All went to plan and I collected Kalender on Friday afternoon. After several rather dark issues (I mean in the sense of printing darker than was planned rather than any analysis of their content!) the Palm Sunday Kalender is almost unfeasibly light. It's nice that the publication is meant to reference cheapo fanzines and crappy parish magazines – so, no problem.
Although the print quality leaves something to be desired, I'm quite excited by the potential in the collages I'm starting to develop, even though I go through bouts of self-doubt about them. Those art school crits were useful! But anyway, now that the images exist I can always go back to them once the madness of the Kalender schedule is a thing of the past. And madness it is.
Despite saying in my last post that the weekend would be spent rubberstamping and stapling, in fact none of that has even started and I have so far failed to source the sugar flowers I'm committed to providing as the 'free gift'.
On a more positive note, somehow the Easter edition is practically ready to pdf for the printer … how did that happen?? Probably ia combination of the recent pritt stick frenzy, Trevor nobly documenting a new performance to make a photo-story for the centre spread, and spending the whole day and part of the evening yesterday on those 'final details'….
Oh yes, I don't think I mentioned that the Palm Sunday Kalender is now online –
I feel as if I've been writing about this Palm Sunday kalender for weeks – and probably have! But at last all is ready for the printers, and I hope to be able to collect the 180 finished copies tomorrow afternoon.
Meanwhile, I've been getting on with the Easter edition … and the pritt stick has come out again.
Also, it seemed like a good idea to put a flyer for the exhibition that will follow my Gresham's residency this Autumn into each copy of Kalender. The mentors would be proud! Anyway, that was put together this morning with Trevor's help so we're on track for another feverish bout of rubberstamping and free gift attachment this weekend. Never a dull moment.
www.world-tree.co.uk/festial
Today was the day I intended to 'quickly' put the little finishing details to the Palm Sunday Kalender – but my, what a long time those little details take! The problem was that there were still a few pages to resolve and I felt that the remaining unused images were a bit staid and repetitive of what had gone before.
So I've been making collages! Real collages with scissors and pritt stick and I've really enjoyed doing it. I think I'll continue with this technique as a way of exploring the material from Kalender once my medieval year is over. And that won't be all that long now.
Sometimes it does feel difficult to keep up my initial enthusiasm for the project over such a long period of time. I admit I haven't retained the resolve to keep pushing away at promotion and trying to keep the project in the public eye, especially locally where I really haven't encountered very much interest in what I'm doing (with the exception, I must quickly say, of my lovely new friend Kay from Wood Dalling who is a fantastic source of support and encouragement).
But I'm managing to keep focussed on producing Kalender, and I'm starting work on a proposal for the solo exhibition within the Eastern Region that I need to secure as one of the conditions under which I received my Grants for the Art award. Indeed, the funding won't be forthcoming until I receive the offer of such an exhibition, so I'd better get on with it!
I realise I haven't recorded the fact that Easter 'happened'! It was always going to be a challenge to work with two festivals that were only a week apart, but Easter was so huge in the medieval mindset that it seemed to be a must from the very beginning.
In fact, as a festival to interpret in my own way it wasn't as easy as I had imagined. Yes, my research confirms that there would have been a lot of weird (to our eyes) stuff going on at St Andrew's and emotions would certainly have been running high, but I didn't want to get caught up in the Christian devotional frenzy as such. Nor did I feel it was enough to go with the Spring equinox pagan festival thing – a bit obvious, maybe. So????
Well, all I did on the day (Saturday 5 April by the Julian calendar) was to have one of my 'seeing what happens' sessions up at the church. But I did take some eggs with me… I think that whatever theme or feeling is going to emerge will (hopefully) become apparent as I start to put Kalender together.
But right now I'm still finishing off the Palm Sunday edition … nearly there though!
Typical! I was determined (but evidently not determined enough) to write something here on 3 April 2008, as that was the date in 2007 that I started this blog. I can hardly believe it. And now it's the 8th….
Anyway, on Thursday, which happened to be 3 April, I was out having a look at a new art space in King's Lynn: Greyfriars Art Space. Set up as a not-for-profit organisation by two West Norfolk 2007 Fine Art graduates it looks good and its presence is a welcome boost to the Eastern area, which is somewhat impoverished when it comes to non-commercial galleries. Greyfriars consists of studios and a gallery, with the idea that studio rental will cover the cost of running the building so that shows don't have to be *commercial* but can be selected on other criteria. That's what we like to hear! Clare and Jill, co-founders of Greyfrairs, have really done their homework and the frontage has the restrained appearance of a good, small London gallery.
Clare had phoned initially to ask whether I'd like to show some work in a group show there in June and suggested I go and take a look at the space. I'm looking forward to participating. The show comes a month after the formal part of Festial comes to an end – finishing, as it began, with Rogationtide in May – and will be a good way of ensuring I actually start making some work afterwards.
