Part of the joy of being an artist (at least until you hit the big time) is the neccessity of having a ‘portfolio career’.
Circumstantially, I wear a lot of hats and one of these is as Sudborough Green Lodge co-ordinator for Fermynwoods Contemporary Art, an amazingly rural location for artists to undertake residencies, workshops and a myriad of other artistic pursuits I won’t even begin to go into now (see our website: http://www.fermynwoods.co.uk )
At an event there today I was unexpectedly asked to introduce myself. This simple request never fails to make every coherent brain cell in my head fall instantly out of my ears, leaving me a babbling wreck. And as always happens, under pressure, I forgot to mention the two most important things to say when meeting an important group of people
a) my surname (there are 50 billion Sophies out there these days)
b) that I am an artist.
Number one rule to get people to remember your name – tell them what it is.
This, following on from my previous post revelation made me realise that not only is my life filled with too much overcommitment but that I also have too much variety within what I do.
To be successful it seems best to be known (at least initially) for ONE THING.
William Shakespeare wasn’t famous for writing plays, knitting really nice jumpers and being a dab hand at watercolour (although all may be true) we know him for ONE thing.
My dear father (and trusty studio hand) maintains that his own career was hampered by trying to be good at too many things instead of just being REALLY REALLY good at just one thing – he could, and did, turn his hand to one hundred and one, varied, creative problems in a brilliant way, which left little time for him to become the cartoonist he should have been.
Is it good to be a ‘jack of all trades’ in this day and age when versatility really should be an assset? I can always see a strand of myself in everything I do, running through the middle, and it makes perfect sense – to me – but is it joined up thinking, showing one clear image for everyone else?
My name is SOPHIE CULLINAN and along with my many talents at firebuilding, toilet cleaning, workshop devising, sewing on buttons, pie making and getting reluctant children out of bed at 6.30 in the morning, I am an ARTIST.
