NO PARKING

I'm writing this morning after a very busy opening last night. There is always a feeling of sadness after previews (admittedly it could be the hangover!) I feel bereft now the adrenalin of the past few weeks has ebbed away. The show looks amazing, everyone worked so hard. There is now a little part of Derby that exudes expression (for a week anyway). The response was fantastic, visitors last night commented on how it felt like a real treat to be given the experience.

I am very tired. My work is being relegated. I had neglected to insure whilst organizing noparking that I manage time efficiently. I am notorious for it – will I ever learn!!!!!!!>>>>. I am still experimenting with stuff and the piece I am putting in the shop feels 'unevolved'.

Because I am shattered the whole pre-show panic thing has reached irrational proportions…..its always obvious that Im losing it when the irratic, exaggerated punctuation comes out./////

Humph. This is what I know:

Networking and publicity will eat up your whole day.

Having children will eat up your whole soul…..and any time that was left over from the networking and publicity.

Even if you are completely exhausted you will not be able to sleep because you will have total recall in the middle of the night of all the things you forgot when you were supposed to remember them in the daytime.

I am going to close now for I am beginning to sound too much like Adrian Mole.

There is one room in the shop that is niggling us. I couldn't sleep last night for ideas bursting into my head about how to tackle it, that and the conversations I'd had throughout the day kept me buzzing.

I met an artist, Paul Matosic, who is creating an installation in Derby Museum Art Gallery to open on 28th March. We talked about lack of funds, ignorance of councils (and one particular councillor, mentioning no names….) and also – and this is the bit that gave me insomnia – do self funded artist intitiatives give the funding bodies and the government and the councils a reason to take a hands off approach because 'the artists themselves are more than capable of providing the cultural input'? Are we compounding a complacency, are we our own worst enemies!!!!!!!!??????????

Rock and a hard place……

Spent most of the day at 2 Cheapside clearing up a bit and trying to suss out the heating….no luck. Blue fingers. Think I am spoiled at Banks Mill (where my studio is) where the heating is great…. over the moon about the space though. The ghost clothes I am planning to hang in the ground floor space are going to sit nicely I think. They will be right next to the big windows and whilst I sat there today sketching I noticed the constant flow of people going passed. It is such a prominent spot we cant help but be noticed. George (Harris) came down and sighed a sigh of contentment and satisfaction about how happy he is with the space.

Mostly all settled on where we are going to hang. There may be room for more work but how I am going to find the time to make more I dont know. I am making 100s of beeswax cast keys for Connect 08 (at the Collection, Lincoln) and my mold is crap so this is taking up so much time. The ghost clothes are very labour intensive which feeds into the theme of the installation but theres little time for anything else but threading popcorn on to metres of cotton and knitting wire into garments. Experimenting with stitching sheets of wax together is good fun but ………….tick tock tick tock

Forgive me it has been almost 2 weeks since my last blog……

Took the family to Brighton for Easter to visit old friends. Putting some distance between me and Derby makes me realise how much work there is to do for noparking. I've also got heaps to do for the group show i'm involved in at the Collection in Lincoln. I've squandered too much time and now I'm paying with free floating anxiety!

Seeing Brighton again also highlights how little there is going on in Derby in terms of art. Experiences are limited. The fun to be had is at the all new shopping centre…. Culture is considered as a separate entity, an outhouse that is sometimes visited but not quite integral to the house.

For a while though my complaints are quietened whilst we develop the show. Today there is Excitement. I collected the keys for the shop from the landlord. The space is now a working space not some abstract notion in our minds.