At 9:00pm I realised I hadn't uploaded todays piccie for the web advent calendar. Now I thought no one would notice – so I decided I would upload two tomorrow instead. Just in case, I checked the web stats to see if there was any change in viewing figures. I was staggered. We are averaging 80 visits a day. This may of course be due to HMS artists checking, but all of a sudden it feels a responsibility.
Sometimes running a business is horrid. I'm not just talking about the admin.
Jem wrote a Christmas/New Year newsletter in 2007 outlining the success of HMS and thanked everyone for their help etc. In addition to all the usual good tidings he also prepared the artists for a rent rise in a year's time.
Like all businesses and households we have seen the price of services, rates and loans rise at a rate of knots. We can't absorb these costs. The rents need to rise by 5% – the first increase since artists arrived in April 2007. We have just sent out the reminder which I find v difficult, especially in the current climate. We don't receive any funding from anyone so it is important that we balance the books to make sure we are a viable and not a vulnerable business.
HMS has been without a rudder for a few weeks. The Christmas show was cancelled but I have still gone ahead with the web advent calendar, showcasing an artist every day leading up to Christmas.
Just snatching a few moments to say this will probably be the last entry for a while. I am pleased that HMS is established enough for me to take time out to deal with all the rubbish that is being thrown at me at the moment.
My mum has been admitted to hospital. She is a brave, wonderful person who has had to deal with so much tragedy. She is now facing tests for a serious condition.
A decision to pause Standing Room after the OPen Studios was taken a couple of months ago, so the timing could not have been better. Administrating it has been rewarding but enormously time-consuming.
I try not to bring my 'other life' to the blog – the stuff that bubbles along in the background, both major and minor. But sometimes events in your private life impact on your work.
I was involved in a road accident yesterday on the slip road of junction 34 on the M1. I was shunted by white van man into the vehicle in front, and deflected back onto the motorway. Almost perpendicular to the southbound traffic. We were lucky as we weren't shunted again.
I am now nursing a sore neck and head… but very fortunate to be home and not broken.
Painter and studio provider.
