Working with Assistants:
So, I’ve been increadibly lucky that I have had a number of lovely people and amazing artists who have decided that they would get something useful out of working (for free) as my assistant.
I would never had dreamt this was possible, but it was suggested to me by what was then a recent artist aquaintance, now friend Helen Carnac (http://helencarnac.wordpress.com/). I had a long chat to her when I was deciding whether or not to accept the offer of this residency given I was pregnant. She suggested using volunteer assistants to help make the most of the time available, and it was such a great idea.
So, James Fuller (http://www.aridhouse.com/) was my first assistant and he helped me most of last year starting in February till around October/November. He had to put up with a lumbering and at times scatty pregnant woman for the first 3 months, and did all my heavy lifting during this period. He had recently finished his degree at Westminster Uni in Media Art I think, and makes interactive immersive environments with 2 collaborators. He had never learnt any sculptural techniques, so learning to mould and cast was all new to him, and I taught him lots of different techniques, brush on and pour moulds, casting in wax, pewter, jesmonite bronze.
He was great to have in the studio, and would regale me with funny stories from the private dinning job he did in the evenings, and his point of view of the art world and what was going on as a 22 yr old.
Next, I decided I was ready for 2 assistants, one of whom was just amazing and I miss her already. Elaine Mullings (http://www.elainemullings.co.uk/) had just finished an MA at the Slade and had done amazing works with broken safety glass or with flocks of paper.
It was great having her in the studio, we worked really well together encouraging each other and solving problems easily. She was also so enthusiastic about all the new materials I was teaching her – in particular how to work with wax – and gave me great feedback on the work I had in progress.
At the same time I also had Luisa but in the end she was a bit too torn between her need to make money from her part time work and the 2 days in the studio.
Now I have 2 new assistants who are both different and seem like lovely people to have in the studio – Carina is in her mid twenties having done a degree in Philosophy and Economics before deciding to go to art school – she managed to get a scholarship to study glass sculpture for a year in the states. And John, who is an ex-chartered accountant who has come to sculpture later in life and is currently studying at the Mary Ward centre. I may even add one more as there will be a lot of moulding and casting in the next 2 months – the final 2.
I also have a 1st year student from the curation and communications course at Central StMartins who is helping update my online profile, and who wants to get more exposure to what it is like to be a ‘real artist’! He pops in when he can around lectures and tutorials, but has already helped me create a fan page for me on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/brionymarshallsculptor
Aren’t I lucky! But I do put as much energy as I can into teaching them, so hopefully they are lucky too…
