Keeping It Together

I’ve been thinking a lot about community and the sense of belonging that goes hand in hand with it since last writing this blog. Globally of course community is at the forefront of many people’s consciousness – whether it’s in Egypt, Syria, Occupy Wall Street or closer to home at the protest camp outside St Paul’s – we’ve witnessed the strength that can be gained through people coming together in solidarity.

Life often has a habit of acting out the very issues that are on one’s mind I think; in this respect, the past 24 hours have been a sharp reminder of just how important community is to me.

The school term finished yesterday and my sons invited their friends home, anxious all of them, to spend another few hours together before going their separate ways. I was struck by their closeness and the supportive community my children have grown up in; teenagers now, they’ve known many of their peers since nursery school days.

With the film The Iron Lady being talked about so much at the moment, my thoughts have also (unfortunately) been turning to community in relation to Thatcher and that infamous quote of hers: ‘there is no such thing as society.’ Her words still manage to arouse as much anger and outrage in me as they did all those years ago – a despicable and alienating comment, it came as a powerful statement and a blatant attack against community and everything it stood for.

But, still closer to home, a comment I received on Artists Talking yesterday from Rita Cormo also felt timely. It came as a response to a message I’d left on Building Materials, Rita’s first post on a new blog…

www.a-n.co.uk/p/1782814/

I really enjoyed reading it and there were some fantastic images of her work alongside her writing. In the spirit of sharing, I wanted to let her know that.

I loved her response – honest and real – in which Rita wrote about ‘sincerely … preparing for a long and enduring winter with no comments at all.’ Not because she thought that what she had to say and show couldn’t ‘be interesting’ but because ‘I saw very interesting blogs with no comments at all’. Rita goes on to to say how glad she is that she’s not posting into a void and that ‘hopefully this would enhance her will to proceed!’

I’ve checked with her and Rita feels fine about me quoting her. I wanted to because I can relate so strongly to what she’s saying; her sentiments sum up perfectly for me the basic need for supportive communities; groups of people sharing common values and goals, reaching out to each other. I’m conscious of it because for a long time during my foray into the art world, I was without it. And while I was acutely aware that something was missing, I couldn’t ever seem to put my finger on what it was.

I spoke about it in my last blog but more recently I’ve felt it more strongly than ever: there’s a vulnerability within all of us, a deep desire to be accepted – to be heard, to feel needed and to feel included. Encouragement and empathetic understanding from like-minded artists is invaluable; it’s what all of us at some point or other crave and need in order to flourish as creative people.

And so, as I’ve gravitated towards artists who – whether through their website, their blog, their tweets or simply through their presence – have been happy to share a little of themselves, my contacts and support systems have grown. These artists have also invariably been generous, not just in sharing their own work but also in contributing their thoughts and offering support to others – a shining example of this is the ever-generous Rosalind Davis…

www.a-n.co.uk/p/579530/

It’s apparent too on Artists Talking where shared values and emotional connections have been formed and are maintained through ongoing, online dialogue.

Not having a studio has enabled me to stand back a bit, to reflect and to think about what’s important in terms of moving forward – Keeping It Together. Things are definitely looking up.

I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather following a nasty head cold. ‘It’s nature’s way of telling your body to slow down’ is what my Nana always used to say; I think she was right. Having a cold usually coincides with a drop in my hearing and I’m inclined to become a bit more reclusive when this happens. After the high drama of the studio move it’s felt like a relief to be honest; I think things needed to calm down a bit and so I’m grateful for this period of quiet time I’ve allowed myself.

Now that I’m getting back on course, I’m really aware of the benefits of writing this blog; thinking about it and writing it has already started to create a kind of discipline in my day to day life and I’m very glad in this respect that I started it when I did – it’s keeping me stimulated creatively and mindful of the dangers of procrastination and slipping off the radar – serving the same purpose as a studio in many ways.

I’ve also been without the internet over the past couple of days – I just got reconnected last night. Even though it was for a short time, I was surprised at how quickly I felt out of the loop with having no access to social networks. Writing this blog over the past few weeks has helped me feel effectively connected to fellow artists, welcomed as part of a community and has compensated in many ways for not having a studio.

Other social networks like Twitter have also helped me to ‘stay visible’ amongst my contemporaries, something I remember once hearing Bob & Roberta Smith say was an important part of being an artist. It’s not something I always find easy to do but it’s something I’ve nevertheless been aware of ever since. I’ve realised the importance of keeping in touch with what’s going on in the wider art community and responding to it.

I’ve noticed what a familiar theme community is on Artists Talking. I’m reading about so many other artists striving to feel a sense of belonging, whether it’s in an actual studio space or through virtual interaction. Not surprising really because at the heart of all of us there is an innate need for compassionate understanding from others. Whether or not this need is more pronounced amongst creative people I can’t be sure, but what I’m certain about is that such understanding nourishes the creative spirit and helps it to grow. We all have a fundamental desire to fit in, to feel a part of society and as the division between the haves and the have-nots grows ever wider, perhaps the need to be part of a like-minded community has become greater still.

I know for me a studio represents an emotional as well as a physical space; from past experience, having a studio has given me a clear understanding of the importance of my own personal space, one in which I’m able to completely absorb myself in my work – away from the distractions of domestic life – the clothes that need to be hung out, the carpets that need to be vacuumed and so on.

In terms of creating this past week, my output has been small. Some of my time has been spent catching up on what other artists have been up to – but for me this week Keeping It Together has been more about quiet reflection, space to think and generally slowing things down. Hopefully it’s the calm before the creative storm.

I’ve been surprised by how many times my thoughts have turned to this blog over the past few days. I wonder if the absence of colleagues at the studio to mull things over with is having an effect. Dialogue has always been an essential part of my life and as it is, writing this blog feels a bit like having someone to talk to.

I hadn’t imagined that I’d have that much to say to be honest but already I feel like I’m getting immersed in keeping some kind of journal, day by day accounts of what I’m up to in my newfound state, outside of a studio.

I’m enjoying the writing process and under present circumstances, it feels like a positive step, attaching myself to something that already feels like a useful and beneficial exercise. I’m grateful to those who took the time to speak at recent a-n events, to promote the advantages of writing a blog – it worked! And so, keeping it together in its many shapes and forms, continues…

I received an email this morning from an artist who is based in Deptford. She had only just heard the news about the sudden collapse of the studio complex I belonged to, was sorry to hear about it and said that it had left what she felt was ‘a sad gap’ in the area. I felt my studio’s absence acutely this Friday evening just gone when I passed by the empty space en route to Cockpit Arts. Open Studios in other studio complexes in the area were in full swing and instead of being a part of it, I was an outsider looking in; the ideas I’d had for my own Xmas Open Studio hadn’t had a chance to materialise.

But that email wasn’t the only one I received this morning; one was from Amnesty International and the other from Shelter – like a lot of things in life, it’s all a question of perspective – and in the grand scheme of things, not having access to a studio really isn’t that bad!

So I’ve dusted down some suitcases from the top of a wardrobe today with a view to getting on with some work around the kitchen table tomorrow; I’ve cleared the day especially and have stocked up with the necessary glue to get on with a sketchbook project, something I applied for way back in the Spring and needs to be completed and ready for sending by the end of January 2012.

The suitcases are crammed full of paper cuttings from various vintage magazines which I’ve collected over the years – images that for one reason or another had caught my eye and I knew one day would be used for something. I’ve had the collection some 20 to 25 years and a lot of the cuttings were collected in the States and shipped back to England in the late 1980s.

I applied to take part in a Sketchbook Project last spring – it’s an American project and I’ve been thinking about the irony of some of the images being sent back across the Atlantic to their original home in New York. I’m pleased to have the sketchbook to focus on – it’s like Rob Turner said, it’s important to keep producing the work.

My experience of being an artist has felt very different since losing my studio. Keeping It Together this past week has been all about coming to terms with some of the uncomfortable feelings associated with not always getting what you want.

The process of looking for an alternative space is ongoing and I’m hoping it won’t be too long now before I’m able to get back to what I now recognise was a pretty established studio routine. I miss having a studio and without it, I have at times felt a little bereft; because for me, having no studio space equates with not being surrounded by the familiar objects with which I normally work.

During this past month I have been quite literally stripped of all I know as a creative practitioner – deprived of the space and the vast lifelong collection of possessions I habitually surround myself with. Hardly surprising then that the recent upheaval has felt so unsettling – family holidays and other commitments aside, there haven’t been many days over the past five years or so when I haven’t been in at the studio. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that I’ve felt like I’ve been in a state of mourning. Now I simply can’t wait to be reunited with my belongings, unpack and reacquaint myself with them – and get back to work.

Being without a studio has at the same time created space for letting in other positive experiences and alternative ways of seeing. I’m aware that I haven’t produced any art this week, but in terms of thinking about my work, there has been a great deal of creative activity. Perhaps being away from the clutter of material possessions has freed me up to focus on what’s important to me at this particular moment. I feel I’m about to enter into a fresh and exciting period of creative output in the foreseeable future and I need to be focused.

New beginnings can be wonderfully productive and I’ve had space to think about how important being with like-minded people is to me, both on a personal level and in terms of the ongoing development of my art – people I can identify with and relate to, with a view to building a community of which I feel a part. And, having once been a public sector worker myself, Wednesday’s rally against pension cuts was a timely reminder of my fundamental belief in the importance of community and the need for continued social cohesion and a shared value system amongst fellow workers. I suppose you could call it Keeping It Together…