From The Ground Up

UPDATE to Patchgate.

Have located 7 patches so far.

Have reprimed said 7 patches so far.

Windsor & Newton linen canvas… You are my prison bitch.

I GOT THIS!

*eye twitch*

It’s almost upon me. Almost ish… I’ve another 16 days to be precise, but I’ve given myself another 10 days to finish this last painting that I might want to hang. Not a great deal of time granted. I’m going all out now and working 8 – 10 hours a day. I figured I can manage a minimum of another 80 hours painting time on that piece, and if I put my all into it now, then it should be done sooner. I’ve a nasty habit of underestimating the time it takes to finish a piece though. Maybe all artists do? I have a book [How To Be An Artist by Michael Atavar] which suggests that all artists should add at least a third onto the time they expect (or quote) something done by. I reckon I should add two thirds.

My speed isn’t helped by the fact that I found dark lines leaking through a patch of oil painted area today, and I’ve realised it’s caused by hairline cracks in the supposedly triple pre-primed linen canvas that I’m using. Cheers for that Windsor & Newton. Sigh. So I’ve had to remove the oil paint from that area and am attempting to gesso just that patch. *head-butts canvas* And I know, I know, I shouldn’t have used a ready-made canvas but it wasn’t cheap and I needed to save time. Pah.

I’ve got a fair few non art related worries too. Found out yesterday that my dad’s had another heart attack. He’s in hospital now, having tests done to see how they might patch him up again. Apparently he’s doing well though, but as he’s at the other end of the country I can’t get down to see him. Sucker punched by guilt yet again!

Well I’ve eaten most of my sandwich dinner whilst writing this post. Time to see whether my iffy patch job is drying alright. I wish the dongle would reset my fair use amount so that I can use Spotify. Stupid fair use policy.

Should anyone reading this fancy coming along to my exhibition launch, I’ve created an event on facebook. https://www.facebook.com/events/496585487067538/

See whether I make it! Ha.

Paint – dribble – paint – dribble. This piece is taking so much longer to finish than I had anticipated. Adding to that I’ve had to change quite a large section that wasnt working for me. Gargh.

I did a little recon mission around the Cornerhouse the other day and took photos of the wall spaces in order to have a think about what’s going where. Being spread across two floors actually might come in handy for me as I’ve a series of more architectural works and one of landscapes. I’m toying with the idea of seperating the two themes using the floors, although I run the risk of people thinking the work is by different artists (even though obviously there’s a common thread).

Oh blarg.

I picked a damn odd day to work in the studio. Alternate blue skies and blizzard style snow tipping down. And it’s bitter here in the studio.

I’ve not been feeling on top form lately. We’ve had a fair few illnesses going round the family, and when you have a small baby mixed with baby groups, you have widespread germs. Last week we were dealing with hand, foot and mouth disease. Admittedly not something very arty, but these types of problems really affect me and my work, and my ability to get into the studio etc. It’s a huge problem. And one with no answer.

Juggling being a mother and an artist is not easy. Especially when we are talking about a small baby. Not only is there the physical aspect of being at home vs the studio, but there’s a tremendous amount of guilt attached to the whole shebang. I’ve recently joined a facebook networking collective called Lean In. It’s all about empowering women to ‘lean in’ and take control of their future. It’s about striving for equality in the work place and part of this debate is heavily focused on parenting. Apparently only 4% of the top 100 CEOs are female. That’s just a crazy statistic.

Importantly though, I think it demonstrates how easy it becomes for us mothers to assume the role of a last century guilt ridden Irish Catholic. Men don’t suffer any guilt about leaving their children at home and going out to earn the crust. We give that to ourselves, handed down from mother to daughter like a bad case of pink eye.

Thing is… without a serious amount of cash spent on Derren Brown… how on earth does someone stop feeling guilty? And when will I stop feeling like what I ‘Do’ (for want of a better phrase) is just self indulgent drivel?

Right. Time to face the cold out there and get a beef fried rice dish, and then get back to painting. Mush!

So here I am, back in the land of blogging. I used to do this kind of thing 15 years ago, before it became hip; before most people knew what a blog was. Never thought back then as a young, lonely and frustrated mother, that I’d be writing a blog about my CAREER. Like someone with forward momentum and a future? Well I shall give myself a little pat on the back for that one at least.

It’s interesting writing this, reflecting on things again in this first person manner, whilst also assuming (hoping) that someone else might be reading. I’ll need to get my groove back on I imagine. Or maybe it’s like riding a bike (although I tried that recently and nearly fell off).

Anyway, small talk aside, this is a place/space for me to share my up and coming meteoric (sorry Russia) rise into the art world. Or my downfall. Either way, worth documenting!

Current project of note: My first solo exhibition which happens to be at The Cornerhouse in Manchester; a place that needs no introduction to any North West art type.

VERY exciting stuff. I’ve known for a couple of weeks, and yet I still need to pinch myself. *PINCH PINCH*

Well this will do as a little introduction into this blog. I plan on using some of the ‘down tools time’ in my studio to reflect and write on here. I’m sure it’s much more productive than trolling through facebook with my brew.