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.
Great news! I took up my work to the Cork Street Open Exhibition and it was accepted! I now have a small sculpture hanging in a gallery space in Cork Street, London – very pleased indeed. Some of the works I saw when I went up last week were fantastic and my little piece has been positioned next to this rather striking sculpture. No sign of a red dot though; I have to say that I am not really that bothered about selling it as it’s the kudos of being involved in such a great event! The artist’s reception is on Wednesday and there will be a chance to meet some of the other artists and some gallery owners too. One of the artists that really caught my eye as Neil R Mason (www.neilrmason.com) his sculpted penguins are amazing and I attach the image so you can see for yourself.
Other news – I had a job interview for the position of Head of Art at a small prep school last week and they have invited me back for the next round! I have to teach an observed lesson to twelve 11 year olds. I really hope I don’t cock it up and deliver a dud. I know the children are familiar with Rousseau’s Surprised and I thought we could use that as a springboard for some interesting ideas. I have canvas board and jungle sounds at the ready. The interview is on the 28th January – so plenty of time to really get my knickers in a twist! Keep your fingers crossed.
Lastly but certainly not least, five of my pieces are hanging in King’s College Hospital’ Neurology Department together with other works from members of my cohort. We are going up there on Tuesday evening (weather permitting) for the PV. I am rather looking forward to meeting any researchers who may be interested in collaborating with me in the future.
It’s all very busy and exciting but not much creating going on. Seeing as we have a little snow on the ground all the campuses of K College have decided to shut! Maybe I can get on with something tomorrow – or maybe I shall go toboganning instead!
A new year has arrived and its my final year at college. It has gone so quickly! Ideas are spinning around my head and my dissertation is well underway – I am exploring the emerging ‘Third Culture’ of bio-art, fascinating stuff. The works of Nina Sellars, Stelarc and Marc Quinn are a huge source of inspiration and they all illustrate a strong co-dependency between art and science. There is plenty of information out there and I am really enjoying finding out more about it.
My trip to the foundry was a huge success with the team being so helpful and informative. I thoroughly recommend them – Barrett and Jarvis in Staplehurst, Kent. Louise, who has been working there since leaving university, relished the opportunity to try out some new patinas on my piece to great effect. The sculpture is also musical! When the fronds are plucked they sing which is magical and a little other worldly too.
Obviously Christmas and all its trimmings has managed to get in the way of creativity for the past few weeks, but I did manage to give my studio a bit of a tidy up. It had a couple of dirty old beds and spare mattresses in it – where do the mattresses come from? We seem to have collected them over the years. Anyway, they went off to the tip and now I have some extra room to make a mess!
Tomorrow is the day I take my work ‘Cellular Conversa’ up to the Cork Street Open Exhibition. Having made it through the first heat, the judges take a look at the works ‘in the flesh’ and decide whether to hang it or not. Lets hope it doesn’t snow and I can get there to submit it.
For the rest of this year I will be exploring viruses and slime-moulds that take over their hosts leaving a recognizable, yet not quite right shell. I am thinking about everyday objects that hold some symbolic meaning that can be taken over by a natural force. I would like to accompany any work with a series of drawings as I feel that this aspect of my skill set has been lacking of late. Ideas change quickly in my head but this one seems to have been around for some time.
