Busy, busy, busy…
The “Open West” private view last weekend was great – the show was thoughtfully curated and the work was really varied. The award winners were Shan Hur, Helen Murgatroyd, Ellen Nolan and David Theobald – and they all thoroughly deserved their prizes. I got some great feedback about “Down”, meeting some interesting characters in the process (always plenty to spare at any art event) and sharing some rejuvenating giggles…. I love this time of year, everyone seems to get sparky as we come out of hibernation.
Apart from making a start on the big new work that needs to be ready to show in December, I’ve been writing up and sending out a press release for Darren Nixon, a painter whose new pieces I’m presenting at Rogue (http://www.rogueartistsstudios.co.uk/projectspace.asp) in March.
Darren’s work appeals to me because it acknowledges the blues caused by familiar artistic battles and aims to find a way through them. These issues are seemingly binary – for example, he questions whether to paint in an abstract or figurative style – but his solutions echo something that collaboration has taught me many times over: namely, that there is always “another way”.
Thinking about choice only as an “either/or” is incredibly limiting – if you can identify 2 differing creative paths down which you might travel, there are likely to be 4 or 16 or 256 others… they don’t necessarily make immediate sense or provide instant satisfaction; but they tend to acknowledge life’s complexities in a way that only art can.
