I went to studio 22 realising more and more the benefits of having a large-ish white wall to work with – something I don’t have in my studio at home. If my studio here was twice the size, and all I had in it were the materials I need and space to stand back and look (or sit and think), that would be approaching ideal. I wonder if they will mind if I knock through to next door?
The white wall proved itself. I was able to develop a sketchbook idea in ways that would not have been possible otherwise. Having the means to lay the work out actual size meant that not only was I able to fine-tune details, significantly I was also able to visualise a development to the work that I had not previously conceived. This transformed the piece. It is clear that I will have to take steps to ensure that I have a similar facility somehow. As things stand that could be a problem.
Here’s a curious thing: on Twitter, has anyone else noticed how many of a certain ‘tier’ of arts professionals follow no, or almost no, artists?
Susan’s comment is spot on. Thinking about this afterwards, there are a few other prerequisites I could have added: resourcefulness, adaptability, and a sense of the possible.
I can’t think of any other profession that requires quite such a wide range of abilities and skills: an artist needs more than just their talent: we need to be adept at marketing, financial management, and at least some ability to present a sound ‘business’ case; we need self motivation, dedication, specialist technical skills (as well as the ability to learn new skills at the drop of a hat), and – uniquely, I think, the need to constantly conceive and develop new ‘product’.
There was enough sunshine yesterday to allow me to take photographs of the new work ‘Cara Mia’.
I’m particularly happy with this one; it isn’t the work I have been referring to recently, although I’m just as excited about it.
It is an extension of my 3D paintings, and as such is an exploration into the nature of painting, among other things. It is inevitable that people will draw parallels between this and Michael Craig-Martin’s ‘An Oak Tree’. They will be mistaken, though. Apart from the obvious glass-and-water, there is no connection. It is just that they have certain media in common. It has made me aware how readily people will take on such assumptions, not just in art, but in general.
