a week to the first application deadline. how am i fixed? i feel good about where i am with the application. i’ve done some research, made conversations and taken time to write my concept. i have time to record myself reading the words and listen back. this is helping me to refine my words to better communicate my ideas and thinking. i feel that i am on track to make a strong submission and to be able to submit before the deadline.
something that has also been happening for me this week is the words to describe my idea for the second application have been falling out of myself. the deadline for this is some way off yet. the style required for my the second submission is somewhat more open than the first. this open ness is suiting me.
something else that suits me are relationships that can flourish in their own time. dare i say it ? flourish in a manner that is sustainable. there i’ve said it! this is happening for me at the moment with the developing collaboration with the artist in Canada. i’ve received an email today. it’s been about two weeks since the last. the contents of the email are really encouraging and there is a mutual interest in exploring how we can work together internationally and not travel.
i’m exploring non geographical specific working within another thread of my practice. this is in the form of online based mentoring. as most of my creative output is not for sale, i am interested in aspects of how i can utilise my time to generate an income to cover the essentials like food,shelter and clothing. i’ve been running trials since October and am finding that it’s something i am enjoying and the feedback is suggesting that it’s something i’m good at.
my style of mentoring is to place myself as the listener. i believe that the answers are within us, it’s a case of having the right questions asked to help unlock the answer. i’ve had some training with the mentoring and befriending foundation and with the trial have been putting into practice what i learnt. as well as helping people to achieve a goal or reach a better understanding of something, there is also the potential for the service to be useful for artists on residencies. in November i spoke with lucy stevans about her experiences on a residency in swedan. our conversation was at an event where residencies were the focus for the day. in her presentation she’d commented that at times she felt like she needed someone to talk to about how the residency was progressing. she responded very positively to the idea of there being someone available on line to talk to, someone who she could have the type of conversations she needed about her thoughts, experiences and how her work was developing.
i’m putting together a website to explain my style of mentoring and hopefully it will be a service that people can benefit from. i have a plan to ask for feedback about it from those i’ve trialled the service with. i’d also like some wider feedback so when the page is more refined i’ll post a link to it here for your feedback.
i’m enjoying the feelings of positive energy, of momentum and how this feeds into my work.
