To be honest I thought it was a bit of a cheeky application. I’m not doing a thing or making a thing.
But I’m definitely at a turning point in my career, a point where I need something different in order to develop.
What I need is time and space. Or rather, more accurately, I need the time and space to find the right space to spend the time in! I say yes to work to keep the money flowing in a little bit. I keep working, but I’m in my dining room with the boxes heaped around me, unable to see the last piece of work in order to think about the next piece of work.
If I’m to capitalise on all the wonderful things that happened during and after Nine Women, I need something new….
Working on Nine Women, Dan Whitehouse and I discovered we actually function pretty well in the same space, but use it at different times, for different purposes. We are complimentary, not competitive.
This throws up interesting points for discussion. It means we can work in a space twice the size we can each afford. My initial search for the next studio space was focussed on communities of artists, I wanted company, but I’m a different beast now. I don’t sit quietly sewing any more. What I need is a space where I don’t disturb others, but also a place that is quiet enough to record. I need a selfish space. Dan does too. While looking around different areas of Dudley, where my previous studio was, and other spots closer to home, I realised something crucial. I don’t want to be working here, I want to be somewhere where I don’t have to keep explaining myself. I’ve done that, it’s good to do, a valuable thing to do, but now someone else can do that. I want that selfish space.
So I looked in the usual spots around Birmingham where artists gather among the pigeons and seagulls. I looked online and I wandered the streets. This is a time consuming activity that neither Dan nor I could give time to, we have to earn a living! But you can’t do this sort of thing after hours.
Reading about the bursary I thought…
“What do I need in order to boost my professional development?”
“What is the real obstacle that is holding me back?”
I need a space.
I need the time to find the space, in the middle of the working day.
So therefore I need to make the search part of my working day for a while.
My application was directly concerned with that. Pay Dan and I for some working days to get this thing done… Or at least get us closer to it!
This blog then, concerns the treasure hunt.
I’m going to do the online searches and first viewings, then if I find something likely, get Dan in, and maybe someone to assess any work that needs doing.
It’s a bit open ended… We might find the perfect place next week, or we might still not have found it in six month’s time. But it won’t be for the want of trying!
Whatever happens, this can’t go on!
