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

I catch myself wishing that my January trip to India would not just feel like a long distant memory. I gathered there a lot of material for thought and for practice but most of all, I learnt that managing the unpredictable can be a daily task. Everyday brings a new surprise and the only certainty you can have is that of the impermanence of things.

As I am working through the project, questions are arising that I had not foreseen to be part of the technicalities of this work. It is becoming clearer to me now that I did not just start another work making project but have embarked on a life changing journey which will affect my career, my life, hopefully my income and definitely my family.

I can see in the way I wrote this project that I inadvertantly integrated all the ingredients for cooking up a storm at home. The project is huge and my head is currently spinning from trying to cope with marketing, materials sourcing, research and experiments, making and sharing the process with the public. But most of all I can see the great need for me to put a business head on right from start of project as I will need to financially triple the Arts Council input(pressure’s on).

I am almost, for the first time, contemplating the possibility of not achieving my goals as set in proposal and I can see that I have taken a bigger risk than anticipated.

I am not the one to give up easily though and am currently seeking all solutions for help, including child minder and cleaner to rescue my family(all on limited budget).I am also looking at all potential help I can get from the farm(and it is already great) including volunteers.

I know, deep inside, that it is all about setting up the foundation for good working practice and am trying hard to do so and prioritise. I also can’t wait for that stage to be over and dive into the unbeatable joy of working outoor in a field, lighting fires.(must have some gypsy blood in me!)

Two weeks into the project now.

There is so much to do at once; I want to make sure i set up good practice from start and collect evidence as I go. Still have my Arts Council report head on and it seems to help me to insure the project’s good direction.

I have been working at the farm days of up 12 hours and feel almost drunk with fresh air.I also stink of bonfire each time I come home.However, i can see this becoming very addictive and the hours go by so quickly. So far I have scraped mud and sheep manure, moved and chopped pallets to burn, lit firs and kept them going all day and best of all, dipped up to my elbows in sheep fleece.

Anyway, I am having a great time as much as I am exausted.I am going for a training day in dyeing with natural plants at the week end. I can’t wait.

One downer is to start such a project at the beginning of Easter Holiday as I wish I had a day off to take my children out. They have come to the farm with me and had great times there but I are quite as keen as me. Still this old conflict of managing artist life and parenthood !

On getting an Arts Council Grant

Two years ago, 1000 sheep appeared over night in the field surrounding my studio, based on an ex military defense unit near Salisbury. Today, is day 1 of ” A Thousand Sheep” art project.

On receiving my third Grant for the Arts funding, I considered myself lucky, and yet, I know that my applications do not owe their success to pure luck.

Starting an Arts Council application is an adventure and a project in itself; the work required to gather the elements necessary to the shaping of a strong project surely holds as much value as the project itself.

I have seen my career take a giant step forward during each award I received. This has been invaluable as if it wasn’t for the Arts Council, I probably would not be in the profession anymore.

I recently was reading the a-n newsletter and was noticing how much artists sounded bitter in a lot of articles. The economic climate does not currently help us to think positively and it is getting harder and harder to make the case for Art.(I wish I hadn’t heard the Jeremy Vine show the other day!)

On reading from a range of testimonies from various professionals from Daily Mail, March, on how they were affected by the funding cuts, I found that I could only compare my annual income to the one of a recent graduate who was waitressing while looking for a job in her qualification.

After 15 years experience as a free lance artist, I am facing another year with no chance of starting a pension fund.(and I am already 40)

So why did I choose the lowest paid profession in this country and kept sticking at it ?

Is it because my independent worker’s mind makes me unemployable, or is it that I don’t know how to do anything else?

I am more tempted to think that it is because I love it and can not live without it.

I have dedicated my life to convincing others to engage with and be part of the Art, and to thrive through creativity and the nurturing of the imagination.

Rejection and success are inherent parts of an artist’s life, yet I don’t know if poverty should be .

Hopefully this project will make a difference

I have seen many worse ways of spending a lifetime and am prepared to continue the hard work, no matter what.

So yes, I am lucky and proud to be an artist.

(I have now had my car crashed on car park and will have to spend my 41^st birthday money on it! So be it!)

Many Thanks to the Arts Council for their support.