http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Artist's notes Fri, 24 May 2013 23:07:02 +0000 a-n rss generator a-n The Artists Information Company and contributors edit@a-n.co.uk technical@a-n.co.uk http://www.a-n.co.uk/img/logo.gif http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I haven't blogged for a while so here goes. This blog will be about the work I do as an artist and about what constitutes an artist's everyday, from my subjective viewpoint but which hopefully will resonate with a few readers out there. To kick off, here are some notes about today: Morning: knitting a few rows and completing a pennant of woolly bunting as part of DAD's Bunting Forever project http://www.dadonline.eu/node/332 Afternoon: Went to the opening of Mike Marshall's New Works at Stour Valley Arts, Ashford. Did lots of talking. Really liked the work - the in focus, out of focus play, the use of sound, and the way the artist reminds the viewer of his presence; also the way the work seemed to be about holding an object up for attention and the way our attention is held. Late afternoon: stuck behind the computer doing non-art work    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Much of today has been spent struggling with Final Cut Pro even though the task is relatively simple: cut down a two-hour conference into 6 2-minute videos using stills and sound. I've completed 3; 3 more to go.    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 So today I set up my work at the Kaleidoscope Gallery in Sevenoaks - There are a few of us blogging on here who have work in Exhibition [beta]. For me it is exciting as its the first time I've had work accepted by open submission - and the proposal, though very short, was one of the clearest I've ever written. There has to be a connection in there somewhere. Note to self: remember to take camera next time. This is a rather blurry image taken with my mobile phone camera. I managed also to finish my short videos - 7 in all, rather than 6. It took me ages but it has been interesting to try and make the process of evaluation and recording an event a creative one.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Thursday evening: managed to get to Sevenoaks for the private view of Beta, despite the pelting rain. I hate driving in heavy rain when its dark. The PV was well attended and I caught up with some of the other artists who I hadn't seen for a while. Joanna, DAD codirector and friend, took me out for a lovely meal afterwards to celebrate my "first" show. It was really exciting to step into the gallery and see the work outside the studio, properly lit, as a viewer: for that very brief moment, the work did not feel like mine - in the sense that it had its own existence, separate from mine. Friday: All day in Dunkerque with other East Kent arts organisations attending a workshop and getting to know French counterparts. Dunkerque is going to be the Regional capital of culture in 2013 and they are getting ready now. There could be some really exciting possibilities for DAD. Today I've been updating the DAD website. Also walked the dog and let him off his lead for the first time in 2 months after a rather nasty accident resulting in him cutting all the tendons in his foot.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Lots of meetings last week, which will potentially result in new DAD projects, which means more bid writing. I am actually hoping to get one completed bid in the post today; fingers crossed that I will get all the info I need in on time. Managed to get to the studio to work on a large drawing at the weekend. I am about to move studio, which is not a heartening prospect. The new studio will be fine, it's just the actual process of moving that is the pain. Thankfully, it will be just along the corridor so not really a major move, although I will still need to organise help! Apart from that all the usual - 2 medical checkups, dog walking and training and worrying about his foot, domestics ... Think it is time to go and see some work!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I will soon be moving into a new studio. It is full of chairs on wheels and office paraphernalia at the moment and it looks like some of the maintenance lads in the building have been having fun with a nail gun or something. Until it is clear, I am still working in the big, now former, DAD studio making more scratchy drawings. I will be adding graphite next, to this one, and cutting it out. I love working with paper but still have not solved the issue of how best to present the drawings.    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Day off today - we took the dog to Botany Bay where he ran about on the sand and splashed about in the sea. Had to pop him on the lead when he got a bit too excited over another much smaller dog! Then played a new recall training game I've learnt which involves my partner holding the ball, me calling the dog away and then telling him to go and get the ball as his reward. After that we went into Margate and sat outdoors for lunch and did some Christmas shopping. Amazing to be sitting outdoors at this time of year. Actually managed to sit outdoors eating fish & chips in Margate last night too, after going to see TO PAY RESPECT TO THE GENEROSITY OF THE THREE-MINUTE PUNK-ROCK SONG at Limbo and Crate, curated by Toby Huddlestone. It was fantastic to see so much work in one place. There were just over 40 pieces and apart from the idea of "cultural quickness", what seemed to link at least some of the pieces was a quirky sense of humour.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Comments now enabled! Thanks Franny. Dog walked; emails checked and no 'revenue-generating' work in so studio day here we come.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I've never seen Dover as buzzy as it was last Saturday. The town council organised a Christmas event culminating in the switching on of the Christmas lights and the roadshow organised by Dover Community Radio kept the crowds entertained all day. I was indoors most of the time trying to knit a bunting pennant as part of DAD's bunting Forever project, but kept having to jump up and talk to people, which meant I kept losing count of my rows! Craft is an important element in my work and part of my autobiography - I did ceramics at school and spent many happy hours doing batik work with my mother when we were in Indonesia. I had a good time on Sunday in the studio and think this drawing is just about finished. I thought it was going into a show but have just learnt that it is not. Boo.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Have been translating, bid writing and am also in the middle of applying for a residency. Husband has had a bad back for over a week so I'm marching him off to the doctor when he gets home - didn't realise they did late night surgeries. Dog is nice and tired after a day with his best buddy. Went to the UCA Fine Art alumni do up in London last week and also went to the Marine Studios http://www.marinestudios.co.uk First Fridays event in Margate. I like their programme and multi-disciplinary approach. Have moved into a new studio but still need to sort out all my stuff. It is exhausting. Got some white paint so I will be getting rid of that horrid magnolia in the next couple of days. It is rather sad that DAD no longer has its big space and that the building doesn't have the energy it did, now that the Future Jobs fund programme has ended. Looks like it is going to be mainly rented office space in there so I'm fortunate to have a nice rough space that is actually quite big.      ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I am settling into my studio which is warm but dark - have not found the light switches yet. I haven't been in there much, having been kept away by a combination of bid writing, meetings, research for a residency application and translation work. The translation work supplements my income when there is insufficient DAD revenue. Although I really want to do less, it is a useful back-up and I have to keep my hand in so to speak. However, I managed to paint the back wall with a coat of leftover white paint - rather a patchy result, which I will remedy at some stage. However, it is already miles better than the magnolia. Browsing through one of my many scattered notebooks, I came across the phrase used as the title of this latest drawing.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Getting a bit repetitive here I realise, but then that has been the reality of the past few days or weeks. I have just realised Christmas is in less than 10 days time. I've been making cards - I only ever make a few to give as gifts despite every year thinking I might start on them a bit earlier, like in October or something, so that I could make more. The snow has stopped and I hope it stays away as i've got family coming tomorrow for an early Christmas lunch and it would be a shame if they couldn't make it; not to mention the fact that I don't want lots of food left over. Have put in the residency application I was writing, so fingers crossed.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I feel as if I had a day off yesterday, if one can have a day off. I mean, if one subscribes to the view that art and life are the same thing then is there such a thing as a day off? Anyhow, it felt like a day off as I didn't go near the computer and it was the first 'Christmas event' of the year - no actually the second as the DAD Watermark http://www.dadonline.eu/node/5 production team was invited to join over 160 ex-papermill employees at their Christmas reunion last week. A real privilege to be included and a testament to the way in which an arts project really can reunite communities and create new social connections. So anyway, yesterday was a family Christmas event and preparations for it kept me away from work, though really the cooking and all that is just another form of work, where the word work is not a negative one. So no day off then - but a welcome and enjoyable change to the every day routine, that in itself is also part of that 'everday', where routine and repetition acquire significance through being recorded, reflected on, remembered and shared; where the personal celebration is also part of the collective cultural performance that is Christmas.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 First day back in the studio today after a long break. Feel good.   Hope 2012 will be a creative one for everyone.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 So far 2012 has been really really busy: seem to have spent all my time at meetings, but the good news is that I have been awarded a bursary to go to the State of the Arts conference up at Salford in February. I have managed to get into the studio and my New Year's resolution is to read more! Novels, theory, critical writing in magazines .... And of course, get into the studio more ...!  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Well, I got shortlisted recently for a residency not too far away from home and got to interview stage which was very encouraging. I really enjoyed doing the research for the project and think I could probably adapt it if need be. It's been business as usual really, though the DAD bid is nearly finished. I would be fine, if the 10,000 words I had promised to translate hadn't morphed into over 90,000 to manage and subcontract. It has not only been exhausting, but also boring and, more importantly has taken all my free headspace. So my resolution to read more has gone out of the window. Still I did manage time in the studio today. Other good news is that I may have found a semi-permanent home for my MA work. Thanks to Joanna I have to say, but more on this later, once there is a firm commitment from the client. The Chinese New Year of the Dragon started on Monday and I decided to throw a party for fellow creatives in Dover - was quite funny as my mother helped with the cooking and we got quite a production line going - felt a bit as if I was in the noodle shop in the panda kung fu film, only I was happy to be there. One evening of cooking shouldn't be beyond anyone ... not even me. I was on Radio Kent this morning - teeny snippet of an interview relating to Dover's preparations for the Olympic Torch and DAD's Bunting Forever project http://www.dadonline.eu/node/332. We've been trying to get radio coverage since we started in 2006 and it has finally happened!  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 96,000 words, two bids and various meetings later, I finally manged to spend 2 hours in the studio yesterday and felt happy. I have a new "neighbour" - Bob the hot dog man. We had a few minutes conversation at cross purposes because I thought he'd said he was Bob the odd jobs man. Intrigued by his apron I asked if he was working upstairs in the kitchens, to which he said "no I'm on the street." Off to Manchester tomorrow for the State of the Arts Conference. I'm really looking forward to it and thankfully have managed to smooth ruffled feathers at home caused by wanting to go to a conference on Valentine's day.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Made an exhausted return from SOTA12 http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/jobs-and-conferences... yesterday, which I attended as one of the 50 artists given a bursary by ACE to be there. Apparently our presence gave the conference a different feel this year compared to last year, when the dearth of artists was perceived as a major failing. Highlights were Kirsty Ware's excellent chairing of the event and David Edgar's interventions, especially his closing speech. The conference reflected a shift in thinking away from the notion that the value of art and artists lies mainly in their contribution to the creative economy - cf. Liz Forgan's opening address. We still need to be on our guard though, even if Ed Vaizey said the case for the arts has been made and accepted; whether he will take up the challenge set at the conference of writing to all local councils to restate that remains to be seen. I don't think the format of the breakout sessions worked very well - still the old model of artists presenting their work and delegates having to work out how that fitted the theme and what we were supposed to talk about. My general feeling was there was a lack of real provocation or focused presentation of new ideas; much of the discussion felt as if it was just confirming principles already laid down and I am not sure that the conference really did finish with a call to action. Still, I enjoyed it and am glad I went.            ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I thought I should write a more upbeat assessment of sota12 - only because reading yesterday's post really does reflect the fact that I was really tired after it. Sore feet throughout the day really didn't help. So, I really did enjoy catching up with friends and contacts and meeting new people. I had lots of interesting conversations and took away the following: 1) After seeing the list of names of everyone involved in the Anne Wilson's Local Industry (cloth) project at the Whitworth as part of the Cotton Global Threads http://cottonglobalthreads.com/ I realise I need to get all the names or as many names as possible of the participants in DAD's bunting forever project. I think we've had 200 people involved and I have listed 20 names since getting back and am on the hunt for the rest. I also need to film different parts of the process! I know all this but have been a bit behind the curve on this one. 2) Enjoyed watching Air Pressure http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/whatson/exhi..., also at the Whitworth 3) Enjoyed An evening with Robert Wilson  http://www.pmstudio.co.uk/events/mon-13022012-600p... and his ideas around non-verbal communication. Exchanged notes with Stephanie Fuller - we both wondered about the nature of the collaboration with the deaf-mute boy he worked with. 4) Spoke to Nancy Groves from the Guardian and actually got a mention in the blog http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/culture-cuts-blog... which is very exciting. 5) Had a good conversation with Dr Xerxes Mazda, Head of Learning and Audiences at The British Museum, and learnt alot from his presentation at the Artists and Audiences breakout session. Am still thinking about his question, which sort of goes like this "Does it matter if someone came to an exhibition to learn more about a topic and saw some great art at the same time but didn't know it was art?" 6) Need to have subtitle option for moving image work to make it fully accessible.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 This article in the New Statesman sums up sota12 pretty well: http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/cultural-capital... The networking was good; the debates less so. What weren't they saying about the cuts to come? Having picked out my highlights as Kirsty Ware and David Edgar, the low point was the Arlene Philips interview. I couldn't work out if she knew what art was: at times it was entertainment and at others it wasn't; and she never answered the question which was "Does TV do great art?" or was that bad art?    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Here are links to two interesting a-n blogs covering SOTA12. Emily Speed's blog: http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/sing... Alice Bradshaw's blog: http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/sing... Sota12 is receding into the past now! I spent the day knitting, taking photos and nattering as a participant in DAD's Bunting Forever project http://www.dadonline.eu/node/362. It was pretty tiring, which seems ridiculous, so I was glad when my partner suggested fish and chips for dinner. No cooking - yipee. Cooking is, though, a wonderful and creative thing. I went to a friend's funeral yesterday. She was a great cook, a generous person both in size and in personality, much loved and instantly liked by all who met her. She leaves a big hole here in Dover. After the funeral nearly everyone went back to her place where there was a very fitting tribute laid on in the form of a delicious spread, including some very tasty sausages.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Well I have finally got my own Twitter account, not just the DAD one so I can do some slightly more personal tweets relating to my studio practice. It's @ClareGSmith but I haven't done much tweeting yet.    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Family day out today joined by stepgrandaughter and her mum and dad, their dog and our dog. I am trying to take better photos whether 'snapshots' on days like these or documentation photos of work and/or projects. So, having finally manged to get to the studio again yesterday I rephotographed two small drawings.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Lots happening all of a sudden: Bunting Forever is getting big and I've been asked to register it as a Line the streets project for London 2012. http://www.dadonline.eu/node/332 Thanks to a professional press release and marketing document the project profile has become sharper and better defined and we're getting the response we want. There is a lesson in there somewhere. If any of you reading this are occasional knitters, please do get involved. It is fun. DAD is also gearing up for next week's public preview of Watermark, a 90-minute feature documentary about a former paper mill in Dover. What else? Oh yes, went to a Kent Economic Board creative sector consultation event which was pretty dire though the good thing perhaps is that it brought subsidised and non-subsidised organisations/companies together. Dire because yet again delegates were treated as passive absorbers of mainly dull information and given hardly any time for the supposed main purpose of the event which is to be consulted and to make a meaningful contribution. And, have managed to walk the dog and get to the the studio again.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Networks and networking - there are so many of them. Do we need another network; what is specific about all the different networks. I seem to be in a world composed of networks within networks. Yesterday DAD organised a networking event over brunch at Turner Contemporary in partnership with the National Federation of Artist Studio Providers to guage interest in a Southeast Kent studio providers network. We couldn't have had a better day or a lovelier setting. And with no empty seats at the table, there does seem to be a definite level of interest. One of the many interesting points made was that Kent does not have the empty industrial building stock to set up large studio complexes - we are limited here by the existing architecture which results in relatively small studio groups, each with its own operational model: not for profit, commercial, mixed commercial and not for profit .... some providing CPD support and so on. After the event, Joanna and I went to look at the Turner and the Elements exhibition in the main galleries. There were some stunning paintings - especially those where the horizon disappears and sea and sky are one. In the afternoon we did some shopping - and stopped for a drink. I was feeling pretty much conferenced out!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Glorious day - I ummed and ahed about doing the front garden or going to the studio and opted for the studio. Took the dog with me who was no doubt a bit fed up but he had had a good run in the morning. Played with installing my drawing as a floor work.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I've just joined Rise Art - another web based site for artists to upload profiles etc but also for people who want to buy art or even rent it. Makes me wonder though a bit about the number of different sites i am on and the time I now need to spend on updating them all. Think I should just pick two and stick to those as well as blogging, tweeting and updating my own website otherwise there really will be no time to actually make any work. I was recently interviewed by a sociology research student interested in work and identity. Really interesting to read the transcription of what I actually said!I like the idea of linking identity to work as well as all those other components of identity such as gender and personality.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Took my dad out to Margate on Sunday for his upcoming birthday and enjoyed cupcakes in the sun, followed by a visit to Turner Contemporary. The irony of it being Mothering Sunday is not lost on me! Today I've been stuck behind the computer again - reporting on Watermark, DAD's recently completed documentary feature and project by the same name: http://www.dadonline.eu/node/5 I got through to the final round of a selection process for a show in London; disappointed not to make the final selection but encouraged nonetheless, so with the reporting done and the arrival of a new roll of paper I can get into the studio tomorrow.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Went to a lovely opening at Space gallery http://spaceseven.co.uk/ in Folkestone yesterday. The current show is of work by Nicholette Goff - prints or rather traces of plants, many of them under threat of extinction. There was so much to look at - here was the artist as naturalist, scientist, archivist, observer, maker; as harbinger ... Spent this morning knitting and taking photos http://www.dadonline.eu/node/376. I am starting to build a look and feel for these project photos which I rather like. And finally, something I'm very chuffed about - I'm off to Leytonstone tomorrow to deliver a piece of work to The Stone Space http://thestonespace.wordpress.com/ for an exhibition I have been selected to take part in called Inclusions. And as I have family in the area, what was going to be popping round for tea has turned into joining in my Uncle's birthday lunch celebration.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 The Stone Space is a lovely space right next to Leytonstone Library. Exhibition opens this Thursday and ends on 15 April.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Had a lovely time at the opening of Inclusions yesterday at The Stone Space. I was a bit surprised to see the drawing they hung wasn't the one chosen from my submission but that's because i had two drawings in the folder and the committee got confused. Everyone there was really friendly. I think my work was hung a bit too high but the magnets I got sent from Australia worked really really well and I think I have now got the solution for hanging my work.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Recent activity includes going to Eat with Art organised by Latitudinal Cuisine at the Mile End Art Pavilion and seeing the work selected for the Tower Hamlets Open.  We were asked to take a dish from our own place or country - whether that's Tower Hamlets or Taipei - preferably personally cooked and enough to feed 4 people. The result was a marvellously cosmopolitan feed - both in terms of the dishes produced and the fact that the artists/people producing them were themselves not identified with only one place or country or culture so what it meant to cook a dish from your own country was wide open. I was shortlisted for the show so it was good to see what had been selected and how the space was curated. It is a really difficult space and what worked best for me in there, on the day, was Tom Estes Night Cleaning performance which made great use of the floor space and was nicely integrated into the whole eat with art event. I did like Mary Yacoob's drawing too. http://www.alisn.org/    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Just back from the studio and my fingers are stiff with cold. It is freezing out there. I had the dog with me and walking him home was enough to get really cold. He is getting used to the studio though he prefers being at home. Watched Fischli and Weiss' The way things go at Cratespace in Margate yesterday evening. The projection was done outdoors, which was interesting though alot of the detail was lost so not so good for a first encounter with this seminal work. Words which went through my head in response:  absurdity, ridiculousness of things going round and round again ... "go" as in work, function, experiment, move, disappear, collapse, break down, fail ... I nearly didn't go to Margate as I've had a really tiring few days, squeezing work in between trips to the hospital with my dad. Turned out he did not have DVT so that was a relief though no one knows what is wrong with his leg. The doctors are throwing antibiotics at it and treating it as cellulitis. Life also "goes."  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I have just finished my Q4 accounts and sent them off to the accountant, which is a huge relief. Now I have to attack the piles of paper on my 'relief desk' which the cats use as bedding along with the laptop. Spent the day in Calais on Friday as DAD is hoping to take part in an interreg project which could be an opportunity to screen Watermark, our documentary feature, in France. DAD has incidentally been shortlisted for the Canterbury Culture Award for Excellence for "a cultural practitioner or collaborative group of practitioners working in East Kent that has created a new work of high quality within the last twelve months." Managed also to get into the studio yesterday and do some work on the new drawing. My new artist neighbour turned up too which was great. Read an interesting article about the brain in the Guardian, from which this comes: "In Citizen Kane, the name of the protagonist's childhood sledge, "Rosebud", had enormous significance for him. Even if a transplant were physically possible, and a brain with such memories could be transferred to another individual, this word would mean nothing to the recipient because the brain works only in cahoots with the organs: the neural pathways would involve the nerves and muscles that were implicated in the protagonist's particular reason for memorialising that word. Similarly, the recipient's functioning store of knowledge and memories would find no pathways in the new organ; even if the brain were able to maintain the automatic processes, it would be a blank slate with no hope of making new meaningful connections. The way information is coded in the brain can only be deciphered by that particular brain." http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/apr/13/mind... The most interesting thing for me is the idea that the "brain works only in cahoots with the organs". More evidence if any were needed that society has to stop categorising thinking and knowledge as rational and irrational, head and "heart", science and arts; if knowledge generated through art practice was really one day put on a par with scientific knowledge, that really would be radical.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Spent yesterday supporting a pom pom making workshop for primary school pupils as part of the 100 days to go celebrations. The pom poms will be used to create a garland above the entrance to the subway leading to the sea front. Was exhausted afterwards. My work has always had a relationship with craft in some way or other and I am currently stitching together some of the tears I make.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 A visit from my husband's daughter, husband and toddler daughter yesterday was delightful. She is just on the verge of toddling actually and does a pretty fast crawl across the carpet. I mention this in part because the life of an artist is in this respect much like the life of anyone else, even if the boundaries between time off, leisure and work are perhaps more blurred. On Saturday I collected my work from the Stone Space and then had lunch with relatives nearby - took my father along too; he hasn't been too well recently, so I've been keeping an eye on him while my mother is in Beijing. Fortunately he is now on the mend. Did my first ever "subtitling" of a company video today; a more interesting assignment than the translation work I usually get and also did some DAD admin work - we have just had wonderful news from ACE regarding our grants for the arts bid - we got it! Braved the pouring rain, went to the studio and stitched together some tears. Am thinking that there is something skin-like about the drawings.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Shortlisted for Nesta but not through to selection. Still, shortlisted is good. Had a couple of hours in the studio again this afternoon and finished this piece. Title not yet decided upon.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 No blogging = too busy to write. Today was finally a day of not doing much, just a barbecue and eating out in the garden; there was just enough sun to make it reasonably pleasant. I was on BBC Southeast as enthusiastically spotted by family and friends though actually only playing a rent-a-crowd part. Seriously, DAD's Watermark documentary was featured on the regional news, including Radio Kent in the morning, as thanks to the Sociology professor at the University of Kent the film was previewed at The Gulbenkian on Wednesday. I've also been celebrating becoming a year older and unexpectedly got an ipad from my husband. I had been drooling over them but did not feel I could justify getting one. Now that I have one, I think I'll be using it quite alot. Other stuff I've been doing - sorting through photos - doing the KC bronze test and passing it with my black lab - admin and accounts, writing invoices and making payments - domestics - going to Whitstable biennale launch and other openings - attending meetings - thinking about project for Whitstable biennale satellite - trying not to get too wet when walking the dog - knitting woolly bunting - sorting out red tape for an event in June - hanging around waiting for a parcel delivery - getting a tiny bit of work done in the studio - flopping in front of the telly - ironing (think that's domestics actually) ....        ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Very exciting: this piece of work has been accepted for FAB 2012 in Bath www.fringeartsbath.co.uk... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Delivered my work to Bath on Sunday and enjoyed revisiting Bath - my parents lived there for years before moving down to Dover, much to my mother's regret I think, though she may regret it less now that my father is getting frailer and their house is within walking distance from me - I have been making daily visits while my mother has been in Beijing where she has spent several months every year over the past 3 years.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Just back from a holiday in Devon and keen to get back to work. Went to the studio and am really energised - was good to have a drawing on the go so that I could get stuck in straight away. I am experimenting with applying paint to the back of the paper as well - I want to see what happens when it curls over. Drove up from Devon to the FaB opening in Bath and unexpectedly saw a CSM classmate there too, as well as work by regular a-n blogger Rob Turner.          ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Braved the rain today running a workshop as part of the Big Lunch in Dover making pom poms for DAD's "Olympic Arch" project. Was good fun as well as slightly chaotic when 66 French schoolchildren all wanted to take part at once. I now have backache from standing nearly all afternoon.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Another session in the market square yesterday evening as part of the Town Council's Jubilee event. Pom pom making to the broadcast of the Queen's jubilee concert on Dover's Big Screen. Started to get cold by 10pm but fortunately had woken up the winter boots from their spring/summer resting place.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Off to the Market Square again to make pompoms. The project has moved on a bit and we are now aiming to make 15 giant ones to create an impact. As part of the whole project we have succeeded in pulling together enough money to clean up Dover's underpass through to the seafront. It is currently absolutely disgusting - the covering on the ceiling is black and peeling. That is all coming off and with luck work will start in about 8 days time or so. It will be a nice legacy for Dover so fingers crossed the contractor can get it done in time for the torch relay. Amazing what one can do sometimes but let's not talk too soon. Went to a meeting yesterday in Leytonstone and met some of the organisers and other artists in the Leytonstone Arts Trail - am showing at Norlington Studios as part of When the Walls Come Down. Any other bloggers out there also involved?  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Such a brilliant day on Sunday - planting and picnic event on Dover's Esplanade as part of Love Architecture: http://www.lovearchitecture.org/event.html?event=1... It was a great way to enjoy the fabulous Tonkin Liu Esplanade. Presented at the East Kent Cultural Conversations organised by UCA in Canterbury yesterday and enjoyed the day. Organised deliberately as conversations there was much less of the usual endless corporate presentations. Toby Huddlestone ended his presentation of his Exhibition as Medium project with a summary of evaluation data and when it came to impact just said he wasn't sure but it was about making good work and having a good time together, which I found both honest and true. Isn't that what we are doing? His end symposium at The Showroom last week was also good - friendly atmosphere and very thought provoking. The Cultural Conversations ended informally round The Table which DAD played a part in enabling. Have started the day with a walk on the beach with the dog in the early morning sunshine and once I've knocked out a few emails and phone calls I'm off to the studio. And then this evening will go to the Market Square to watch the Woolly Bunting go up - a year of communal making coming to fruition.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Brilliant evening yesterday at the Canterbury Culture Awards http://www.thecultureawards.org/2012-winners/ and all the more so as DAD won the award for excellence for Watermark. http://www.watermark-film.com/home.html There is rather a nice group pic here http://www.thecultureawards.org/wp-content/uploads... So now back down to earth - am getting some small drawings framed in time for the Leytonstone Arts Trail - When the Walls Come Down show. It will be interesting to see what they look like framed. Actually I've been so busy that i didn't manage to finish one of the pieces yesterday so finished it off on the train - had my sewing needle out and was frantically adding stitches to the drawing - got it done though just before getting to Stratford. Next week i will be doing some admin!    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 The first lengths of Woolly Bunting are up in the Market Square: it was so exciting to watch and I got very emotional thinking of the care and time that has gone into creating each pennant by every single person involved.  Work for "When the Walls Come Down" in Leytonstone is at the framers. Have written up my project which I will be launching at the Whitstable Biennale Satellite. More on that later. Took some urging to get it written - probably had to overcome something akin to fear. Getting the project from idea to concrete proposal is not actually that hard but it feels like it will be before it is written down. In the writing of it though some of the details get worked out which makes everything alot less daunting.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Working in the public realm can be so exciting as with the bunting forever project when it all goes well and everything comes together and when it's popular. Equally exciting but terrifying is our project to get the underpass through to the seafront cleaned - we actually managed to get Highways to allow us to close it temporarily for the works - but as it is the primary route through to the seafront under a really busy road, this was quite risky as pedestrians are reluctant to walk all the way to the nearest safe overground crossing, preferring instead to jump over the barriers in the middle of the road. I also found myself having to pacify a couple of people yesterday and as I've not had a lot of experience of dealing with complaints that was also scary but in the end it was all friendly and they said that even if they didn't think it was a priority they could see that there were different opinions about which parts of Dover to clean up. Once they realised it wasn't "just for the Olympics" and that it wasn't "the Council" they seemed to feel better. Phew! I never ever thought I'd be doing this kind of work when I graduated. It is fantastic what life in the arts can bring. An opportunity to make real changes. Dropped some work off for the Jerwood Drawing Prize today - a long shot but anyway, it's worth a try.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Organised - if organised is the right word - a cupcake making workshop and tea party yesterday for the bunting forever participants. Luckily someone asked if I had the tea ... the answer was a mad dash to the co-op. Among the guests was a class of primary school children who had baked 100 cupcakes in the morning. Also a work placement from a local school who helped with the washing up and tea making - a very traditional work placement activity. Fortunately my mum proved to be an excellent tea lady and kitchen maid too. Have a week's admin to catch up with now and then next week I'll be helping prepare the space at Norlington studios, one of the Leytonstone Arts Trail 'hubs' in which I will be showing some small framed pieces.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Exhausted after hanging my work for When the Walls Come Down. I now know how to use a drill - not sure how I got away with not knowing for so long but anyway .... Husband thinks I'll be putting up shelves next.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Enjoyed the opening of When the Walls Come Down though a little disappointed that my work wasn't selected for Wandering Rocks. Have to stay confident in the work though. Anyhow, onto the next thing. I am doing a project called The Voyagers which centres on the symbolism of boats and alludes to Now Voyager, the film in which Bette Davis is transformed from awkward, bullied spinster to a beautiful woman in love. Info here: http://www.studio308ltd.co.uk/Projects/Entries/201... i will be putting up instructions for the paper boats.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 "The Voyagers" work in progress.  http://www.a-n.co.uk/interface/whatson/preview/229...... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Phew so that's all over for now: my legs and feet still hurt from standing so long yesterday during Dover's Torch Relay celebrations, which were not as festive as they might have been thanks to the rain. I had not expected to find the Torch relay such a moving experience but seeing the first runner Jamie was something I really will never forget. The evening ended with "A Song for Dover" combining song, boats and fireworks. http://www.theworldfamous.co.uk/news/ There was a real effort to put arts and culture at the centre of the event and the atmosphere along the sea front was magical. Thousands of people went through the DAD Celebration archwayhttp://www.dadonline.eu/node/411 and it certainly raised a few smiles. The focus over the next few months will be on my studio practice.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Since last blog: - have taken down work from Norlington Road Studios - the end of the show was marked by a friendly, relaxed BBQ; huge temptation for the dog with all the yummy lamb sausages around - completed reporting for the recent DAD projects - restoring the "Celebration Arch"; some pom poms got taken as mementos; ended up even getting my dad involved - been to meetings and done some mentoring - folded some boats on camera for The Voyagers project (video to come); had fun doing it - started to think about textile piece for The Voyagers; not being a textile artist this is quite a challenge - been to see potential new studio space; looks fantastic, just need some people to share with; am hopeful - updated website, have decided to change the image on the landing page regularly, say, every week - taken part in impromptu London Biennale event - White Happy Hour in Dover; as I left the house, dressed in white, someone I know took one look and asked if I was ok! - usual domestics at home: walking the dog, playing with the cats, cooking, doing a spot of gardening ...  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Have posted a project listing on a-n here http://www.a-n.co.uk/jobs_and_opps/single/2336191 More details on my website at http://www.studio308ltd.co.uk under projects.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I am wondering how best to present the boats - the ones I get to keep anyway; alot will depend on how many I get to keep, but even so, I need a general idea of how I might install them. One line of thought is to make a big boat and put all the smaller ones in it - obviously the one in the image is not big enough so I need to experiment with folding a much larger sheet of paper. I think it will be quite a challenge. I like the idea of not starting the project with the end installation fixed in my mind though.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Or this? Boats stitched together. The stitching would fit in with the fact that the planks of Dover's Bronze Age Boat were stitched together and the stitches have been preserved, though deliberately cut when the boat was put out of use approx. 3,500 years ago.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Mirrors - like this one can see the sides of the boats.It might be nice to have lots of different mirrors - only trouble is there is not much floor space ... which would make hanging them down from from the beams a more practical proposition.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Well I think I have solved the installation problem for the boats, so that is a relief. They will form a fleet around the Bronze Age Boat, suspended from the beams. I have been asked to put on a workshop tomorrow - at first I was going to say no as the project has nothing to do with sports but then I thought I could work on a 'variation' to do with what it means to feel alive, feel alive being the title of the event. In any case it will be a good trial run to see how easy people find it to fold the boats. Also, I think it is important with collaborative/participatory projects to enable a process which the participants find meaningful for them.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Well, that was not a great success as far as boat-making went but I had some good conversations. Too much sport going on really. Great to get some feedback though via this blog about the boats, so thanks to Clare Maynard for the comment.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Came across this great quote today: “For me, practical and conceptual concerns are inseparable. We live in a world that is more easily defined by technology, but I am interested in ideas about the handmade, how human existence can be communicated through the handmade in a more meaningful way. There is a real difference between process paintings and paintings that emphasise the presence of the human hand. For me, the latter is a more conceptual approach. I think that ideas about the handmade have an important role to play in a contemporary context” (Paul Doran) (http://contemporarydrawingsalon.blogspot.co.uk/sea...) Had a play in the studio today after what seems a very long time away.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Just listened to a podcast - Christopher Townsend on the Physicality of Drawing. Interesting comments on the importance of agency and the pain of touch. Spent some time in the studio earlier and started this piece of work, which could be interesting when it's finished. I don't know yet. I am using a big, rather unwieldy graphite stick.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Have been having a good time: talking about practice, moving things forward on the new studio front, researching drawings and getting on in the studio. The drawings are a record of time taken. Also visited lightship LV21, currently sporting Jon Adams' Dysarticulate 3. I will be there making boats this Sunday as part of Lightship and Lighthouse weekend. The project is an amazing example of personal dedication and investment.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I have become more interested in process again recently and am enjoying this series of drawings in the studio.  The drawings are a way of slowing down, they act as a curb on the urge to "do something" and take away the anxiety of not knowing what to draw. The formal ready-made grid restricts the gestural and demands slow, deliberate marks, though my hand wobbles and the mark cannot be fully controlled. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Had a lovely day on the LV21 Lightship on Gillingham pier making paper boats with visitors. Mostly people I know and haven't seen for ages so it was a day of conversation and making. i was listening to Radio 4 on the way back, writers talking about what questions they hated/liked and how to answer them. One writer said that what he most wanted people to ask were questions triggered by what he'd written but not about the book or writing it per se, e.g. what political views he had and how that linked to his work. I think this applies to visual art too - the conversations that arise in response can be so exciting, moving, inspiring, thought-provoking.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Well the day started with me getting to the doctor's late for my blood test without the appropriate papers; so had to rush home and get them with the result that my veins decided to be very generous with blood for a change. Maybe that is what I need to do for every blood test - rush around first. Check up with the oncologist coming up soon, hence the focus on medical matters. I have just finished two small paintings on wooden panels - first paintings in years, though they are extended drawings really.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I will be making paper boats for The Voyagers http://www.studio308ltd.co.uk/Projects/Entries/201... in the Kent Cultural Baton on 16 September as part of the Whitstable Satellite http://www.whitstablesatellite.com/# I have posted the project here on a-n and if you can't join me in Whitstable or Dover then you can take part from a distance. There is a video of me making the boat here http://www.studio308ltd.co.uk/Projects/Entries/201... aand you can either photograph it when you've done it or send it to me by post. Please contact me if you'd like to do that clare@studio308ltd.co.uk... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I finally managed to see Tracy Emin's She Lay Down Deep Beneath the Sea at Turner Contemporary, earlier this week. It's such a beautiful title for a show apart from anything else. I took my parents with me as they wanted to visit Margate and were curious. While I was parking the car, they helped some elderly - probably same age as them but more infirm - women down the stairs and received a "warning" about what they were about to see! Once in the gallery I left them to make of it what they would. I personally particularly wondered about the translation into embroidery and tapestry of her drawings; partly because of the gendered associations of that work and also because there was a sense of the gesture being slowed down: just think of the labour involved in hand dying the wool, before you even get to stitch it.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I have just emerged from several days stuck behind the computer doing a huge translation job. It always puts me in a bad mood - as soon as I start I immediately wish I hadn't, even though I know that some of what I earn can help towards the mortgage. Still, I did manage to sneak some time off to take the dog to the park and also earlier had a lovely evening at Crate space in Margate meeting their two French artists in residence. It has been an interesting time this summer - working with my mother on the DAD celebration arch which went above the underpass for the Olympic Torch Relay event. Lots of the pom poms got nicked, so we took it down and by invitation transferred it to a corridor in the local library. Not only did it then change in nature from being an outdoor installation to an indoor one, it also became a wall hanging and suddenly needed a whole load more work, which thank goodness my mother took on. One can never just transfer something. Working with my mother brought back some of my best memories of when we used to do batik together. Lots of art events coming up: Whitstable Biennale opening and Cultural Baton event plust of course the whole Biennale and Satellite programme over the next two weeks. I will be doing a one-day intervention in the Cultural Baton as part of the Satellite on 16 September see http://www.whitstablesatellite.com/ and also my website for details. http://www.studio308ltd.co.uk/News/Entries/2012/8/... I have been doing quite a bit of work on my website recently and was interested to see how much traffic I get from this blog! Thanks everyone for reading.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Managed to catch 2 things on the radio that I enjoyed today; John Gray on Radio 4's A point of view, talking about J G Ballard and memory and Tacita Dean on Radio 3's Private Passions; John Gray was before taking the dogs out and Tacita Dean was on the way back! I don't normally have dogs - usually just one, but it's my turn to return a favour. Spent most of yesterday in Whitstable for the launch of Nicole Mollet's Atlas of Kent - an alternative map of Kent produced as a result of travelling around Kent with the Kent Cultural Baton http://www.kentculturalbaton.com/ - followed by the launch of the Whitstable Biennale http://www.whitstablebiennale.com/ Also took part in Jane Pitt's Sonic Flash Mob project, which is part of the Satellite programme. Had, of course several conversations but one thing that sticks in my mind was the discussion around the often underestimated fact that one's audience includes to a large part other artists. Yes we make work for "the general public", include the public in our projects and talk alot about increasing access and opening up opportunities, but the public is not just some amorphous mass , it includes friends - artist friends and non-artists friends and other artists and arts professionals who may or may not become friends. My recent work has been selected for "The Meeting Room" at the Kaleidoscope Gallery, Sevenoaks from 27 September to 17 November. Really pleased and quite excited too as I will be in a show with fellow DAD director, Joanna Jones, whose work i really like. The brief for the show was to consider the relationship between the mind and body, between consciousness and the physicality of the human brain. I ummed and ahed for a bit as to whether my work fitted the brief and then decided that actually it could. When I draw I might be thinking consciously about something I've read or what someone has said - but what comes out in the work are marks, a record of how I as subject touch the world back, after it has touched me. The drawings start with a sort of hunch, an impulse that "this might work". Each mark gives rise to another mark in response.  It is as if the drawings create space for the ebb and flow of sensations and impulses, for memory to do its work: the past inserting itself into the present.[1]   [1] cf. Bergson, H. Matter and Memory, Dover Philosophical classics, 2004 (originally published London: G Allen & Co. 1912)     ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Spent most of yesterday morning taking down my photos and removing the vinyl lettering from the windows of a space we have been able to use for showing work here in Dover to make way for work by Rosie James. It was so hot and I was boiling and we were all hungry by the time we finished and too late for the local pizza place opposite and for the Chinese take away. Ended up with a baked potato. Rosie James' stitched crowds will be in the space until mid October or so. Rosie is leading on 2 stitching workshops as part of The Voyagers project. The dates are fast approaching so I am on a drive to recruit participants - I'll be lurking  at a local quilting fair this Sunday and have been round to a couple of local knit and natter groups! Also dropped into the Age Concern centre this morning and think some of the members may be interested in the paper boats. A class of primary school children are also pencilled in. Fingers crossed it will go well and hopefully I will get a few participants at the Whitstable Satellite on 16th too.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Went to the AIR event in Whitstable yesterday and met lots of new people, something I enjoy doing. Am hatching a project around the idea of studio/creative space in Dover .... more on this later if it goes any further. Looking forward to getting well and truly started on The Voyagers project, even as I am already working out how to install the as yet unmade work. Exhibition info here http://www.studio308ltd.co.uk/News/Entries/2012/9/... and also on interface. I'll be in the Age Concern centre tomorrow and in the Cultural Baton in Whitstable on Sunday making boats and in between will make a start on the textile piece with Rosie James on Saturday. The installation of Philippe Bazin's video is proving tricky and I am having to negotiate firmly with the museum curator to get it set up how I want. Still in the middle of negotiations.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 So, the Whitstable Satellite event is over. I mainly had passers by and children making the boats - no-one seems to have read the booklet. I let the children keep their boats but did managed to get a few more for my fleet to accompany Dover's Bronze Age Boat. Philippe Bazin seems happy with the idea of his film being shown on a screen placed on top of the boat case. Phew! I wanted to use the little cinema in the museum and thought the curator was just being awkward. As it turns out, the technology is so old that messing with it creates complete mayhem - the lights come on when they shouldn't and everything gets out of sync. Lesson learned - get hold of the tech guy much earlier and hear it from him; it is easier to understand things if you are told direct. I have been panicking ever so slightly about the boat cloth but it is beginning to look a bit more convincing now. Not having worked with textiles much or at all, this project is a huge leap into the unknown and I am on a very steep learning curve. However, I am loving using the museum as my studio. It is quiet; I have the occasional conversation with visitors but the rest of the time I can think and make it up as I go along. Making the boat cloth is another way of drawing really.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I realise now that the Voyagers project is in essence a self-initiated residency in the Museum. It feels much like a residency with the set amount of time to work in there and with the pressure of having to come up with something at the end, even if that something is still a work in progress. On that, my boat cloth has been developing slowly. I thought it all looked ok yesterday but now I am worried that it looks like a container ship and wonder whether I shouldn't just make the patchwork itself into a boat shape rather than make a boat 'filled' with names. There is still time to change the concept ....... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Second and final textiles workshop tomorrow so hopefully I will have lots of embroidered names and can play with the layout together with the participants who want to be involved. I think I am going to unpick what I have done so far ... This project is not about control - quite the opposite; as an exploration of the ethics shared making, I am relinquishing control to some extent over the final piece and allowing the form to emerge. I have had a lovely time in the museum. Fellow DAD director and artist Joanna Jones said it was nice being around me when I was working! I am stretching myself in all directions though and getting a bit stressed out. I am showing work in Meeting Room in the Sevenoaks Kaleidoscope gallery - opening on 27th and opening of the Voyagers on 28th. October will be quieter .... won't it?... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Apart from burying my lovely cat who died very suddenly the night before, I had a great day yesterday. The Boat Cloth is coming on and I think I will get it made on time. My cat will also get a boat made in his honour. I asked people to write down a few comments about the names they have been sewing and there have been at least two other cats  remembered. I've written up the project workshops here http://www.dadonline.eu/node/426  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Hello again Blog, as Franny Swan would say. The first image is a reply to hers of me at the opening of Meeting Room on Thursday where we met for the first time after a long time of following each other's blogs. I was glad she and Ros were still there as I arrived with  husband and father in tow and Joanna, literally after stepping off the huge ladder needed to install The Voyagers http://www.studio308ltd.co.uk/Projects/Projects.ht... in Dover Museum. The opening of The Voyagers - a fairly exclusive affair - was combined with the celebratory event to mark the actual day on which the Bronze Age Boat was discovered in Dover. So I was only allowed to invite a small number of people, most of whom were there. I was immensely relieved that Philippe Bazin who came over from Paris specially was pleased with the way I had installed his film and actually my whole feeling was one of relief generally at having got it all together in time. I had some fabulous helpers and wouldn't have managed without them. I got some great feedback for both shows which has hugely boosted my confidence. Thanks also to Franny for the lovely write up. As I write, loads of comments have been coming in, in response to mine on Ruth Geldard's blog, Two Steps backwards. I will post images of The Voyagers as installed as soon as I have them! ooh and I nearly forgot Joanna and I both had work in the Meeting Room which was very exciting.    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 A real flurry of comments on Ruth Geldard's blog! I actually like that quote from Balzac as in some ways it is very close to one I use on my website from Richard Serra: From the manner in which a woman draws her thread at every stitch of her needlework, any other woman can surmise her thoughts.(Honore de Balzac) …the vulnerability that’s exposed in an abstract drawing is as readable as one that’s made into a figurative drawing … drawing is the most credible indicator in a very direct way of who people are in relation with what they make.” (Richard Serra) The relationship of stitch to drawing is very close and that notion of individuality being readable is very evident from the Boat Cloth made as part of The Voyagers project. I have a couple of images of the installation now though it is hard to see the full impact of it  which follows the axis of the Bronze Age Boat in its case, on top of which is a screen showing Philippe Bazin's film "Un bateau albanais". Am waiting for more pics.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Philippe sent me some lovely photos of the installation of his video piece http://www.dadonline.eu/node/429. And I've posted a few images here that I like from the set up. There's a collection of images on my website too under images which for some reason is underlined. Have to go back and change that. http://www.studio308ltd.co.uk/Clare_Smith.html Probably happened when I decided to call that section images rather than works. And I'm chuffed that The Voyagers is featured on the MA Fine Art site of the University for the Creative Arts. http://ucama.co.uk/news/alumins-work-launched-in-d... I feel like bits of me are scattered all over the web. I am moving into a new studio soon - should be in there in a couple of weeks time. I'm really excited as it is beautiful and spacious and light. I need to move fairly quickly as I have a show coming up in November, Nerve racking but exciting.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 The Boat quilt I made for The Voyagers was the first textile piece I've ever really done and the folded boats, though, in my head, more easily doable came out much better than I thought. Through the whole project I was worried that the idea would be more beautiful than the installation. My other worry was whether anyone would actually take part; in the end about 90 people did. I wanted to try and explore the idea of shared making, to some extent relinquishing control so that the making process was meaningful for participants and their individuality was present in the final piece. I did learn too that I need a good team around me to help install and that lots of hand sewing is excruciating so if I do a hand stitched piece again I must give myself more time. I went to the last talk in a series of lectures on the bronze age boat find and one thing struck me in particular in relation to my piece and the linking of personal histories to the historical objects in the museum. It is possible that something like a tsunami event divided Britain from the continent and this would have created refugees, some going to France and some staying in Britain. Families would inevitably have been split. The suggestion is that what drove boat travel to the continent would not just have been trade but a wish to see members of one's family, now on the other side of the water. So now I am back in the studio drawing but also thinking of the next collaborative project I might do.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Another thing that struck me in conversation yesterday with Joanna about the collective pieces made for The Voyagers was that it allowed me to deal with emotional content in a way that is ok for me to handle. Making something together with other people is also a lovely way of being with others and I find I can be as quiet or as chatty as I like in that situation.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Despite having a very sore neck I have been back in the studio. Working on paper with ink and trying new forays into painting or rather drawings on wooden panels. My work is often about pushing myself to the limit - quite literally; physically I will exhaust myself when working on a project and pain is almost always involved in the process of making work.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Fantastic day on Saturday running the DAD symposium except for the fact that my husband fell down the stairs and smashed his wrist while I was out being sheepdog and getting everyone on the bus to go up to the Western Heights for the tour that started the day off. It meant I was on the phone alot and the poor man couldn't get hold of me. When I rang him he was already on his way to A&E with my dad - tried Kent & Canterbury first but they don't have full A&E so he ended up at the William Harvey where he was kept in for an op the next day. Talk about conflict of interests. In between getting him cups of tea and other things, I have been in the studio doing some more grid paintngs or drawings. The grid seems a natural place to go after the patchwork quilt I made for The Voyagers project.   ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Went to get my husband joggers, shoes with velcro closings and new slippers which are not so worn that another fall down the stairs is highly likely ..... Starting to think about my talk with Joanna Jones for the Sevenoaks Visual Arts forum which Franny Swann has invited us both to do. We will be talking in the Sevenoaks Kaleidoscope gallery, currently showing both or works in "Meeting Room", perceptively reviewed by David Minton on Interface.  Working very hard in the studio as I have a show coming up - opening on 14 November and PV on 16 November at The Space gallery Folkestone.  The grids in these paintings are drawn freehand - either scratched into the surface or created with thread (raised surface). I've been reading "Lines, a brief history" by Tim Ingold and find what he says about the way lines dissolve surfaces really interesting. The grid paintings started with drawings on Chinese character practice paper, on which one would write the same character again and again, committing the gesture used to write each stroke to memory, and trying to perfect the stroke: repetition as a yearning for perfection.   ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Thanks to everyone who has sent wishes to my husband for a speedy recovery. We got one of those foam slings today, which seems to be more comfortable. Went to get this set of drawings framed. I am never sure about frames, but sometimes drawings just need a frame to protect them or set them off. Fingers crossed for the result. Got the keys to my new studio space today. Very exciting.    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Settling in to the new studio and getting some work done in there; there is still a lot of tidying up to do but at the moment I have to prioritise making work!  I am thinking I may well take up Joanna's suggestion of turning the gallery into a studio: takes away the pressure of making "finished" work and actually chimes in very well with my interests. I came across this the other day: "The life of the work, the ecology of the studio is what I am interested in, when the doors are closed on the pressures of the marketplace. And in this life there is always failure, no matter how much money is made. For it is a given that there is always a gap between what the artist wants the work to be and what it is, between the original goal an the weird paths that are taken. Life continues only as long as the blind chase down the path. There is tremendous fear on that chase because the relationship between the artist and artwork is one of intimacy with the self, and intimacy is truly terrifying and can never be fully achieved. The closer one comes to something really intimate which may seem really foreign), the faster one springs back, and thereby fails. Despite the fear of intimcacy and the impossibility of achieving completenes within and without, there can be a wonderful sense of anonymity in the practice of art. ...." (Mira Schor, Wet, p.123-124)  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Fellow a-n blogger Franny Swann invited me to give a talk to the Sevenoaks Visual Artists forum last Thursday, along with fellow artist and DAD co-director Joanna Jones. There was a great buzz in the room and lots of positive energy. We had meant to get a conversation going but time ran out. We decided not to do a talk using slides and projector, opting to show some real pieces of work instead. Duncan Brannan asked us whether DAD has an influence on our respective studio practices, which was hard to answer straight away but there is definitely something going on there: at the very least it's about the conversations we have and our overlapping concerns that are reflected very differently in our work, one of which we touched on briefly - namely gesture.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Went up to Liverpool to see the John Moores painting prize yesterday. I travelled up with my sister, who has been visiting from Australia and was doing her usual mad dash around the UK to see her many friends; one of whom flew over to Liverpool from the Isle of Man specially.  Having embarked on painting again recently, it was a timely visit. An extra incentive to make the journey to Liverpool was that Nathan Eastwood, who was in my cohort at UCA when I started as a part-time student, had a piece in the show. He is interested in social realism and the piece was one of the few overtly political paintings on show.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I am showing work next week at Space Gallery in Folkestone. My exhibition was arranged before they switched to being a for hire space, so if anything sells there is a fairly hefty commission! I am turning the gallery into my studio for the period of the exhibition so the work on show will change and the idea is to hang it fairly informally, as I might hang work in the studio to look at myself - the show, as I conceive it, makes this dual role as maker of the work and viewer more transparent. Details on my website under news: www.studio308ltd.co.uk   ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 The show is all set up! It was good to do it over 2 days because on the 2nd day - today - I made some really important changes and think it now works quite well.    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Have had a great week. I've been in residence in Space Gallery Folkestone where i am also showing work. One of the first visitors was fellow artist and a-n blogger Jane Ponsford who is planning a lovely itinerant project around Kent, taking in Dover as one of her places. The preview yesterday was well attended and it was lovely to feel so supported! A really old friend came down all the way from Cambridge, which was very special - she said the way I talked about making the work was very much like establishing an argument, which I think it is! I am also amazingly about to do a work swap with Joanna; I get a lovely painting of hers and she gets two small works from me ... (for now).  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Decided to completely rehang my show today to make it more about process and emphasise the fact that it is work in progress. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Went to the fourth installation of Picture / Tableau / Screen: a visual symposium at UCA Canterbury yesterday. Unfortunately I couldn't go to all of them but did make the second installation as well. The Herbert Read Gallery became a discursive space rather than gallery, a space for a conversation about work that had literally only just been installed. Among the many interesting things, I think it was Tony Mott who said that painters could photograph their work as if it had no context - i.e. one can just reproduce the work itself without showing the wall/support it is hanging on. Interesting to me at the moment in relation to the work I had framed for Space gallery and hung the flaky, mottled wall that they have. At some point in the discussion, Moyra Derby referred to a painting's need for a wall or support and screws or nails. Went with Joanna last week to the ALISN conference for emerging art organisations at Goldsmiths. http://www.alisn.org/Goldsmiths-EAO-Conference-201... The atmosphere was very buzzy and there was a sense of success all around one, though behind that success is obviously very hard work with the artists leading the organisations in many cases still doing their day jobs. Went away with lots of food for thought around marketing and public relations as well as much to ponder on the topic of financial survival. I have managed to catch up a bit on much needed sleep since taking the show down and have had some real interest from a writer who saw it on the last day, which is very exciting.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Back in the studio today after a longish break. In part due to the festive season but also because I have been stuck behind the computer doing hours and hours of boring stuff. The only thing that keeps me going is the prospect of being able to pay off some of the mortgage as a result! I am mulling over a nw research topic in my mind and wondering whether I have it in me to seriosuly consider doing a PhD. A recent work swap with Joanna means that two of my pieces hang in her house above a work by Laura Padgett and I have a wonderful painting of Joanna's in my house.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Think this is finished.   Am stuck behind the computer doing translation work and will be until mid-Feb, but am still getting some time in the studio and will be at the London art Fair with DAD nextweek.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Besides the desktop drudgery, I have been having fun up at the London Art Fair with Joanna Jones where DAD has a presence, by invitation, as part of ALISN's SUBLET project http://www.alisn.org/SUBLET-London-Art-Fair.  We had fantastic footfall and almost non-stop enjoyable conversations with personal friends, friends of DAD and new people. We've definitely hit our ACE audience target for Matthias Koch's work (done as part of our latest project: War & Peace).  The stated aim of SUBLET was to "critically examine the role of the art fair as an exclusive market place. With the help of London Art Fair, ALISN will subvert the traditional booth, by subletting one to a cross section of important artist-led spaces, most of which would not normally consider showing in this environment." We could have represented DAD by showing our own studio-based work but chose instead to present work by some of the photographers we've worked with over the years. I have to say that building up relations with other artists has been one of the best things for me about DAD's work. Last October I invited one of the artists, Philippe Bazin, to show a moving image piece as part of my exhibition in Dover Museum.  The other photographers are Pierre-Yves Brest, Goetz Diergarten, Nigel Green, Matthias Koch, Laura Padgett. Last day of the fair today - I was going to be out and about visiting friends but the amount of snow meant I went for a walk with dog and husband in the local park instead.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 So today I am stuck indoors thanks to a particularly severe flare-up of my RA which means I can't walk and can only just cope even with loads of the ususal meds. It has been going on for nearly a month and as I was feeling better yesterday, I decided to do a load of walking for which I am now paying! Actually, I went to meet fellow blogger Jane Ponsford at the station and we went on up to Joanna's for a meeting to see how she might incorporate a visit to Dover in her forthcoming research project. It was a great meeting and I'm looking forward to seeing the project get off the ground. I finally got round to reading some grant information for capital spending, hoping that there might be an opportunity to purchase premises and put the studio on a more secure footing. Had a meeting with fellow studio holder and musician who is also interested in pursuing a capital project at some point but we decided that the terms of the grant were just not conducive to what we actually want to do. It's all about providing business support, delivering growth and getting bigger, employing more people and moving to bigger premises. None of that appeals and I'm sure there are lots of other small, micro even, creative businesses (i.e. one or two-person companies/operations) who want to stay that way and who having found wonderful premises in which to work would not want to grow and move out just because that is conventionally seen as an intrinsically good thing for a business to do. There are ways of expanding activity through cooperation and join working, surely, that do not involve growing the company in the conventional way. Rant over. Actually in some ways I am quite relieved as the thought of running premises is quite daunting. I thought I'd just post this image of the trees in the local park - if I can't get out physically, at least I can in my head.    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Still pretty much immobilised but have succumbed to the offer of a stick to help me get around. I was absolutely determined not to let this stupid knee of mine keep me housebound so I have managed to get out for a couple of meetings. Times are exciting for Dover: it is one of the areas selected for Big Local funding (£1 million to spend over the next ten years on resident led projects) and there are initiatives to set up a regional music centre (in time). Also, DAD has been asked to lead on some creative consultancy work in schools and I am leading on this. It is rather daunting as I am not experienced but I've never been one to pass up an exciting challenge.  I am determined to get to the studio next week. I have six more pages of an incredibly tedious translation job to do and then I can get back to my usual routine and have some headspace back. If I can do more creative consultancy I can cut the translation work right back.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Really interesting event held at Stour Valley Arts yesterday http://www.stourvalleyarts.org.uk/ and organised by Artswork http://www.artswork.org.uk/south-east-bridge on Strategic Commissioning. Commissioning being what local authorities and government agencies do not what we do when we contract artists for a piece of work! It is clear that the landscape is changing and there are opportunities out there for proactive organisations in the voluntary sector, which I discovered yesterday, DAD as a non-profit organisation belongs to. Interesting too that there seems to be a genuine push to encouraging smaller organisations to aim at getting a bite of the cherry by working together, not so much in fixed consortia but in loose collaboarative partnerships and networks. Watch this space.   ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Hapy Chinese New Year everyone. It is Chinese New Year's Eve and we are going to my parents' for dinner. Looking forward to some yummy noodles. According to one source "The Snake symbolizes such character traits as intelligence, gracefulness and materialism. When it comes to decision-making, Snakes are extremely analytical and as a result, they don’t jump into situations. They are effective at getting the things they want, even if it means they have to scheme and plot along the way." (http://www.chinesezodiac.com/snake.php) Being born in the year of the Pig, I am apparently incompatible with Snakes.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Among the disadvantages of an external studio is the difficulty of getting there! I think I've only made it twice since the beginning of the year, not least because I've been almost housebound for weeks and only going out when I have to for meetings. Anyhow, I am on the mend thanks to the lovely rheumatology nurse who came to the rescue even though I could not bring my appointment forward by writing a knee-saving prescription for steroids. Not the body-building kind!  I am also without a camera: my little one has broken down and the big one actually doesn't belong to me so it is out doing service for a DAD project. Phone camera to the rescue. I did finally get to the studio again yesterday and got some work done!  Most of my recent art looking has been online unsurprisingly. Among the stuff I've been looking at is work by El Anatsui, which I think is fantastic and I love his "meditative sewing" process as well as the careful choice of materials. A bottle top is not just a bottle top but a liquor bottle top is a reminder of the fact that liquor was exchanged by Europeans for slaves along the West African coast.  Amazing, sumptuous works.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I'm back, so to speak. Spent a very enjoyable day yesterday with a young and interesting artist scouting for suitable venues to show together in Leytonstone during the Leytonstone Art Trail in the summer. With the sun looking like it has returned for a bit and my knees so much better thanks to the steroids, I've also been able to spend some time in the studio again. Listened to Yinka Shonibare being interviewed on Front Row the other day: i like the fact that he is so upfront about disability and trauma (not quite in the same sentence). He sees disability as strengthening and as no more or no less than part of one's identity: "You are what you are." Together with the ideas about the culturally lived in body that i am reading in "Imaginary Bodies" by Moira Gatens, that has got me thinking about the specificity of my own body within history and culture and how that cannot but affect how I act and what I make - and how the concept of "body" must be seen not as singular but multiple.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I responded to a request for a video of the first 30 minutes of a drawing the other day and as I had no camera did it with my phone. I also had no suitable tripod ... This is an abbreviated version of the result.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I have updated my website www.studio308ltd.co.uk using new software (Sandvox) so it took me a little while to get the hang of it, but I am quite pleased with the result. An interview I did at the end of last year has now been published at  http://scriptjr.nl/interviews/clare-smith-interview#.UUbRAaUz2xp My husband said he just about understood it though my father confessed to being baffled .... Feedback from fellow artists has been good however! Would be good to hear from fellow a-n bloggers too.    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 It is freezing. Too cold to work in the studio so I am trying to get to grips with imovie for basic video editing. It seems to do the trick mostly. I've been trying to get up to speed with what is going on in schools and what they want from arts workshops so joined in on a bespoke training day at Turner Contemporary for Dover District schools. There was a detailed presentation of the Artsmark criteria they need to meet and a chance to see how Turner Contemporary uses their "Object Dialogue Box" to stimulate dialogue and boost confidence in talking about works of art. DAD has delivered 9 out of 10 workshops to schools in the past 2 weeks. General feedback has been good, but one school was disappointed by the lack of "product" at the end. As artists we are so used to the value of process and open-ended outcomes that it is easy to forget to have this conversation in advance with teachers who might be expecting a certain kind of product.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Meetings, meetings, training days, admin, more meetings, bid writing, discussing new projects .... all actually very enjoyable. I was in the studio again yesterday and with the sun streaming in through the windows it did not feel cold, though I was wrapped up warm. I went to the Artists in Conversation event at The Drawing Room in the evening http://drawingroom.org.uk/events/biennial-in-conve... and had a look at the Drawing: Sculpture exhibition at the same time http://drawingroom.org.uk/exhibitions/drawing-sculpture. I enjoyed it: much of what was said was what I know through my own practice - drawing as betweenness, improvisation, meditative, time consuming, a way of avoiding doing something else, a proposition .... Interesting to me in particular was David Batchelors introduction which I caught the end of as I was late (blame the Satnav). Anyhow he was talking of drawing as desegno being historically the "serious, intellectual" aspect of drawing done by men and frivolous, colouring-in as being practised by women. This linked nicely to Tania Kovat's description of some aspects of her work as "copying" - Retracing what is already there, noticing it and bringing it to light. As Joanna said this morning, this notion of working and valuing what is there relates very much to the way that we work within DAD (www.dadonline.eu) and to our relationship to Dover and its existing assets. Is this a particularly female way of working? Or not? Does it matter? How is this valued compared to huge infrastructure projects aimed at changing everything and making it better (supposedly)? So it was interesting in this context to see Batchelor's "coloured-in" drawings (crossing the "gender barrier") and Tania Kovat's woodgrain drawings which retrace/redraw the ringlines of the tree (staying in it). Anyhow, I will soon get in a muddle if I put everything under the gender magnifying glass as it is incredibly and unedifyingly reductionist if taken too far.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I've had some great feedback on my interview with Gary Shipley. Take a look here: http://www.studio308ltd.co.uk/news/interview-with-... Wishing everyone a happy creative Easter! ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 It's been another week of meetings and project scoping with my DAD hat on. Potentially some enjoyable projects coming up in the future.  Made it to the studio today although I was tempted to stay at home and keep warm. it was really cold in there even with heater so I kept my fingerless gloves on.  I've been going back through some notes I made from reading Tim Ingold's Brief History of Lines and have picked out a few citations: "After all, what is a thing, or indeed a person, if not a tying together of the lines - the paths of growth and movement - of all the many continents gathered there." "...bodily performance and intellectual comprehension are as viscerally linked as eating and digestion." "Can we imagine life as a manifold, woven from countless threads?"      ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Very pleased, my collapsing grids are going to be included in "Come As You Go" at Crate in Margate curated by Áine Belton. Preview is 26th April, from 6-8pm and the show is open on 27 April from 12-5pm. I had a little play in the studio yesterday with folding the paper and making a temporary 30-second sculpture.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Went to Strange Cargo in Folkestone yesterday evening to see "This Me of Mine" curated by Jane Boyer. The artists' talk with the curator at the beginning was a good way of getting into the work - felt a bit like a crit! Fellow a-n bloggers were there and exhibiting. Was good to meet some in person. I've made a short video of my "collapsing sculpture."    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Am quite focused on my work at the moment and also on learning to make videos. Here is another attempt: it is quite different from the first one, which maybe I prefer though they are both about something different.   ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I have been enjoying the sun! Trip to Margate to take my work to Crate for Come As You Go - preview tomorrow from 6-8pm. And while I was there got my feet wet taking the dog to the beach, while I still can (before the 1 May cut-off date). "Come As You Go is an exhibition about the use of space and materials inspired by geographical and temporal displacement. it is not about start or end points; it is simply about knowing, about being aware and continuously observing. Each artist shares their own insight about the experience of being in flux with maerials and surroundings.  ..." (Aine Belton)  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 The exhibition at Crate was well attended - both the preview yesterday and the show today - and was the occasion for many interesting conversations - e.g. about chance and accident and my approach to materials. Also an interesting talk with fellow a-n blogger Ruth Geldard about the difference in one's state of mind when "making" compared to "painting." The drawings saw quite a lot of "action", floating away from the wall as people passed by, so have a few small tears that need patching. This morning Bob and Roberta Smith's mirrors came to Dover and I accompanied the film crew who were after people's reflections (literally) on East Kent - except that the spoken reflections were scripted one-liners. Unfortunately the crew were on such a tight schedule they didn't have time to go into Dover and get an impression of the footfall in the busier part of town. Still they got all the "iconic" shots - the castle, the esplanade and the Shakespeare cliffs. I was really pleased that they took shots of Alma Tischler Woods Start/Finish line for the North Downs Way trail. http://www.dadonline.eu/node/478 The shoot is for a film to be used in the East Kent City of Culture campaign:  http://www.eastkent2017.co.uk I've also been busy making another video. It is much longer than the other two and so needs some patience to watch.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Woohoo - in the Top Ten blogs for the first time since I started blogging. And in such good company too. I've just bought a new lens for my camera so have been refreshing my very rusty knowledge of speed and aperture settings. Sometimes I just get fed up and put them back to auto.  I am stuck behind the computer again for the next few days doing a big and rather difficult translation job. A colleague of mine who I'd only ever met virtually and don't even know what he looked like has just passed away. Pneumonia complicated by Parkinsons. I didn't really know him but he was a good friend to me at one point in my life and also passed on a lot of work, which though I often didn't really want to do it, has been good for the mortgage repayments. His last gesture, which was to pass on a client was very generous of him. He could have just told the client to put the work out to tender. I just realise I had to change some of the tenses in the above paragraph to reflect the fact that he has gone.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 "Back in the land of the living", so said Joanna on hearing that I'd just finished a marathon translation. My head is only just starting to clear. Being stuck behind the computer means that my displacement activity consists in researching other artists and also going through my photos.  The one here, which is not a great photo, actually reminds me of my own work. I took it in 2010 in Beijing. I had dismissed it as a rubbish photo but am now resurrecting it as research. I like the dark colours and the repeated structural forms as well as the huge empty space through the centre.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 I am busy writing an G4A application for a personal project. Fingers crossed and more here if I am successful. I am leading on a mapping project for Dover inspired by Mapping Manhattan, which I stumbled across the other day http://mapyourmemories.tumblr.com/tagged/Manhattan The Dover project will be about mapping one's dreams for Dover as part of the Dover Big Local initiative. Will be interesting to see what people come up with. The hard bit will be persuading people it is worth it - so many initiatives have been and gone in the town leaving very little trace of their existence that many people are cynical and fed up; they just don't believe their voice will be heard. The arts are good at engaging people, but engagement has to lead somewhere or make some kind of a difference, or else it will just feel like a pointless exercise. Oh, and I made it to the studio this afternoon. When it was time to leave, I found a police car blocking the gates. Fortunately I surmised that the silhouette in a window of one of the nearby houses was the driver .... apparently attending an emergency!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Deep breath - think my G4A application is ready to submit.  I am trying to think how best to present my work on paper. I like it just pinned to the wall but when it comes to submitting the work for shows it is so fragile like that - which is of course the whole point - but I just wonder if there is a way I could make it easier to handle. I was thinking of pinning it to foamboard, and maybe sticking the foamboard to wooden batons to stop it bending. A bit like a stretcher for canvas.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059 Why paint?  I typed that into my browser and came across this http://www.ktauches.com/WHY_PAINT_NOW.html Some of the reasons put forward really strike a chord: As I explore the reaches of technology for economic reasons, I have become more interested in how analog and "outdated" technologies can be a punk stance against corporate typography and graphics. A jpeg can travel social networks, but the painting can maintain a stubborn resistance to both Benjamin and the market. --Mark Leibert  In a world that is increasingly disembodied through technology, paint remains a way of embodying. --John Otte  I could also ask why I even try to paint, when the very thought of painting's history should be enough to make me stop. That said, I am interested in what I can do with it, for now. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1650059