I started this blog in November 2011 primarily as a way of documenting my journey from losing a studio to the hope of re-establishing myself in another. Scroll on three months and I’ve just this week signed for and made a first visit to a new studio. It’s an amazing space and my initial reservations about it having no windows have been temporarily put to one side – the fact that I’ll once again be a part of an artistic community has far outweighed any potential fears about claustrophobia. I feel lucky to be associated with so many of the dynamic artists attached to this new studio complex and can’t wait now to move in and start creating again. I’ve said on more than one occasion in this blog how important a sense of belonging is to me – I’m looking forward immensely to being there. And besides, windows or not, the new studio is bright, secure and – virtually unheard of for a studio in winter – warm!
So what of this blog I wonder? Will I continue with it now that a new studio space has been found? Or will it be put on the back burner now that I have the opportunity to get back into creating again? Can I write about and create work at the same time? Can the two go hand in hand? Time will tell, but whatever happens, the significance of this blog in terms of my role as an artist feels important for me to acknowledge.
I’m very pleased about how well the blog has been received and so far, writing it has been a really positive experience; not just as an outlet for a lot of the emotions associated with the studio loss but for the discovery of a new accessible community here, online at Artists Talking. My thanks are due to many of the artist/bloggers who inspired me to get started in the first place and introduced me to what has been a totally new way of communicating. And to those who have continued to read my blog and those who have generously posted their comments – it’s all positive confirmation that you really are talking to other artists and not just posting into a large empty void.
I’ve been in the habit of reading other artists’ blogs and occasionally leaving comments on here for some time, but only through starting my own do I feel that I’ve truly started to benefit from its real community spirit. It’s introduced me to artists who I might well never have known about and the mutual exchange of ideas and sentiments has frequently buoyed me up and encouraged me to keep writing. I received a heart warming response from Elena Thomas www.a-n.co.uk/p/1322260/ recently in which she quoted statements from my blog – ‘rural upbringing’ – snap! ‘working class parents’ – snap! It’s been uplifting to realise how closely some contemporaries are able to relate to what you’re saying and I’ve felt encouraged by the comments I’ve received – even the short, one-liners let you know that your blog is being read.
In terms of producing any actual art work over the past month or so I had been thinking that I hadn’t been doing so well. That said, however there’s recently been a change in my thinking about how ‘work’ as an artist is qualified. Hayley Harrison’s statement in her blog Something’s Happening springs to mind here: ‘I am starting to realise I am an artist even when I am not in my studio.’ Hayley’s statement sums up perfectly for me my own increasing understanding about what being an artist involves – the many aspects of it and the many skills required to be one and to keep being one.
But having said that, I’ve undoubtedly missed the actual hands-on creative process and I’m very much hoping that once I’m in my new studio, I’ll get back to that!
