice I feel more informed and focused with a clearer vision of the direction I want my work to take.
It has been so beneficial to hear directly from experienced curators, artists and selectors their response to my images, paintings and statement. I realised early on that my images didn’t convey the reality of the textures within the work and taking time to produce good quality images of the surface of my paintings has been time well spent. Similarly my statement is now more specific, relevant and personal, as opposed to being vague, too broad and generic. Although I am aware this will always be a work in progress and tempting though it is, I can’t consider it done and dusted!
I’m starting the new year with a heightened awareness of the pitfalls in my painting I should avoid and a better understanding of strengths in my work that I can develop. I’m excited about ideas for new work and am looking forward to getting lost in the process of painting.
Thank you so much a-n for this bursary year, and a big thanks to Rosalind Davis and Graham Crowley for your advice and to Lacey Contemporary Gallery for your support. I’ll be sharing my experiences in a presentation to fellow artists in the excellent Blue Monkey network in January and will strongly recommend this opportunity for Professional Development.
