Fantastic news, I have been invited to exhibit in a group show ‘Surface’ at the Crypt Gallery in London from the 1st to the 10th July. I will be showing 5 of my photos from my current project ‘Mann, Ababndoned’ at 16×24 size but am currently struggling to find frames at that size, I am loath to crop the images to 16×20 as this will cut a lot of the detail and I do not like to mount the images when framing.
I have put in applications to the Arts Council to request funding for the exhibition and also for the book I am hoping to produce alongside my final Mann, Abandoned exhibition so fingers crossed for that. I have received a copy that I created using Blurb and I am delighted with the result although I will be using Amazon’s Createspace for the final book as it works out better value for money.
Apologies! Finally got round to posting and realised its been 2 months! I have a valid excuse however, as i have been busy producing work and hanging a new show in the gallery www.annaclucas.com. Katie Martin has left for bigger and better things so we are back to sharing responsibities amongst the management team (promotion!). I have been extended for an extra 6 months to allow the gallery to tie the residency year with the financial year so alongside working and planning for my august exhibition i am mulling over ideas for the following 6 months: possibly working on a PHD proposal. However, this has also resulted in a reduction in hours and income so the printing of work has slowed again. Got approx 30 prints done last week and they are all now labelled and framed as finished exhibition pieces which is very exciting. I am going to apply for a framing grant but gear it towards printing if possible as I am recycling second hand frames. (Not because im cheap but because the aesthetic works really well with the images)
Unfortunately the heritage foundation felt unable to support my funding application for the book (no reasons or feedback given) so i have been looking into self publishing and found that amazon looks to be a viable option. I have created a rough copy in blurb for entry to the Dummy awards and am currently awaiting arrival before I send it of and cross my fingers!
The website has not progressed although i am now researching photo blogs and considering that for the images as it may be easier to support the hundreds of images.
The book is on course and discussions are ongoing with Lily Publications,the Manx National Heritage Foundation and the Isle of Man Arts Council. Now I need to start selecting which images I want to use and also which images I will use on the website. I am still struggling to find a flash template that I like but I just dont have the time to build it myself with my slow dreamweaver skills.
I have started looking into practice led studio based phds as a possible move forward as this would allow me to expand my current research into death and decay whilst continuing to produce work and I may even be able to combine study with residency opportunities. I need to look into funding however as this may prove to be a stumbling block but hopefully by September I will have achieved Associate Qualified Teacher Status so will have the opportunity to support my study by teaching.
Following the arrival of more tables in the workshop area I am now able to have work in progress lying around and move from piece to piece. I have finished 5 large scale pieces in the last couple of weeks and I am well on the way to narrowing down the images for final exhibition/book/website. Somewhat worryingly I have been unable to contact the publishers but I will persist as I need to know whether I am going to end up producing the book myself which will require me working even faster on the exhibition work!! Finding a website template I actually like is also proving frustrating but I just dont have the time to build my own with my limited web skills and dont have the money to work with a designer.
The big question of what I am going to do next is still looming but fortunately it is idling away in the back of my mind and gradually generating ideas so I will no doubt have some concrete project ideas in the next month or so and can begin searching for suitable residencies to apply them to. I dont intend to put an idea together in a rush to meet a deadline as this does not allow the full potential of the idea to show through in the application so i intend to have an idea in place and then begin looking and applying for appropriate residencies/exhibitions.
No sooner than I posted the last blog and help arrived! The gallery has employed help in the form of Katie Martin who will be here on a months contract, which gives me the hands free time needed to crack on with some work. I have completed one section of my large canvas piece and I have had some lovely effects using wood varnish, I am currently waiting for paint remover to take hold so that I can assess the effect it has on varnished photographs and canvas.
This week we have hung a fantastic new show by Manos Kalamenios (http://www.madebymanos.com/), Shelby Sandyford-Sykes and Colette Gambell which has proved both inspirational and damaging to my finances!! I curated the shop area by myself and have had a lot of positive feedback.
