Ponder (2018) Acrylic on canvas
Date: 14.8.18
Time: 4pm
Mood: My Mind Is Full..
So it’s been a long time since the last post (considering I was going to do a post a WEEK after the last one!) But there has been a lot happening, including family things which have meant it’s been difficult to get tasks done, everything has been very slow. However much has been positive about the past month or so and I’ve also been thinking about a lot of aspects of how I work and how to be more productive with my time.
A great positive event over the past month is being accepted into the Wolverhampton Society of Artists. It was suggested by the first artist I spoke to, to do this and then to perhaps attend their events where they often have speakers from galleries etc, or people you can make connections with. They also have sketch days, and I am looking at attending some of these. Through being accepted into the Society of Artists, my goal of actually being on the map of Artists Studios this year was achieved! I have managed to book our local Newhampton Arts Centre as it was an option to display work and prints alongside many others who are exhibiting on the weekend of the 13th and 14th of October this year. The Society of Artists organise this event every year and now as a member, it was easier and much discounted in price too.
The reason for booking our local arts centre as a place for Open Studios is because I have recently left our studio building in the city centre as it is up for sale. I stayed for as long as I could; many people and businesses have been interested in the building and it will go shortly, and isn’t being sold as studios. It was a beautiful old factory building and I loved it, however no longer felt settled once the owner announced it was up for sale – with many viewings also happening whilst I was working there. So I decided to move out a few weeks ago, with mostly everyone else having moved out too or planning to. Since then I have been redesigning our garage at home as a new studio space for now, as it isn’t used for anything. I feel this will work for me very well until another studio comes up! This is actually what I have been doing this week, painting walls, floors and putting shelving up ready to get back to work! I don’t feel upset about losing my studio, I’m not sure whether this is because so many things have been happening recently, and my emotions just haven’t caught up with it yet! I also realise at the moment I will be saving a lot of money each month too.
Another positive aspect of the past week or so is that I have finally got a creative job of sorts! I literally only applied for it around a week and a half ago – and after two trials on Sunday I was offered the position. It is temporary/seasonal work until the first week in November and involves working at the studio of a sculptress just past Bridgnorth, Shropshire. It takes around 40 mins to drive there however, having said this – it’s a straight run, economical and wastes little fuel! It involves hand decorating bottles for the other half of her business, selling bespoke bottle lights. For half of the year they trade at art fairs and flower shows with her sculptures and in the run up to Christmas they sell bottle lights in festive markets as far as Edinburgh. I start there on the 20th of this month and hope it works out, as the process is tricky and they’re quite demanding I feel as a first impression – but it means a decent amount of money per month which will help.
In terms of my own work, I haven’t been making much over the past month but have been thinking a lot about the work I need to focus on and keeping ‘busy’ work for another time in the week. ‘Busy work’ had been taking up a lot of my time as of late. I have also been thinking a lot about productivity and managing my time better with all the tasks set my my mentor has set me, and I’m very determined to achieve our Step 1 we discussed, some tasks of which I’ve already completed. There needs to be ‘Studio Days’ where artwork is done, however not every day can be a studio day; I feel there are days you need to block time for your own marketing/social media and generally just connecting with people, whether online or offline, as well as looking for opportunities and things you can be part of. All of this I feel needs to be put into some kind of written weekly plan so I can feel I’m making progress everyday, without feeling overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done. Right now I feel my mind is like an old Rolodex; constantly flipping from one thought to another or one task to another..! And order needs to be made of things before I start back to work properly!
I’m hoping to keep producing these posts every week or every fortnight – as they really do help me make sense of things and create order in my mind. If they can help and inspire other creatives that would also make me very happy. Tune in to the next post where my new work space should hopefully be up and running and things will be back to normal! Hoping to post in around a week or two weeks time. Thankyou for reading and as always comments and feedback are welcome.
