It has been the most productive weekend. I have been alone – no children, neighbour’s children, village children! My husband took all of them (our own – not the village) to Wales to see his granny and left me here home alone to get on with some work. It has been brilliant – just what I needed! Sketchbook is looking healthy and a good couple of days in the studio has given me some good results. I have been mastering the smooth surface. Ironing has never been a favourite pastime but when you are ironing wax on a board it is very satisfying. The attached image is yet to be buffed up so the shine cant be seen. I will go off to Halfords and buy a chamois leather tomorrow – that should do the trick. The image is one of three, I haven’t made the other two yet but the red will run through these too. I have worked instinctively this weekend. Keeping it simple. The perfect surface is slashed with the red – but it is very controlled and measured. A kind of controlled cause and effect.
At last we have broken up for the Easter and the dissertation is handed in. After checking and rechecking the damn thing I could no longer see words – just shapes!
We had to do a presentation on Tuesday, which was a complete disaster. My Mac’s system is either out of date or super whizzy modern (I suspect the former) and as a result it scrambled my presentation in front of the class – hideous. Roger my tutor very kindly tried to find the wretched thing but to no avail. It meant a trip home and then a failed re-run. Fortunately a fellow student came to my rescue and it was sorted and the presentation finally made.
Another student Sahra Carter (www.sahracarter.com) came up with the most amazing presentation. She had hidden envelopes under our seats, which we had to read out in order – this was her proposal for her final unit. She had also created amazing goodie bags with her case studies in and competition details that she thought would be of interest. It was the best presentation I have witnessed – if only they were all like this. Its amazing how many presentations are just someone reading from the slides!
But now all that is a distant memory and creative work takes over. My mind becomes clear once I can create. It is like having a long cool drink on a hot day – pretty crap given that it’s snowing outside!
My husband thinks the attached image looks like calamari but I am happy where it’s going and he can only think of his stomach – must be lunch time!
A productive week with successful experiments made in wax for my degree show. It is good to know that I understand what I will be doing over Easter in my studio at home.
Professional Practice – Done! Dissertation – Done (well, almost)! Now I can really go for the final big unit – at last. I am so happy to be creating again. A trip to the V&A’s cast halls offered a visual treat and further background for my research file.
I had a great tutorial with Jane (one of our lecturers) who really told me to pull my finger out and stop procrastinating – said in the nicest possible way of course! I think it is easy to get into a spiral of panic when you have so many plates spinning. I had simply lost the ability to plan my time – home was neglected and I was worrying that I was neglecting my family and friends too. A good session in college last week led to a very sobering talk with a fellow mature student who also has children. It made me realize that we are all roughly in the same boat – all with worries and troubles of varying degrees. We only get one bite of this cherry so we better get on with it!
Dr Gilda Williams from Goldsmiths came to talk to us last week about the Curating MA. She was an amazing character with a rich background and knowledge. I have the distinct feeling that the whole class was left feeling overwhelmed! Some of my fellow students told me that it had dawned on them what small cogs we were in this vast ‘art machine’. I felt pretty much the same. I have not been disheartened – she has opened my eyes to a life outside the studio and it has left me a little curious.
Last week’s experiments involved expandable foam and dripping wax (pictured). I am so keen to keep on messing about with wax – it is such a versatile medium. I like the fact that it can be melted down and used again and again if I want. The live paint has not come to life just yet but, seeing as it is snowing (again) it is probably just a little chilly for it to start growing yet.
I am looking forward to a new week at college. I have changed my studio space. It was in what could only be described as a passage/corridor/thoroughfare, which was distracting to say the least. After a day making a mess I feel it is now my own. I hope that now I have cleared the last two units I can now properly focus again…
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.
