Year of the Pig

Took down the Beachtime stories show today. It has been a really good experience and seeing all 100 drawings together was instructive – as fellow artist Joanna Jones commented, all the small drawings together added up to a monumental work. I’d have loved to have kept them together in a way but I just can’t afford not to sell work at the moment.

Doing a series has been interesting too. I haven’t had to think about “subject” and this has allowed me to think more about place and memory. It struck me that I hadn’t done regular visits to the beach between my early childhood and coming to live in Dover (and getting the dog). I have always been a bit ambivalent about place – never really feeling settled anywhere – so this series has allowed me to explore that. One piece of feedback said I’d captured a sense of being on the edge.

It was good also to be able to screen the trilogy of films made with Helen Lindon and Joanna Jones and shot on location in Dover, Folkestone and Samphire Hoe. These were commissioned for SALT, Folkestone’s festival of the sea and the environment and showing them in Margate took them to a new audience and worked well as an extension to the exhibition of drawings.-

Thanks to The Margate School and a special thanks to Jacob.

Beachtime stories runs until the end of the month and alongside the exhibition is a programme of the trilogy of artists’ films made by Us3 (me, Joanna Jones and Helen Lindon) for Folkestone’s SALT festival. It has been rewarding to get the films to a new audience and the discussions with the audience have been stimulating.

A brief note to say how interesting and touching the screening and the discussion was tonight. 

I have sold around 10 of the 100 drawings, which is very exciting though I still don’t have enough to pay a large accountant’s bill. One of the reasons I am closing my company as now that I am earning less overall, being a sole trader makes so much more sense. Also one of the reasons I’ve decided to have a studio sale…. hoping too to move some work on and make space before I start my next project. I’ve applied for a Developing Your Creative Practice Grant so fingers crossed. I won’t hear until January though I am itching to get started.

In the meantime I am really pleased to have a small drawing in the Fronteer Open 2019. I can’t get to Sheffield sadly – money plus treatment routine!

Finally I have two of my chemo day drawings in Derek’s Room at University of Kent’s studio 3 gallery.

Having some fun in the run up to Christmas

Amazingly people were actually there, at The Margate School, at 9am for the breakfast opening with coffee, tea, croissants, bagels and fruit being served.

I can’t quite believe the fact that 5 pieces have already been sold….

I wanted to stay on for the afternoon panel discussion but by 1pm was so whacked I had to go home. I was too tired to eat and went straight to bed….