I’ll be honest: I’ve struggled with how to approach this week’s blog. I do have something to say, I’m just not sure whether I want to say it. Also I feel as though I haven’t made any work to show, although I’ve worked very hard in the studio. I dunno.
The crisis comes in how much of my personal life to include in my blog; the theme is, true to the name of the site, the degree course and the run-up to the final degree show. So I write about the work I make without going into what I had for breakfast, although for some that might make it all the more interesting. The thing is, my portraits of others are really a kind of self-portrait, products of the way I see other people; as Richard Taylor said to me, it seems that there is a lot of me in my work. So particularly regarding my investigation of men, there’s no doubt that my recent acquisition of a boyfriend is going to significantly affect the work I make. There, I told you. Aside from the obvious aspect of having a ready and hopefully willing model, and the wacky prospect of visually charting a relationship through paint, this will probably have some kind of effect on subsequent depictions of other subjects – possibly adding an element of distance, or perhaps bridging a gap. Maybe I won’t look quite so shifty now – “trust me, I’m an artist”… I don’t know. I do think it’ll add an interesting element – recurring models always hold a fascination for me, like Paul Rosano in Sylvia Sleigh’s paintings. Whilst I thought earlier that I’d met my Paul Rosano, it turned out I hadn’t. At the end of last year I ended up with three recurring subjects, and started this year with a list of four new candidates. So far I’ve done no paintings at all! Right now I have more to worry about than how/who to start with; I just have to start.
On to what I have started – the wooden sculpture has taken a back seat to the casting process, and I do feel pushed for time there as well. After last week’s disaster I did manage to claw back some success – the vinamold cast didn’t go as planned (it was a disaster) but it was salvageable in the end. This week with the help of Vicky, the country’s nicest art school technician, I successfully cast the back third of Phil’s head (here’s hoping that his ear stayed on after having to be superglued) and next week I’ll move on to his face. And after that? I don’t have a clue and I’m not ashamed to say it. There’s so much left to do that it’s starting to look daunting, but I’ll manage.
I did omit some of last week’s events regarding the actual show preparation in favour of nostalgia. In the intervening period there seemed to have arisen a faction standing in opposition to the fundraising ideas I’d put forward last year. Only two out of nine, but enough to take the wind out of the sails. I’m not saying mutiny… Nope, I’m not the captain and I don’t need to be. So I’ve decided to pull out and delegate the fundraising issue whilst I get on with my actual jobs and save my ideas to be realised as a stand-alone project, or whilst I’m doing my MA. See, no stress! Can this really be me? And this week we also had a talk about the exhibition catalogue, which was very productive; our tutor put forward a great idea that I’m determined to see through, and I’m on the hunt for someone to contribute an essay about the group.
So here’s the pitch: if you think that you’d like to take on the task of writing about the work of nine very different artists making up the B.A. year at K College, do get in touch. We’d love to have reviews of the show of course, but a brief foreword to the booklet is what I’m fishing for at the moment… And right now, I’m off to get ready to go to Derbyshire for the weekend, where I shall hike around the hills and swan about in a large and slightly smelly reproduction Georgian gown, although sadly not at the same time. But enough about my personal life.
