Reasons to be cheerful: More than three.
The latest thing to be grateful for is that although the next door neighbour’s music is loud enough to blare through the walls, at least it’s Stevie Nicks tonight. The downside of which is having Edge Of Seventeen stuck in my head, when I only know the chorus and the whoo whoo whoos. I can’t belt it out any more either, as it’s past Mr. T’s bedtime, and if the neighbour hears me he might think I’m being facetious. Anyway, I’m trying to listen to the rest of the album (must be a greatest hits) through the wall.
I’m pretty pleased to have despatched that nasty cold in a relatively short time, and swapped the pong of garlic for the pong of pain relief gel smeared all over my elbow. Gotta smell bad to feel good, I guess. Armed with a medium sized tubigrip for my medium sized elbow and my whiffy gel I tackled the dreaded carving after weeks of avoidance. After a day and a half in the sculpture room, I think all may not be as disastrous as I’d feared, if I can work steadily and carefully to avoid doing real, lasting damage to my elbow.
One bonus was getting my bisque face out of the kiln – I’d saved part of the original clay Phil, shaved it down and set it aside for firing, and almost forgotten about it. Now I think it could well be useful as a sculptural/painting bridge, as well as just a downright creepy, and therefore compelling, thing. I’ve decided to paint this version instead, so even if it serves solely as an experiment, it’s worth having around.
Another reason for cheer was getting another week before hand-in! The relief that announcement gave me was indescribable, especially now that I seem to have divided up and parceled out even more of my scant spare time. The CRB check has come back, so I should be going into Mr. T’s school very soon to do something or other – deliver workshops or provide riot control, I’m not sure which. They’re sure to want an afternoon a week at least.
During Tuesday’s tutorial period I found out about Stour Valley Arts holding a training session for volunteers that evening. It was such an inconvenient time, but I thought it’d be a way of getting valuable experience, and close to home at that. After a farcical interlude which involved arriving early but having to leave to bribe the child with fast food in exchange for sitting still(ish), then trying to move the car to the gallery car park and getting stuck in Ashford’s ring road at rush hour, I eventually ended up at the last half of the session at the gallery. At least I tried, eh? We’d actually been there only a few days before, at the opening of Jon Adams’s exhibition “Look About” and Animate Arts’s “Salue”. It’s exactly the kind of place that Ashford needs, and while I don’t have much time at all now, I still want to get involved if I can.
It was a major relief to find that everyone liked our ad in the Degree Shows Guide, especially seeing as I designed it, and only Kate saw it before it went to print. I’m also happy that I’ve got our website all set up, and that we finally wrangled a confirmation of the Saturday opening, even if just ‘til 12:30. I wrangled it by putting it in print in a national publication – kinda crafty, but I realised that I’d either have to be crafty or continue to be ignored. My editor’s hat is still jauntily perched atop my ‘fro, with only the back page of the catalogue to format, after which I can print the cards and chase the others to get theirs done as well. I’ve only got one person to chase for text, but the process is so straightforward that we still have a wee bit of time to spare. It’s funny how this student rep job has turned into editor, graphic designer and marketing person. Yesterday a host of querulous eyes instantly turned to me when someone asked about invitations… so I made the invitations today. I’ve learned my lesson though; when discussing collecting the info for our labels, I made sure to nominate ‘anyone as long as it’s not me’.
