thankyou for the 'hope he gets better wishes". he is back at school and doing his art gcse this week, after much assistance with cutting/sticking stuff into his sketch book and being a scribe for his annotation. it took so long, both up til midnight the last couple of nights, and i am so glad that i dont have any 'project' type work to do on the ba course. luckily he's good at photoshop.
i have been asked to talk at the a-n AIR open dialogue thing on may 18th, "Rivington Place (home of Iniva) on 18 May, 6.30-8.30pm. The other speaker is Laura de beneditti – see her blog on Artists Talking.These are informal events at which two artists each speak (from within a circle of chairs) for ten minutes – the theme is ‘points of reflection and departure’ which has a resonance for most artists, whatever career stage. For you as an about-to-graduate- student it would be interesting to follow the areas you have covered on your blog ", not to panic yet about what i am saying but it's slowly forming in an empty corner of my head, just behind the bit where i keep the jam.
this week has been running to hospitals in deep, green kent to new cross, adding a couple of dizzy circles in between. this has been the only chance i have had to stop and think for a couple of weeks, so i am going to continue the thinking in a big, hot, bubbly bath, until the water gets cold.
really need to get back to work and start editing degree show stuff today. its been a bit busy here with the poorly finger, but the horror has faded and the drugs have been taken, so i dont need to be nurse somuch.
so, being a parent and artist. the former comes first. degree shows are a tiny thing.
the middle child (who's about to do gcses) slammed his finger in a door and has the end of it sewed back on this morning.
strange timing but i came back from hospital to find an email from a-n. asking to submit some pics for the magazine as they are doing a bit about parent artists.
the blog is resting…
ive been thinking about the gap between submitting work via show reel dvd/photographic slide and the actual work. how does one illustrate the other? and does it manage it at all?
unless it is work made to be viewed on a dvd on a computer, or a slide intended to be viewed by being held up by an unsteady hand to the light; is there much point?
should we stick to presenting work in a gallery, displaying the work as it is meant to be shown? and perhaps forget submitting to renowned competitions and enclosing a fee?
im beginning to think so.
i have been asked to write a bit on being a parent and artist. so i have been thinking about it over the weekend.
i suppose a bit of history might help. my kids are big, 18, 16 & 12 and i have been divorced for 5yrs. before i started foundation/uni i was self employed painting murals and trompe l'oeil, i also worked for youth offending teams and youth clubs doing art based stuff. but it wasnt til foundation that i started to find my own practice and language. so i see the before and after v.differently, even tho it would still be viewed under the same job description.
anyways, what do i reckon about being a parent and artist? i really don't know what it is to be anything other than. i do know that, generally, i always have a sense that others views and opinions count, not that they are necessarily right, or that they should change my direction. small things matter, perhaps as a mum i have had to be more sensitive to body language and little signs. it's usually busy, making work makes it busier. and apart from all of that, they are a great inspiration. things grow, change and emerge, constantly. i work with the flow.
