Restarted

Well I say I’m preparing, but realistically I’ve only spent a few hours putting small paintings and cards into cellophane bags.
I really don’t know what people expect to see, so I’m playing safe and having a range of affordable works in the unlikely event that people will buy something.

I haven’t done an open studio for years and now I’m kind of regretting saying that I’d do it .

Do I even have enough work? How much do people show?

How many visitors will actually turn up ?

There are 99 artists in the tour this year – a record amount according to the publicity . If I was going around visiting, I’d find that too much , no matter how enjoyable the work was.
There are 10 of us in the building I’m in, so at least that cuts down the walking distance for a visitor.
Today , I’ll sort out what to take out of my larger works. I’m hoping that there will be a board left for me ( which I requested) otherwise I don’t know how I’ll display the work.
Unlike some of the other artists that have their own studios and can keep their work up , we have hired the space for the weekend , so it will be a case of going in on Friday afternoon and set up some kind of display then.
I wonder if the artists who decide to have the open studio in their own homes know of the problems that may cause?

I’ve heard several horror stories about artists not declaring that there would be a change of use from house insurance to business, among other things. I hope the artists are aware.
Anyway…

I had framed a few small paintings which I’m quite pleased with, but I’ve now been told that they’ve been accepted for the Liverpool art fair. Technically I can still show them, but can’t have them for sale . Sigh.

Would it be unethical if I had a studio sale of older works? I really need to clear a space .
Will people be bothered that I’m not showing an installation?
Argh so many worries and doubts.
Why do we put ourselves through these things???

I can’t quite believe how relieved I was when I heard that my workshop at the gallery was cancelled. Well, more postponed than cancelled completely.
A strike had been planned for that day, but as it turned out , that too was cancelled as staff were encouraged to consider a new offer.
Anyway… it was all relief for me as I felt I was taking on too much in a short space of time.
I now have more time to prep for it, which is always a good thing.

Last week I also posted off my work to Leeds so that it could be taken to Sluice in a couple of weeks. I could have held on another week or so, but it was a good feeling getting that out and having a clean slate as it were.

Next on my list was the Open studios event happening on 8th and 9th June.  Despite having plans to make loads more work, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.  Although I’ve bought a card reader now ( which I’ve yet to set up)  I don’t have the mindset to make saleable work . It’s just not me .

Maybe I’ll have a last minute push on that , or maybe I won’t. I’m done now with stressing about things.

I can’t believe it’s a year since I installed my work at Chester Cathedral . It seems like a lifetime ago.
I feel like I’ve done loads since then, but apart from our recent exhibition, I don’t really have anything to show for it. Not on paper anyway.
Maybe that’s why I have stupidly got myself involved with so many things in the coming weeks – just to remind people that I’m here .

Although it seemed like a good idea, I didn’t expect everything to happen at once though , so that’s proving to be a little stressful .
The open studios event is in 3 weeks, so I had put that on the back burner while I dealt with more recent things .
Well that was until the studios sent out a general email last night to all participants advising us that we need card readers .
With mainly working on installations or being in group exhibitions, I never think about the selling aspect.
So now that’s another thing on my list :  Research card readers. But then, would I ever need to use it again?
More expense.

The most pressing thing at the moment is that I was asked to do more workshops .
That’s a  strange thing in itself as in the past I’d applied for so many things but always got rejected . If they bothered to send any feedback to my applications , it was usually on the lines of I ‘didn’t fit the criteria’ .  I just didn’t bother applying after a while.
Now when I get offered work  it’s because they’ve either seen what I can do , or it’s word of mouth. Ironic really .
So these workshops are based on the renaissance and baroque exhibition opening at a gallery.  That threw me into a panic as I couldn’t think what to do for them . So many sleepless nights and stressful days thinking about that, but I think I’m there now.
I’d booked a few days away with my friend and the workshop is the day after we come back. So that means preparing everything before I go away so it’s ready that morning.

What else?

Oh yes, I was asked to put something in to the Sluice art fair , represented by Basement Arts projects, who I’d worked with many times before .
Although the event is mid June , the work needs to be sent to Leeds well before.
While everything else is going on, I’d been thinking what I could do for that. The theme is : Sustain > Reuse > Recycle > Repeat & Reform , So that fitted nicely with my work.

I’d found a sheet of rusty metal a while ago and I’d been thinking what to do with it. It was nice to work with recycled materials  again as my mind had been full of more ‘commercial’ things ready for the open studios.
I will try to finish that over the weekend – thankful that I had ideas in my head already .

Slowly working through my lists … that’s the only way I could do this.
Five sheets tacked to the wall with bullet points on each.

• House ( did I say I had a bloody plasterer coming in tomorrow to repair damage to my ceiling , So I’ve had to clear the living room ??)
• Workshop 1st June
• Trip away
• Open Studio 8th June
• Sluice mid June
• End of June Workshop ( not worked out what I’m doing for that one yet)

#*!< that’s six !!

oh my head hurts.

It’s a strange feeling when the doors close for the final time on an exhibition.
How should we feel ? Elated ? Sad ? Relieved ?  Was there a great sense of achievement ?

I have a few mixed feelings but really, It’s too soon to say.

The positives were that people did come to see it . Some travelled quite a way ( Thank you Elena !)  and some left it until the very last minute  ( going by the flurry of instagram stories at the end of the day)

We left a comments book and some people did bother to write something . That’s always good for evaluating the exhibition later.  Good comments were made too which is always encouraging.

Yesterday, an arts group came in to discuss the work. They go to a different venue every month, so it was good that out of all the exhibitions in Liverpool on at the moment, they chose ours to visit.

We actually had several curators visit, though maybe put that down to Sufea being super sociable and just knowing everyone!

Actually, writing it all down like this has suddenly made me realised how much more we’d achieved than in any of our previous exhibitions. Curators have NEVER visited before !

On the negative side , It was disappointing that we didn’t get any reviews . Am I expecting too much?

We always hope that something will come out of having an exhibition to make it all worth it.  We do know we will work together again. Maybe that’s enough .

I slept in this morning – something I haven’t done for a long time.  I guess all the running around I’ve done in the last week, plus yesterday’s workshop at The Walker Art Gallery has finally caught up with me.
Although my workshop had been planned for a long time, it was difficult to advertise it in the ‘normal ways’ as the museums had been on strike and obviously the major exhibitions took priority when everyone returned back to work last week.
It was a case then of trying to push it on our social media channels in the hope of gathering interest.
I had five attendees which wasn’t bad and I was kind of glad really as I’d totally underestimated how many materials I’d have to carry on public transport.

I’d been collecting cartons, bottle tops and other recycled materials for months.

Thankfully the gallery provided all of the basics I needed – pencils, rulers, glue, paint etc , so that wasn’t an extra worry .
I had loads planned for the 3 hour workshop, but in the end everyone was happy making paper beads and ‘butterfly’ earrings . We actually ran out of time as they seemed to be enjoying themselves so much.

Back to normality now though as I’m babysitting tonight and then meeting Elena Thomas in Liverpool tomorrow as she’s coming to see our exhibition.
Looking forward to seeing her !