Recording in progress

(PART 2)

Regardless of personal motivation, Xmas simply forces me to come off the boil a bit, due to family commitments and the crazyness of the season. However, I'm newly invigorated by a load of illustrators I found on a little google journey that's taken a couple of weeks. My passion for drawing or doodling has been reignited through some very talented people, who are all younger and more attractive than me and seem to have this secret coolness that I missed out on. More importantly, they all seem to be DOING IT, ie working. There's so many of them too. It's so overwhelming but I'm curbing my doom laden instinct by just doing what I feel. Is there room for another? I do feel though that I might have a few commercial ideas that are untapped and could raise a few beans. I'm also working on a sort of artist's book, and this is another recently discovered world that already seems saturated with artists, along with typography.

These are all old passions that until recently haven't seen the light of day for years but I'm reminded that I really used to enjoy them, and rejected them because I had a big moral crusade that they weren't useful or practical. Anyway, I've got over myself now and can do the practical, leaving room for the beautiful and pleasing.

The remaining wringing of hands concerns just how to get all of this creative body of work (both realised and unrealised) to be cohesive. It's a little frustrating as the world seems to continually compartmentalise creative work so when you work in lots of areas where the narrative of contemporary practice is at different points, or overlapping, or ignorant of others it's hard to know where you sit.

And where am I heading? With another baby planned for next year, I will be carving ever smaller chunks of time for me and my work, literally forcing a jekyll and hyde approach. I've decided not to be too hard on myself, and just do what feels right, until I have more time and can reach a confident decision about direction.

One of my doodles says

'IT CAN BE ALL THESE THINGS'

so we'll see.

(PART 1)

So time for a little round up now of 2008, so much seems to have happened since I started this blog in October.

Christina Bryant won the Margaret Harvey Open, thoroughly deserved, although I must say that I thought some of the other works that made it in were of dubious quality, and I did not agree with some of the other judging decisions. I concede it must be very hard to mount such an exhibition and achieve any kind of cohesion. I went to the award ceremony and was disapointed with the placement of my works, and the general jumble of so many pieces on the walls. I imagine a Royal Academy effect was desired, but it was far too crowded for that. When the winner was announced I immediately started clapping (on my own) as everyone else didn't seem to know what the piece was. Much to my husband's enjoyment and my embarassment, the clapping was not picked up on, until everyone had oggled the piece, mad a two second judgement about it, then clapped as per society conventions. So I had my own little clapping performance piece while the husband guffawed behind his hand.

It made me think about all the different spheres of the 'Art' world, how disjointed and separate areas can be. Because some of the very respected photographers I know wouldn't have got anywhere near that exhibition, which had always seemed more 'local', yet their work is the very best in contemporary.

My funding for the nuclear bunker project did not get accepted, but things have been progressing so fast, I've barely noticed because I'm on to the next idea(s). A bit like records, they tend to come out so late after the work was recorded, they can loose their freshness. Now I'm all for percolation of ideas, letting them settle, but there is definitely a part of me that needs to investigate Freshness and Immediacy. Getting new work out there asap. Hold that thought.