A quick post before I head on off to bed… or I am never going to get round to posting anything. I wrote in an earlier post, ‘if I’m not writing then I’m probably not working’ but for now that is exactly the opposite. Under slightly more time pressure than is comfortable, I’m having to steam on to get things done for this Letchworth exhibition in March. It’s all fitting it in between play groups and swimming sessions, mealtimes and dog walks. Thank goodness for a toddler’s two hour nap!
The work is progressing well so far and I’m enjoying concentrating on this new site. It’s an especially ‘strange and ordinary’ combined, with some very expected and some more unusual finds.
I’ve almost finished the map, which I’m tackling on my own this time. I’ve done my first excavation area and have catalogued my first 50 finds. It’s all a bit of a blur at the moment but will come together… I hope!
At the beginning of the year I was on a ‘wait and see’ period (scratching my head and umming Where next?). Two weeks later some interesting and relavant work takes an unexpected landing straight into my lap (phew, that was good timing). A Letchworth project, funded by Letchworth Heritage Foundation and in collaboration with members of Digswell Arts Trust, is currently underway and I have been invited to take part as an exhibiting artist. I was close to taking their hand off in accepting this opportunity. A chance to develop a new piece of work, located at the centre of my concerns,.
It also delights me to see that LGCHF are focussing on the potential of investing in the arts now. Apparently this is part of an ambitious five year plan focussing on developing the arts and culture within the town. I hope this is the start of a long term commitment and not just a flash of momentary enthusiam with unrealistic expectations. Anyway, I am not going to get all cynical. It is fantastic news and I am very pleased to have some involvement.
With a new brief and a head brimming with possibilities I spent last week thinking over my options and field walking some potential sites. I think I have now identified that site and am enthused to get going. I’ll be spending this week working out the finer details and budget (which will hopefully be approved) and then the work will get underway.
Working seems to coincide with writing. Usually if I’m not writing then I’m probably not working much either. So keeping a blog seems essential to help me feel that I can track some course of development through a bundle of days. Having a one and a half year old son does seem to do strange things to the experience of time. Working around naps and meals, playgroups and bedtimes I am anchored to home and routine, not necessarily a recipe for finding enough time to think, let alone do. Writing helps somehow though, just to feel slightly more connected to thoughts and ideas and help channel a way in. I always feel more artist-like after a good blog. A little ‘I’m here and I’m still at it!’
Since ‘Hidden Landscapes’, a rather structured and intense period of research, finishing September 2013, I have felt a little more adrift. It sort of resembled the period after graduation. A time to weigh up, chew over and think about how I keep going from here (again).
But on we go anyway and the work and my choices, become moulded and shaped around the rest of things. At least as an artist there is that opportunity to adapt and find new solutions. At least I can be the master of my choices. A different pace and a new role have changed the way I consider being an artist but at least I can be one, however I choose to be it.
