My first project exhibition seemed a long way off at the turn of the year but it has come round very fast. As I’m learning with everything to do with this project, things take at least twice as long than you think they will. It took me all day Monday to crop, layout and produce print files for the photograph strip that will go around the gallery.
Yesterday, Julie, my friend and project manager, and I started to get the gallery ready and hang the photographs. That is after I cut them to size and stuck them together, another job that took longer than I thought!
Today we will put the rest of the photographs up and arrange my ‘studio’ area. When my exhibition is open to the public next week I will be working in the gallery, making sample pieces, extracting more flax and planning the final pieces. Do drop by and see what I’m up to.
Natural Imperfections – Documentary exhibition
Venue: Art Space Portsmouth
27 Brougham Road, Portsmouth, PO5 4PA
Preview: Friday 26th February 6-8pm
Open: Monday 29th February – Friday 4th March 12-4pm
For a recovering agoraphobic, perfectionist with M.E. this project is starting to get to me. Too much to do. It’s all taking 2-3 times longer than I had planned, my energy levels are on about 20% and I haven’t even got to the first exhibition. Stressed! I think I’m going to ask Rescue Remedy if they would like to sponsor me!
The usual way to extract flax fibre is to grab a handful of stems and then bash them with a mallet. This releases the fibre which can then be combed to remove the unwanted stalk.
This is the way a normal person would do it but I happen to be an artist who wants the lovely stems in one piece as they are very sculptural and can be used in the final artworks. However, this does mean painstakingly taking a single stem and gently releasing the fibre before pulling it off and then going back to get those pesky strands that didn’t want to come off first time. Of course, you get the difficult ones where you are about to take the last bit of fibre off and the stem breaks… you say “oh dear” and move onto the next one.
I realised that if I carried on at the speed that I was going I would be finished by the end of the year. The only trouble is that my first exhibition is at the end of April. What could I do? I know, hold a stripping party!
I advertised around the studios and a number of fellow artists answered the call. With tea, biscuits and chocolates at hand, Julie, Naty, Ginny and my lovely partner Lucy met in our gallery space to strip my flax. We all had lots of fun and in fact, when asked, Siri said “it was the most fun you can have”. Ginny loved it so much that she even took some home, as did our Studio Coordinator, Letty.
I now have a lovely pile to start making paper from, ready for the documentary exhibition which starts in 2 weeks. Now to sort the seeds.
Today I will mostly be looking through photographs. 2,808 of them. And that doesn’t even include the ones on my iPad. I don’t like to think how many are on there.
The reason? For the documentary exhibition at Art Space Portsmouth at the end of this month. Oh, and a book documenting the project to be launched at the exhibition at Tuppenny Barn at the end of April.
What am I doing writing a blog then? I’m a great procrastinator! (Not really Arts Council ;-) )
