On receiving an Arts Council Grant for “A Thousand Sheep”.

A Thousand Sheep revealed!

I need to post this today as I am approximatly one year away from launch time at the Salisbury Arts Centre.

It is strange to post an image of the work as it could be when finished but I thought it is now time to move on with the making;
I will be at the farm Mondays and wednesdays from now on, washing fleece, dyeing and creating the bundles.

I will need lots of hands, good will and hardworking people who wish to learn, share skills, spend some time in the fresh air and have a passion for donkeys(after sharing the field with sheep for a year, I am going to be sharing my studio with two retiring donkeys! It doesn’t get better than that!)

Winter has been long and painful but still, I am standing!

My main reason for being absent from this blog has been a much needed time to find paid work in order to insure the continuity of the project.

We are now approaching June. The Arts Council Grant which I was awarded in April 2011 has now come to an end. Well, in fact, I have stretched it so far that I have managed to keep aside enough for all materials needed to finish the piece.

I am now officialy in second year of making. Time has stretched to pieces and so have I. It almost does not matter so much anymore; the learning, the sharing and exploring that is done at the farm has completely shifted the value that I had put on my work prior to the project.

I will keep feeding throughout the summer and hope to become more present as it is the conversation that the project has brought to life that I want to nurture. My socialy engaged practice is currently starting to make complete sense.

Keep following!

The children’s first day back to school_ Back home_ I’m picking left over bits from a christmas cracker, finding appropriate space for the new toys, other than the middle of the kitchen floor or the overcrowded breakfast bar.

Still looking for that one present, a CD of “Florence and the machine”, lost in the battle on boxing day.

Picked up my best ever christmas present yesterday; an AJS DD125(the nicest little cruising bike I ever came accross); of Course, in the middle of the recession, can’t afford it but, hey, life’s too short, the recession is too long and the cost of things is only proportional to how much you use and enjoy!(she says)

My little boy cried on going to school this morning and I felt just like him; facing the dawnting prospect of self employment, no work (or too much unpaid work) did not appeal to me.

But it is time for change, or at least for resolutions. Every year I spend December applying for jobs of all sorts(including M&S), submiting work for exhibitions that will never happen, in brief, trying to plant some seeds to grow a full crop of opportunities.

Then January comes in and Winter and a time to retreat and think. My new year resolution is to start nurturing this blog with no pressure of writing the wright or wrong. I wish to use this space as a simple way to develop my thaughts and creativity. After all, this is what an Arts Council Grant should be funding.

I am starting to sense that perhaps the future of my art will not depend so much on how many job applications or submissions I will do but more on embracing joyful discoveries.

Photography is very much on the agenda this year and my first wish is to snick into the college’s dark rooms and play.(after filling in my tax return on time of course)

I also have decided to get a fundraiser on board of ” A Thousand Sheep” so we can create satellite events, hoping to raise awareness of the projects’ aims and increase community involvement.

I am starting a regurar evening spinning workshop very soon, using the winter months to revive skills and hobbies forgotten since television; People come and meet, chat, drink tea and spin wool for the project.

Happy creativity to all!

It is now nearly september and I know I have been avoiding this blog for ages.I have ,however , religiously fed into my other blog, the one that speaks about events and avdertises dates to meet at the shed.

This one seems to be much more about my feelings about the project and they have been all over the place since I started.

I certainly reached a point when I resented the Arts Council for having given me a grant for a project which is near to impossible to complete. Then I thought in turn about

a.taking a job at Tesco

b.digging a hole in the field and burrying my head in it.

c.leaving the country

Fortunatly, I did not apply for the job, I did not have a very good spade and I went to France anyway and hid at my Mum’s for a short break and some heart warming food.

I AM NOW BACK WITH A VENGEANCE!

Despite the depressing fact that I did not secure funding to carry out my MA Fine art for this year and I am broke as ever as I did not make any income since the project started.

The positive facts are:

I have engaged so many people in the project and spent so much energy advertising it that most people I meet in and around ask me regularly about progress.

I have gathered a team of keen volunteers who are following me in the adventure.

I have engaged with many school children via the farm and via workshops and am expecting to start school projects in September.

I have had corporate visits, artists and curators, members of the public, dog walkers, farmers…all asking questions and paying interest in the process.

I have created a strong trusting relationship with the farm and am managing to get help and feel that we are now working in partnership on developing the farm , the project and the future of both.

I have started to shape other events to link with the project and looked for core funding to help support further workshops which would include all for free.

I am also growing a good crop of madder for the next few years.

So looking back, I have done a lot of work and am a long way in the project in terms of public engagement. The actual making of the work is slightly slower but I have come to understand that I will certainly be on site for a bit longer than first planned(which is all ok with the farm and matches all the progress we are making).

I have also , now almost secured an exhibition for the work(thankfully not before february 2013) at Bridport Arts Centre which gives me a good deadline and motivation to carry on.

So , as for all previous Arts Council awards I have received, I am making incredible progress and am transforming my work and my career in unexpected ways.

So I should say so far so good! That is, if I can keep up the hard work for another year or so!

On the road, problem solving?

Today , I am in Birmingham; I came to meet Teresinha, from Wild Colours company, who specialises in natural dyes. I came to get a few more tips, some plants to grow at the farm, some chopped madder roots for immediate use and a few extra ingredients.

I also set on the road to look for potential spaces for the final work and have found a possible great space available at the Custard Factory. As well as few others where I will send proposals.

I also pushed to Walsall to view Bob and Roberta Smith’s work at the New Gallery and to the Ikon Gallery, where Tadasu Takamine’s work resparked my interest for video work.

I have made 3 films with groups of learning disabled but feel that I have been avoiding the strain of new technologies within my own work.

At this point, however, when I am facing the possibility of not achievening my goals with the making of the installation(the strain of which is currently dragging me down) I am starting to think outside of the pattern I originally set to do and am considering stretching the work in an unexpected direction.

It is still very fresh(as yesterday afternoon) but feels that it could make the work all the more interesting and the making rather fun.

The problem with funding applications is that you have to shape the work in your head so neatly that it takes out of the making the surprise element which is so related to creativity.

I am learning somehow that good planning can save money, time and above all precious energy.

I just wonder to what extend I can follow this rule and remain creative.I even wonder if the answer will give me the key to the next stage of my artistic career .

Another surprise and uncontrolled element just came to me on the phone: I am loosing my big studio from next month onwards.

How much unplanned elements do I want to add to my list?

I came to my “kind of Hotel”, (cheap is not always cheerful) to find a parking ticket on my car, complained at the desk to realise it came from the last town I visited. They followed me 10 miles to come and stick it on my car and I wasn’t even parked illegaly in the first place.

The things that put you off and come in your way for no apparent reasons are part of the obstacles that could make me feel like going home at 6 am this morning and give up the all “trying to be an artist” thing.

Instead I decide to hang around for a while and go and see another gallery to try to hang some old work.

The trip is a great breath of air(fresh, I don’t know) but it is blowing my mind around and is making me think…