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Hmmm….

Does you good to look back a little sometimes, then you realise you ARE getting somewhere after all.

Over the last month I’ve been doing a bit of wrangling haven’t I?

The recording thing… ongoing… some sessions booked for the end of July for me to look forward to. The aim is to get at least one piece finished and shiny for my finals… if we have time for more we will do more. But better to do one piece properly than 2 badly I feel.

The personal therapy is going well. I’m listening to the sound of my own voice. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. The drawings of my Mum have sent me searching for more old photos. This might not go anywhere, but I’m enjoying it, and making links in my head.

I’ve now made 3 “bodies” so that I can hang all three sets of garments together in a family group. Like it. That physical solution now leaves me time and brain space to solve the next problem of the “mothers” dress. I’ve decided it has to be bare footprints, so now I’m trying different sorts of thread. I also quite like the idea of unpicking, but I have to do that almost as it is hanging, washed, starched and ironed, so the holes still show… bit risky if it doesn’t work.

NOT STUCK! Hurray!

Sent in the proposal for Junction, almost finished the next one.

Last few days have been spent emailing and shuffling the music programme for Life and Other Art in July. I love this bit. This year we’re putting together a soundcloud group to enable people to have a listen to all the performers before and after the event, all in one place. So far three artists have posted stuff, and the combination sounds just brilliant.

My website is a bit webshite at the moment… waiting for technical hoo-hars to get righted so that all the work I’ve done is available to people.

Last of all, I’ve just noticed that this blog of mine is number one for both February and March. To be honest I’m stumped as to why as it seems so ordinary to me, writing about the incoherent rubbish in my head… but then, that’s what I like to read in other blogs , so maybe that is exactly why. So thank you for reading everyone…. Unless…. And this has occurred to me…. That the numbers are so high because one person clicks on it accidentally then falls asleep at their computer from the tediousness of it all.

I know two posts in one day is a bit much, but I wanted to put these photos up quickly to see if there’s any comment or response.

Footprints, baby ones, on a woman’s dress… as a sort of counterpoint to the adult handprints on children’s clothes. I haven’t decided where these prints should go yet, also, whether they should be footprints or shoe prints. Should I do a simple track across the dress, or should I overlap them in a sort of tramply manner?

So these tissue templates are supposed to help me decide. Whatever I decide will eventually be stitched in a similar way to the hands, small, repetitive, simple stitching. I need to decide quickly because if I want to do loads it’s going to take me weeks.

Don’t you find photos help, they sort of compress things into a small view, 2D… Somehow the brain finds it easier to process as an image, than a life size dress with life size feet on it?

This social networking lark is a bit time consuming isn’t it? I’ve just spent about an hour and a half setting up a facebook event page, adding links, posting on twitter that I’ve made a facebook event, and posting on facebook that I’ve tweeted about it, Now I’m writing my blog to tell you that I’ve tweeted and facebooked. I will probably tweet that I’ve blogged too.

All this because I’ve started to get confirmed bookings for Life and Other Art 2012

(I’ll put a link below, then you can tweet, post, share and blog about it too if you like!)

I am getting excited about curating the exhibition, although as yet I have no idea what I’m going to show – ages away, July!

I’m REALLY excited about the musicians that are lined up too. I just hope, when it’s all organised, on that weekend I can sit down with a drink and a piece of cake and actually enjoy the performances.

http://www.facebook.com/events/398026833542060/

@ElenaThomas1

www.elenathomas.com

…and I might put a card in the Post Office window.

Today I am feeling very business-like.

Some days you pither about getting nothing done. Other days you have Bees in Bonnets and set about the day like a Headless Chicken, a Whirling Dervish, or a Cliche on Caffeine.

Today is one of the Dervish days. First off-peak train into town, drawing on the journey, texting and scribbling and listening to iPod. This time my own song, so it’s work. It’s easy to get carried away and say “Yes!” to horn section, strings, woodwind ensemble, harp and cathedral choirboys just for the hell of it, but sometimes all you need is a pair of scissors, a clock and a megaphone, and it hits the spot.

(I can see why bands that make a lot of money suddenly go in for the orchestral album – what a hoot it is to play with all this sound!)

Someone wise (my son) once said, “Keep it simple, do it well”

So now I’m wondering whether to have this new song play from headphones attached to my ironing board. At least it’d mean I wouldn’t be able to do any ironing for some considerable time!

Now this is something I really am less confident about. I’ve got this proposal I’ve written. It’s sat waiting for me to just attach it to an email and send it off. The deadline looms, but I’m convinced if I send it now I’ll come up with a much better way to say everything and it’ll be too late to change it once it’s gone.

Pull yourself together woman!