DON'T JUST SIT THERE
Been pondering how to bring the outdoors indoors during our Project Space work time. I look round my house and see how much is influenced by the natural world. We think we live away from nature but we surround ourselves with patterns, words and shapes from plants and animals. And think of cave paintings, ancient pots, mediaeval hangings.
The tea service handed down by my mother has red roses round the rim. I plant a pea (Onward) in a jug and an unidentified seedling in the cup and saucer.
STUFFED ANOTHER BIRD
I stuffed my chaffinch at the weekend. I had to learn how to do double feather stitch. Once I got it, it was easy, but as with everything , there is trial and error. I could not work it out and then suddenly I found the way and the instructions which had seemed crazy until then, suddenly fell into place.
As Roz says in her post today, she has spent the week organising & planning for us & has covered a lot of ground. It's very exciting to be working towards something definite now, especially as the first project space week is only a very few weeks away.
I'm pleased to say that I have made progress at the studio too this week. I have built my greenhouse and have set it up as my Breaking Ground work space. I'm enjoying the strange semi-opaque cover & the zip-up door cover which, when unzipped, flaps open just enough to be able to peek inside.
Yesterday I went shopping and bought seeds, beans, compost, seed trays and pots.
FIRST PROJECT SPACE BOOKED
Spent a lot of time this week thinking about dates and spaces. Booked our first Project Space at the Phoenix in Brighton for first week in July with draft dates for the Open Afternoon and the Platform Dialogue. Whew. And we have a facilitator and a consultant sorted. And have nearly booked the second Space for October. How much of my art life is now project management. I get to make the art during residencies – this is when there is dedicated time to 'get down to it'.
CHANGING SEASONS
I started to make papier mache casts of my spade and fork some months ago after work on the allotment had stopped. The white shapes looked like skeletons of themselves and I began to think of them as Winter.
When I unwrapped them to continue this week, they seemed misplaced in the sunny day. May is a time when everything has turned green and is shooting up. There is loads of spadework to do on the allotment.
