There has to be time for fun… not that work can’t be fun as well and maybe should be, but anyhow the studio collective got together for a shared lunch the other day as a send off for one of the group who is off on two residencies over the summer.
I have been going through some of my mono prints and realise that they are not quite enough on their own, so I have been working over them, which I also realise is what a lot of printmakers do… While I do use printmaking as part of my practice I feel I haven’t pushed it as far as it can go so that is my current mission.
I am partly inspired to do this by the upcoming exhibition with White Noise projects in September which, with its theme “Past Present” has encouraged me to work in a sustained way on just one piece. This is very much work in progress.
I guess it’s time to make Easter cards – a bit late maybe but they seem to be drying. Water-based inks can be very very slow to dry. As well as cutting up “failed” works for cards, seasonal card-making is fun. I never make that many so it is hardly a commercial undertaking but the odd ones sell and that is good enough. Having said that, I’ve just managed to place a few at Nice Things in Ramsgate.
There are lots of 100 day projects floating about but this is the one I’m going with (pure chance) https://www.the100dayproject.org
Not sure why I need another project but I was thinking I had so many photos that I could use as a resource in some way and the project seemed like a good way of making myself work with them!
These are off to the Devonshire Collective Postcard show – continuing the theme of gardens. Having a thematic focus lets me try out lots of different approaches, which I like.
Clare Smith's mixed English/Chinese heritage informs her perspective on issues of identity and categorisation. Her nomadic childhood and early adulthood have meant a somewhat ambivalent relationship to place, reinforced by the sense of ambiguity that comes from her mixed identity. Smith works with drawing, print media, collage and moving image to investigate this ambivalence, with references to craft, the importance of labour and the handmade. Through her choice of materials and approaches, she creates work which attempts to create a sense of unity, an interpretation of Homi Bhabha's "Third Space" - seen as a space in which different parts can come together to challenge dominant ideas of wholeness. Collaboration is part of Smith’s practice and she is also co-founder of Dover Arts Development (DAD) together with painter, Joanna Jones. This involves working with many different artists, curation, organisation, event management, creating networks across East Kent and influencing the public realm in Dover. Clare works from a studio in Dover. She has an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and has exhibited nationally and internationally.
