Fran and I initially became interested in the West End of Chelmsford as it is an area of flux, undergoing rapid change and redevelopment. Now after visiting the area, and drawing there on and off for almost two month, our focus has shifted. Click onto the map of the area (map) and flip over to the satellite picture, and you’ll see it contains both the railway station, and the bus station, as well as having a high density of car parks. Commuters pass through on their way to work first thing in the morning, then back again at night. The area is a mass of signs directing and corralling them, and adverts hoping to ensnare them as they pass. As a result it is splashed with primary colours.
Huge relief. We’ve just got confirmation that Chelmsford Borough Council is supporting the project with a grant. Management gurus say groups take greater risks than individuals and I suspect that acting alone neither Fran nor myself would have committed to this project without a lot more of the funding and organisation being in place first. As it is we’ve been scrabbling to catch up, and the admin feels to be taking a disproportionate amount of our time. But art shouldn’t be safe and predictable. The frantic pace of the project gives it vigour. It’s great to collaborate again with another artist after a long period working by myself. The excited buzz this generates has been like being back on the foundation course – ideas flying around everywhere – what shall I try next? I feel like a kid in a sweet shop! Today it’s good to be an artist.
This last week I’ve been struggling with technology. It’s horrifying how the time disappears when your sat in front of the computer, and you don’t always have much to show for your efforts. However, I do now finally have a Google map illustrating our investigations in Chelmsford.
I feel rather uncomfortable putting this unresolved work into the public domain, but that was one of the starting points for this project, to show our fumbling explorations rather than a polished trophy. So click on the link below and follow our journey. Caught in the Act: Google Map.
I had hoped to have a clear uninterrupted day in the studio, but lying awake in bed last night I kept thinking of an ever growing list of chores that had to be done first, not least buying some drawing materials.
I want to continue my experiments with drawing on polythene sheeting and plastic bags so will need some new pens. Earlier in the week Fran and I had a really good session walking round Chelmsford drawing, and talking to people. We generated loads of ideas, but at some point we do need to get into the studio to work these up. Finding time to do that can be surprisingly difficult when it conflicts with a job that brings in some money! But the importance of such work should not be underestimated. For me it doesn’t simply pay the bills. At the moment I’m scanning slides for a college lecturer and I’m sure its no coincidence that in my art work I’m looking at transparent materials and light boxes.
It’s been a week of form filling. Grant applications, project proposals, risk assessments, promotional emails, and of course the dreaded tax return, stalk my waking hours and haunt my dreams. I’m not good at these things, yet they appear to have become central to the artist’s life.
It seems almost incidental that I escaped into town to meet Fran for a morning drawing. My confidence was fragile, perhaps from too much time spent in front of the computer trying to justify my art. So I tucked my self in a corner and made tentative marks in a small sketchpad. In contrast Fran laid out a large strip of polythene and set to work with a marker pen. People walking down the passageway where we were working couldn’t help but get involved. Is this what they call community art?
