A trip to London last week with the children to the Wellcome Collection and the Grant Museum of Zoology provided plenty of meaty inspiration for my latest project. I am looking into mutation, metamorphosis and change.
I am not sure if I am explaining this at all well at college as I tend to be more confused having spoken about my subject to the lecturers than I was before I opened my gob!
The specimens in jars at the Grant Museum were fascinating. I like how they were presented; groups of species crammed into cupboards with warm lighting revealing translucent tapeworms and unidentifiable creatures suspended in liquid. Apparently what is on display is only 5% of what UCA have in their entire collection.
I learnt yesterday that my Microscopic Slides of the Cellular Conversa series that I created last year are now hanging in the Neurology Unit at Kings College Hospital – right opposite the doors! Pretty good position for maximum exposure! I am quite happy with that.
Further experimenting with wax today has lead to some interesting results. Messing about with wire has created some rather organic shapes. Hopefully I am onto something here. I feel that I will have to keep to a small scale but maybe introduce some sort of magnifying glass…who knows.
Research has properly started on the dissertation. I am feeling less panicky about it now that I have started writing notes. It would help if we could get into our computer suite at college. Due to incompetent timetabling one lecturer seems to use the computer suite for his classes which is not helpful. We also have no printer at the moment which is enormously frustrating. At least I have one at home. Our brilliant student rep Sarah Rilot is on it and I am sure she will sort out our little problems.
I am going to make another trip to the Grant Museum for a drawing expedition. Watch this space…
Finally, the show is over. We packed up The Collective last Sunday. A much quicker process than the ‘putting up’. It is a relief its over and life can continue as normal. I really enjoyed meeting new artists and listening to their stories and their advice. Both Maria de Haan and Kim Francis have become firm new friends and they will be putting their work into the pop-up shop that I am opening in Whitstable in December.
During the week that the show was on I met some very interesting people. The run-up to the private view was the most nerve wracking time of my life. I panicked over what to wear (it was in trendy Notting Hill and I am used to wearing wellies and knackered jeans). My chosen outfit had a rip in it and I was also panicking about what I would say and how to behave in front of potential buyers. I needn’t have been so scared. Everyone was lovely and all the feedback on the bowls was incredibly positive. I even got chatted up! He wasn’t my type – according to my husband!
After all the excitement its back to college now and its a little bit of a shock to the system. I have decided to write about phenomenology for my dissertation – a nice meaty subject that should keep me occupied. I have also been experimenting further with wax and have created some interesting flower species today in my studio. I was inspired by the show Metamorphosis in London last week. It featured the work of Kate Mccgwire and other artists. The curation was fantastic and I can really see the importance of good lighting. Something to remember for the end of year show.
It is hard to work in college at the moment so I am beavering away in my studio at home. I am very lucky to have a space – even if I share it with mice and mattresses! I like the flexibity working from home gives me. I tend to use college for the computers and library at the moment. Its a challenge splitting the time evenly and I think it is something I must address.
I hope you like the attached image…
Its been a pretty frantic week. Creating work to hang in my first show outside of Kent has been challenging when my mind has been on other things. The printer didn’t get hold of all my acrylic photographs on time. His supplier kept on sending scratched images that wouldn’t cut the mustard. This certainly didn’t help stress levels. Once I had made everything I could I then had to pack it up – no mean feat. I got through yards of bubble wrap. The children were desperate to roll all over it so it turned into a minor battle! We loaded up the car yesterday morning and headed off to London. The traffic was dreadful but being late wasn’t a problem as the previous occupants were still in the gallery – great! After a hot chocolate from across the road we set about unloading the cars; much to the delight of the bus drivers. I had a little show and tell session with the other artists exhibiting in the show. We slowly unwrapped key pieces and everyone said all the right things about each other’s work. Kim was particularly complimentary about my work and the feeling was definitely mutual. We discussed pricing and I told her that I was thinking of
I have not been a great blogger so far. Things have been a little hectic for the last few weeks. My personal life has greatly affected my professional life and some devastating news has left me feeling creatively barren for a while. Hopefully college will put a stop to that and I can get myself back on track.
The Collective exhibition is gathering momentum and we only have a week to go until kick off. The Facebook launch of the event has gone a bit mad and over 1,500 invites have been sent out. So far only 100 or so have confirmed that they are coming. I am having visions of a crazy Facebook party and headlines in the Daily Mail! The shame!
I have only two more bowls to create and this recent spell of damp weather means that my plaster is taking a longer time to dry out than anticipated. I am getting pre-show jitters and am sure that my fellow artists at the Collective are getting a trifle impatient with me!
I nipped up to London on Friday to meet with an interior designer Virginia White. She has opened up a pop-up shop/gallery in Clerkenwell and it was interesting to see the prices on the artworks she had selected. I was feeling a little insecure about what price I should put on my works. Ginny explained that it is good not to be too greedy and, as I am trying to get a name for myself, it is best to sell my work and get it seen. Sage words and she approved of the prices that I have put on my works. www.virginiawhite.co.uk
Interestingly I met a photographer at the gallery – Lucinda Douglas-Menzies whose portraits have been in the National Portrait Gallery. Lucinda was charming and full of interesting hints – all duly noted.
We all registered at University last week and I bumped into a couple of old mates from my class as well as some newcomers. We all discussed our dissertations and it turns out that none of us have met the deadline for the proposal. I have just written mine so I will have something to hand in tomorrow but I am expecting a bit of a telling off!
