I’ve Started working in my studio
So, after a midwife appointment on monday morning, I spent the afternoon retouching/chasing some small wax sculptures in my new workshop. This was the first time I’d actually sat down to some work in the new space (as opposed to just unpacking and organising).
It took a while as I was getting used to new techniques – I can’t use my baby belling as we are worried about setting off the alarms from overheating the wax and sending out billows of smoke. The repercussion of that would be evacuation of the whole building (including The Guardian newspaper offices), which takes about 1/2 an hour, and no one can re-enter for another 1/2 hour as they check the building. Not something I want to be responsible for…
But I used the soldering iron to heat my metal tools which works quite well. I am also getting my head round the wax heater – although it was filthy, lots of brown gunk down the bottom of it so took a while trying to clean it – not that successfully.
So in the end I worked from about 2-9pm!
On my way out met some very friendly security guards who showed me where the toilet is on my floor (I’m at -3 i.e. the lowest basement with the bike racks and car park). I’d looked before but had only found plant rooms! They also took me up to the ground floor in a lift I’d been unaware of. So I’m slowly beginning to find my way around.
Earlier I’d gone up to the lower foyer of Kings Place to use the fancy public loos (which is quite a hike). I must have been a strange sight, pregnant woman in blue overalls spattered with plaster, as I walked through smartly dressed people sipping wine and waiting to go to a concert!
After teaching yesterday, today (wednesday) I spent my first whole day in the workshop with my assistant James.
We finished sorting the studio, and moving my stuff onto the shelves. Its a bit annoying that none of the electrics have been PAT tested yet although I brought all my electrics in and requested it 13 days ago. As I’ve laid them all out on 2 of the metal work benches ready for the electrician to test them, it is stopping me from finishing organising the space, as well as not being able to use any of the tools or benches! (I also want to use the microwave for a hot lunch)
James then finished the last 2 wax men in the morning (I had started teaching him the technique in my old studio, and he’s picked it up fast), and did a repair on a pewter sculpture in the afternoon. I was quite involved, but it was great having a bench drill to do nice easy straight drilling, although we still managed to break a drill bit in part of the sculpture (easily done as it was a 1.8mm drill bit).
Meanwhile, I made a few calls: ordering rubber and other materials (eish expensive – reminds me I need to see if I can get some materials funding). I then started having a play/experiment with wax. Made a few interesting shapes which I’ll work back into next time, but still haven’t got the temperature/consistency quite right for my molten wax experiments. Great to actually get to some creative work, but its not really going to start bearing fruit till I can build up some momentum.
However, realised I spent a lot of today commuting! I took me 50 mins to get my son to nursery as the busses and traffic were being a nightmare, then 45 mins up to Kings cross, so having left the house at 8.20 I only got there at 10am. Left at 5.15pm, stopped for a little while at my mum’s, and got home about 7. That is 3 1/2 hours!
Need to work out how to do this more reliably and quicker…
Other news: I’ve sublet my (old) studio!
Which is great, but means friday will be spent finishing the studio clear (tomorrow teaching all day again). The weeks are just flying by…
