I have a very busy week ahead, mainly with non art matters but it means I will have a little trouble getting in to the studio this week. I decided to go in to the studio last night from 7pm to 10pm. I didn't expect to see anyone there but was pleasantly surprised to find one of the other artists in there working happily. It was quite comforting to find that other people have to do do strange hours too.
I found that the paintings that I had worked on at the weekend were still very wet so I started on some more. It's probably a good job that I can't get in much this week as I have not got any more wall or floor space left for any more work.
I have to start putting up the work for the open studio event early next week. It feels really strange to be having an open studio at this point in time. My work is still very much in progress and far from finished. I'm not used to exhibiting work in an unfinished state, it makes me a bit nervous.
I visited the Dome in Buxton this weekend, it is the venue of the first part of my current commission for the CADFAS society. The show starts on the 24th November and finishes on the 8th December.
There is currently an artist called Natalie Dowse exhibiting at the moment as the final show of a residency called the Vickers Award. Her work is fantastic, very lovely paintings.
I went to have a look at the exhibition panels and how it functioned as a venue and came away feeling very concerned about my exhibition in November. The problem is that the venue is so wide open and huge and the dome so spectacular that the exhibition area doesn't really have any impact, the work is dwarfed and many people just don't notice it. As proven by my step father in law who when asked about the exhibition after we left the building just looked at me blankly and asked "what exhibition"
The building is just wonderful and it is understandable that the viewer has eyes mainly for the fantastic architecture. It's just very daunting knowing that my paintings will just be lost in that vast space. I think I will arrange a meeting with my fellow exhibitor Mark Redford to discuss options of making the exhibition work with the surroundings.
I was in the studio very little this week. I only managed a small visit during the week and on Saturday morning. Although I did manage to get quite a lot done in the time I was there. I have to start planning what I am going to exhibit in the Open Studios at the end of the month. I have around 19 paintings in various stages of progress at the moment, these will be the mainstay of my exhibition with a few older works. I've toyed with the idea of actually painting during the whole open studio event to allow the visitors to see the work being made but I don't know the practicalities of that.
I just had an interesting idea pop into my head, what if I lay canvas down over the whole floor surface of my studio space and paint during the whole weekend suuplying people with covers for their feet so that they could walk around the wet painting whilst looking at the work on the wall. Just an idea, it would be interesting to see what other people think about it.
I kindly received word from the cavendish group saying that it was perfectly fine for me to display their commission work in my open studio even which is great news. Visitors will be able to see my latest work instead of the older work I was going to display.
I had some fantastic news this week too. I have been selected by Visual 08 Arts and Business East Midlands region for them to represent my work and me for commissions and sales to businesses. I am really happy and hopefully things should start happening in a few months. I also have recently signed a contract with a London based Gallery and representative called Heafford + Hall who have a fantastic little gallery just off Clapham common.
I haven't had the chance to get into the studio in the last few days. I have been busy applying for things and doing paperwork e.t.c. I wrote an application for exhibition at Deda in Derby. I am exhibiting as part of a group show in the first part of next year. The group is called Morph Creative Dynamics in Derby. I also sent out loads of e-mails inviting as many people as I know to the open studio event at the end of the month.
Hopefully I should be able to get into the studio soon so I can continue with my current work.
As part of the residency I give Erewash council 5 working days as part of community arts projects. I am really looking forward to this and I am just mulling over at the moment what age group I want to work with. I am undecided at the moment, the problem is that I don't really have any experience in this field so I feel like I would liket to work with as many age groups as possible. I am thinking of proposing this and offering Erewash borough council a lot more than the 5 days so that I can increase my experience.
I saw a few friends from University last week and it was great to see them, even if for such a short while. I am missing the group of people I was at university with and it does seem strange at the moment not seeing them and discussing stuff with thm. I must make more of an effort to e-mail them
Earlly start again this morning, up at 6 and in the studio just before 7. It's a great time to be in there, a quiet time to reflect and consider what needs doing. I'm lucky, the sun rises directly in front of my window and it streams into my space in the early morning.
The next guest exhibition has been installed ready for the open studios (24th/25th/26th ) October. It's by Flore Gardner, a French Artist from Avignon I believe. The exhibition is called "Embroideries" and it is really good. I spent ages this morning just studying the collection of work and it is really fascinating. Flore will be doing a performance piece alongside the exhibition at the open studio event. If you would like a sneek preview of the work then have a look at Jacqueline Berridge's blog on Artist Talking, she has a few photos of the work.
I have 16 paintings in progress at the moment, all in different stages, it's great having lots of space to spread out and being able to get on with other things whilst the paint is drying. Not all of the paintings are successful, I think a few of them are going to be scrapped altogether, it's really frustrating when a painting just doesn't seem to be going well and just seems to be unrecoverable but it is also a good thing, a chance to learn what not to do.
I spent a good 2 hours mixing paint and cleaning brushes today. It's not a particularly interesting job to do but an important one. I've always been really bad at cleaning and mixing, always too eager to get on with the painting and have always regarded it as a process that stops me painting but over the last 6 months I've forced myself to take more care and more time on these processes, it really does affect the quality of the work and i also find it forces me to think more about the work I am making so I am clearer about what I want to do when I paint.
On Friday night was Derby's 'Feste' event to celebrate the opening of the new Derby Quad.
It was a really good, entertaining night. The highlight for me was Sarruga who are a Spanish street art company. I missed them when they performed for the opening of the local shopping centre when they paraded huge Dragons through the streets in celebration. This time they created wonderful insects. There was an ant, black widow spider, a huge praying mantis and more. With music blaring and spectacular lighting of the insects and even the spraying of steam above the audiences heads. It was quite an amazing spectacle.
The Quad building itself was quite dissapointing. To me it just doesn't look big enough. However it was very busy and extremely hard to get around to look at things so I will reserve full judgement until I can visit again at a calmer time.
The commissioned exhibition Spiteful of Dream by Jane & Louise Wilson was interesting. Quad said they wanted to comission something spectacular but in my opinion this is far from that. It is however very interesting and relates to the history of Derby. I liked the fact that it left me feeling a little light headed because of the effect of all the little parts of the images moving slightly in different directions.
I look forward to seeing more at the Quad.
I was in the studio on Saturday and had a really good day. I progressed my two current paintings into a nearly finished stage so I need to allow them to dry for a few days before I can touch them again. I would get on with other work but I am waiting for materials to arrive at the moment. I hope to have received delivery by Thursday at the latest so fingers crossed I will be in the studios then.
