Things are a little bit more under control now half term is over and the children are back to school. The dissertation is on the home run now and the professional practice unit is looking healthy – I think! Creatively, I am experimenting with making some ‘live’ paint. I will post the results of this experiment if it works. Other than that – I have been growing some bacteria in Petri dishes, which is disgusting and fascinating at the same time. How something can arrive somewhere unseen and take up residence; like a tumour or a visible growth on the body. A previously unsullied surface pocked by the arrival of an unwelcome guest.
On a walk around a local church I stumbled across a very sad gravestone. The grave held eight children who all passed away within nine years of each other. It was tricky to read, the moss and lichens are slowly obliterating a family already long forgotten. I wonder how they felt grief then. Child mortality was so common before immunisations – did it make it any easier to bear. It was the lasting memorial of this sad family that struck me. Time and nature are slowly erasing the memory of this ordinary family. The once glossy surface of the stone is now pocked and peeling. The colour is green, grey and red from all the life that it now supports.
The idea that something natural is obliterating something natural is intriguing. Not loosing sight of the science aspect to my work, I feel that this is an evolution of my practice. I think that I am beginning to understand what it is I want to make and comment on through my work.
At last.
Does anyone else get the feeling they are just about to be found out? Someone will accuse you of being a great pretender and life will be forced to resume it’s normal routine. I am out of my depth here. As a student I work hard and independently but there are occasions when I will ask for help and I expect to get it. All I want are straight forward answers – nothing fuzzy or wanky; plain English is fine. It is half term and, on average, I have seven or eight children in the house. Thank goodness it’s sunny. There are nosebleeds, cuts, bruises and escapee dogs to deal with. It is not an ideal environment for dissertation writing but I have no choice. As a mature student with lots of distractions I have to be ahead of my game. What if someone is sick – then I can’t make it into college.
I didn’t get the job. It’s a shame but the school was lovely and told me the post was being re advertised. Had I negotiated for a full time post they would have given me the job. This was never going to be an option for me so – never mind. On a slightly more positive note www.artweb.com chose one of my images for its Facebook page and so I won an upgrade for my website. Which is nice.
The Cork Street Open Exhibition was an eye opener. It was interesting to see other’s works and I don’t think that it is wrong to assume that the show was purely a commercial venture. I didn’t sell my work but it was great to have been able to attend the private view. I met a fantastic artist ? Linda Johns whose work was captivating. She had sculpted a full seated figure from green pine needles. Check out her website www.lindajohns.com.
I attended my interview at the prep school which I hope went well. I am yet to hear. They had one other candidate to interview and I expect to hear later on this week. I wonder ? does intelligence make a person a good teacher? What else is needed? Emotional intelligence, empathy, manners, together with a thorough knowledge of the subject matter must be there in order to deliver information to a class so that they can do their best. How can a teacher deliver a lesson when they are unsure of what it is they have to deliver? This is a question that I have asked of people lately. I would love to hear what anyone else has to say on this matter.
I am floundering a bit at the moment ? so many ideas but none on paper. I do not feel very inspired by my educational environment as I have set up a rather nice studio at home. This is something that must be overcome if I am to succeed in my BA. Do any other students get a bit like this? Is it because it is the final year and I am getting last year jitters? I have to pull my finger out and get on with some work.
