http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 You can go anywhere from anywhere Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:25:06 +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/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 The purpose of this blog is to chart and give form to the year after my Papertrails project. Last year was so full, so prescribed and so organised that I often wished for a less regimented schedule. This year I deliberately opted for what I thought of as a breather; a calm period to assess and evaluate and build on the work of the project. This year is actually being far from any of those things. At the moment it feels utterly full of competing things with no time to weigh anything up. Welcome back to the real world! ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 During the last couple of weeks I have been meeting people to discuss projects. It has been fascinating and reminds me that not all the creativity is concerned with the medium, so much of what makes things work is a creative connection with people (often the people who commission the work). Whether something works or not can often be down to this connection. I was struck by Stuart's comments in his recent post in his blog; 'Project me' which reflected on trust / autonomy in the context of working with institutions who often demand or need predetermined outcomes. Despite some very interesting talks and potentially some very interesting projects coming up, I am desperate to just have an uninterrupted few days of making. While making work, one can make leaps of intuition which would take for ever, or maybe not happen if one had to pre rationalise or pre determine everything. Which isn't to say that you shouldn't think about it! ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Looking through the other blogs I saw that Alinah Azadeh in her blog; Unwrapping the Gift, was referring Lesley Millar's 'Textile Routes' which is where I came across the quotation that I have used for the title of my blog.'How do we choose our specific material, our means of communication? Accidentially. Something speaks to us, a sound, touch, hardness, softness, it catches us and asks us to be formed. We are finding our language and as we go along we learn to obey (its) rules and limits. Students worry about choosing their way. I always tell them "You can go anywhere from anywhere."' Anni Albers quoted by Lesley Millar in 'Textile Routes'.Its one of the most interesting things about the a-n project blogs, the connections you find with other people. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 One of the projects that I am working on this year is a materials-based one with a focus on recycling and reusing. It is organized by Surrey and aims to twin artists / designers with groups within Surrey. My group is centred on Woking and I will be working at the Lightbox Gallery http://www.thelightbox.org.uk/ This is a fabulous place, designed by Marks Barfield Architects who also designed the London Eye. http://www.marksbarfield.com/search_results.phpI am really pleased to be given the opportunity to work here and make some work in response to the light streaming into the spine of the building. I am hoping to involve everyone who works there into making a contribution to the piece. Lynn and Michael, who I have been meeting with to discuss the project, have been very positive and I feel optimistic about it. I start towards the end of April with a programme of workshops with my group. Although I do occasionally feel I should move away from being so materials and process based in my approach to work, I can't help but find the world of 'stuff' very interesting. Everything carries with it a history and narrative. See my previous blog for more eloquent musings on this subject. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 It has been one of those times when real life intrudes and it has been impossible to work for a while. I've had an awful cold and things have just tripped me up. However it has given me the chance to think about approaches to the Lightbox project. I find it very interesting to use materials that have already had a function. Even after, for instance completely pulping a book and making it into something else, it always seems to me that there is a ghost of its former self still present. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 The project at the Lightbox is soon to start and preparations are well underway. There have been issues over funding for the project as a whole in these slightly uncertain days but now the basis of the larger project (into which my element of the work fits) has been secured, which means we can all get on with working out in more detail what we will be doing. My work starts with a programme of workshops and develops into an installation / exhibition in the Lightbox in the future, linked with a group exhibition at the Guildford House Gallery in September. The overall project is called Recycled by Design which gives an outline of the remit but is a rather uninspiring title. My own project within this umbrella is based on text, and materiality. My working title is 'Translations' which I hope conveys the sense of removal, change and transmutation which I am interested in investigating.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 This weekend I am going over images for a powerpoint slide show for Tuesday. I am hoping to show things which will give the students an idea of the possibilities of using materials without being too prescriptive. Next week is 'week one' of the workshops with my group and officially when the project begins.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Week oneThe first of ten workshops at the Lightbox started with none of the technical stuff working. My laptop (with PowerPoint slide show) refused to talk to the gallery’s projector; transferring the PowerPoint to their laptop didn’t work either and finally running upstairs to the conference room with the PowerPoint on a memory stick to play through yet another computer set up to its own projector, didn’t work.After that things went fine!The group of children from the Lightbox’s resident ‘Junior Art School’ were great, friendly and interested. The increasing numbers of people drafted-in to help with the non-communicative technology were also great, friendly and interested and more importantly, unflappable. I have to confess to being in a teeny-weeny flap myself (!) but that soon passed as we got down to industriously making paper after having peered at the rather reduced slide show on laptop screens.There is something very calming about papermaking, maybe its to do with being up to your elbows in porridgy liquid. Anyway the purpose of these workshops is to involve the group and as many other people from the Lightbox as possible, in making some contributions towards a piece of work for the exhibition and also to have some fun in the process.My own work in relation to the project is growing almost organically. I’m finding it interesting revisiting some older territory in terms of material and content but with different ideas about scale and form. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 The rest of the week has been filled with ‘stuff to do’ rather than anything terribly creative. I’m am organising materials etc for a one-day workshop at Farnham Maltings on 10 May as well as resources for next week’s Lightbox workshop (no PowerPoint this time!).  I am hoping to go to see the ‘Blood on Paper’ Book–art exhibition at the V&A and nip into Falkiner Fine Papers too.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Week two finds me wondering about connections again; this time with the group that I am working with. The children who make up the group are lovely, enquiring, interested youngsters but they are also tired after concentrating all day at school. I think they could do with running around and letting off steam first. I am trying to find the right balance with them. Last week what we did was ‘too easy’ (in my opinion); this week it was ‘too hard’, next week I’m hoping we can find things ‘just right’. We are making some books individually as well as the piece that I am working on with their input and the processes involved are clearly interesting to them so we are on the right track. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Week three and the workshop went much better. I rearranged the space, built in a break and some outdoors time as well. More to the point we were doing some more involving, less outcome driven work. Vast quantities of materials were used and large amounts of paper were made. A good day. The children and I worked on long textured composite strips of paper which I had imagined (from the amount of pulp they used) would be quite chunky but drying the paper out today it is delicate and beautiful. Instead of the floor-based piece I thought we were making it has become something much more airy. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 I am drying the rest of the paper today. It is wonderful to be able to dry it outside, usually I have to use hot-plate type dryers with large quantities of paper. Later I am nipping into the Lightbox to pick up some of my equipment because on Saturday I am running a workshop at Farnham Maltings as part of their 'Farnham Creates..' events. I am also working on a growing installation through the day with (I hope) participation from the public. More information from www.farnhammaltings.com ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 The workshops at Farnham on Saturday went really well. It was a very enjoyable day if extremely busy. Note to self; queuing system next time! Dozens of sheets of paper were made, mainly to be carried off by proud participants and a good time was had by all. Many thanks to the wonderful people who were conscripted to assist at short notice.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Week four. We got on well today, finding textures in the courtyard garden and making paper from a variety of recycled materials. We also made another long composite sheet to hang with the others we had made last week. The materials we used to recycle into new paper included brown envelopes, pages from discarded books and money. The last was the most popular with the children. The idea of sticking hundreds of pounds worth of bank notes into a blender and seeing what happens is quite appealing! Before you go away with the thought that this art project is possibly over-funded if we can casually  pulp money; be aware that this is pre shredded by the Bank of England and can be got from them free plus postage and packing! Monday saw me washing the shredded bank-notes in biological washing powder to remove the characteristic smell and grime off the paper. So I can also add money laundering to my CV.   ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 There are too many conflicting and competing things to do this week. To mix my metaphors, I have too many fingers in too many pies and my chickens are coming home to roost. On a more positive note though, the work for the Lightbox Gallery feels as if its working out. I am finding it really interesting to re-examine my relationship with 'stuff'.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Week five. The afternoon went very well. We did printmaking and burst into colour. The children made some good work and were happy to experiment. Some or all of these prints will be added to their book structures after the half term break. I am hoping that I'll be able to take their long strips of paper back into the Lightbox to hang by a window or somewhere the light can catch it. There are problems with being able to hang things though because being such a new building no-one wants to make holes anywhere. Drawing pins are a no-no! However Lynn, the education manager has promised to work out a method. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Brilliant news! The Lightbox Gallery, where my current project is based, has won the Art Fund Prize. This prize formerly the Gulbenkian Prize is an extremely prestigious one and well deserved in my opinion. The Gallery is not only a beautiful new building but also has a team of enthusiastic, positive people working to establish it as a much needed art resource in an area without much art provision. It has a good local history gallery too and always seems to be full of school children and local visitors as well as those from further afield. http://www.artfundprize.org.ukThis week, being half term is a break from my papermaking and recycling workshops too, giving me a chance to continue with my own project within the project. Coming up soon is the Surrey Artists Open Studios and towards the end of the week I am installing a small selection of work in the window of Waterstones in Guildford to publicise it. So another busy week.http://www.surreyopenstudios.org.uk/ ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 The week went fast. It was good to stand back from the workshop side of the project for a few days and assess things. I really enjoy working with people but it's hard to give enough attention to your own work while the teaching side of things dominates.I have been preparing for the Surrey Artists Open Studios, putting a small display in the window of Waterstones in Guildford as part of the 'Street Gallery' initiative. That was fun actually. It's interesting seeing things in another context. The Open Studios is a lovely way of meeting people but I don't aim to use it as a money-making, career promoting activity it's more of a wild card kind of thing. Other artists from SAOS, Angela Thorne, Lisa Pettibone, Martyn Perryman and Faye Campbell are showing work in other windows around Guildford. More details from the Open Studios website.http://www.surreyopenstudios.org.uk/Tomorrow I am back at the Lightbox with my group of kids. We are going to be  concentrating on self-directed work using any or all of the techniques we have gone over since the sessions started and the next week we will start to assemble the books they have been making.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Week 6.A really rainy day. I'm getting my stuff together to go off to the Lightbox for my workshop. I thought I'd post a photo of one of the pieces we have been working on over the last few sessions.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Week 7. Book-binding was the focus of the workshop today. The sheets of paper are being put together in their final form with much decision-making about different types of binding and thread v string dilemmas. I took some photos of the work I have been making as part of the project in to the education rooms because the hard thing is having to communicate the process of making without the work being there to see. It made me realize (again) just how lucky I had been in my last project where the making of artwork had been much more evident. Although I am enjoying the work that is emerging from this project.Earlier in the day I had a very interesting discussion about a future project where I would have more of a curatorial role. It's a development that I find exciting. Watch this space! ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 The Surrey Open Studios are on now and I am attempting to make work at the same time, which is something of a juggling act. I have some work to make for the launch of the 'Art in the Surrey Landscape' project. This is to be a temporary intervention on the bank of the canal at Woking next to the Lightbox Gallery. I am also coming to the end of my set of workshops there as part of another project so need to ensure that the children have all had the chance to make what they wanted to. My own work for that project is having to take a bit of a back-seat right now and I am looking forward to being able to re-engage with it. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 It has been an interesting few days; some bits very good and other bits that make me feel I should review the direction that things are moving in. What has been good? I have enjoyed the opportunity afforded by clearing out my workspace for Surrey Open Studios, to see work in another context and to see it make connections. I have begun to think about making new work again instead of being so stretched by the 'stuff to do' that I can't look ahead. I am pleased with the work that the children in my workshop group have made; it's coming together now really well and they have made it their own rather than being too much like my work. I ran a workshop for the public as part of the Open Studios and met a really nice group of people who were fun to be with and enjoyed the day too. I have liked meeting people and discussing my work. I realize that I have missed this aspect of 'being the artist'. What has been bad is the growing thought that I am getting very bogged down in the kind of working practice that gets me to enable others to do things rather than making meaningful things myself. I worry about the two extremes that I lurch between. On one hand making consumable artifacts and on the other being involved in work where the value of the artist has to be measured in 'utility'.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 I think I was feeling a little negative when I posted my last blog entry. Today I am trying to make definite arrangements about the work I am doing. It always makes me feel better when I don't feel as if I am on a runaway train! The projects that I am working on or due to work on are all converging a little alarmingly so I need to sort out the details and then things will be fine. However I am really looking forward to a holiday!Yesterday I found out that Surrey have used one of my images or in fact a detail of one of my images on a flier about their Contemporary Art in the Surrey Landscape project which is pleasing. The project will be launched at the Lightbox on 31st July and I am due to install some work along the canal-side for the event. More info (though not much) on:   www.surreycc.gov.uk/arts   Follow the link for Visual Arts. Everything seems to be in some way linked to the Lightbox for me at the moment. Tomorrow I am there again for my penultimate workshop with the kids at the Junior Art School and I hope to be able to post some pictures of their bookbinding. In fact I have loads of photos of their work but it seems unfair to single out one person's work as they have all done so well.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 The last but one workshop session with the Lightbox group went well. I think everyone has finished their book or books. I was too busy helping with bookbinding woes to take many photos but I came home with one that has little to do with their individual work but a great deal to do with my interest in stacking and accumulating stuff. I'll post some more of their work next time. The last week at the Lightbox is going to be paper-making. I am making some pieces for an exhibition in September at the gallery and am working with the children and others, to make a 'Lightbox Book' and also some horizontal pieces that I am thinking of as landscapes.On a completely different note, I was browsing some design / art / craft blogs out there in Blogger etc away from our little a-n blog enclave and was very impressed with their openness and supportiveness and also with their creative nature. Maybe we could all communicate a little more with each other. I know I am often struck by something said on one of the other a-n blogs but feel too self conscious to comment very often. I might be slightly influenced by the fact that one of the blogs; 'Found Object' featured my work yesterday! Anyway some blogs to look at if you feel like a break from our slightly earnest tone: http://foundobject.squarespace.com/ http://callycreates.blogspot.com/http://feltbug.blogspot.com/     ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 I'm posting photos of some of the books made in my Lightbox workshops. The last session with my group of kids is coming up on Tuesday and we are going to spend the time paper-making. The books and other things we have made together over the term are to go home with children and they are going to leave me with heaps of handmade paper. I have found this project very interesting and I have met some lovely people. The children; and I hope other people from the Lightbox eventually, will have contributed quite a lot to the work to be exhibited in September. The dates for the exhibition are 16 September until 30 November. At the time of writing there isn't any information on the Lightbox website about it but it's a while off yet.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Tomorrow is the last workshop at the Lightbox with my group of youngsters. We are going to spend the two hours just making paper. Each sheet made will be part of the final installation in September. I am looking forward to being able to start actually producing work again myself. It's going to be interesting to see how the processes involved in its making will modify the final forms of the work. The whole project has been based for me on translations and alterations which I find fascinating.A bit of background to the work:I have been aiming to make some work that will respond to the light and spaces at the gallery as well as the overall theme of recycling and reusing. One of the pieces that I am making with the children and people who work at the Lightbox is a book whose pages: handmade by everyone who takes part; are impressed with textures made and found at the Lightbox. One of the other collaborative pieces is a long 'Landscape' made of hand cast paper. Its shape is designed to catch the light streaming into the building. Complimentary to these and using the same forms are some pieces made of found pages from discarded books.   ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 The last workshop went well. Everyone finished what they needed to finish and much paper-making was done. We also looked round the work from the Surrey Open which is showing at the gallery. At the end of this phase of the project it is good to be looking forward to the next bit. I still have to discuss a few things about the final show with Michael Regan and will be having a meeting on Friday. On Monday evening I went to the Jerwood Space to see the 'Contemporary Makers' show there and to listen to a talk with ceramicist, Edmund de Waal and choreographer and dancer Siobhan Davies. This was a wonderful evening and I came away really inspired. The exhibition itself is the new initiative of the Jerwood foundation to support and promote applied arts. The artists; Gary Breeze, Sara Brennan, Lin Cheung, Drummond Masterton, Deirdre Nelson, Nicholas Rena and Clare Twomey were selected and asked to make some work responding to the theme of 'touch'. Edmund de Waal one of the selectors, described this as being a way of bringing 'seven artists from a diverse range of disciplines into dialogue with each other.' The talk between Edmund de Waal and Siobhan Davies examined the differences and similarities between their own work and their approaches to their work. Both concluded that they were as concerned with the gaps, pauses and spaces as with what happens in-between. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 I have been having a busy few days. I have been working on some pieces related to my last project, 'Papertrails', more of that on my other blog but I have also been taking advantage of the end of my workshops at Woking to get out a bit and see some other people's work too which I have really enjoyed. On Tuesday I had a trip to Brighton for a couple of good meetings and I also went to Judith and Roz's discussion about their 'Breaking Ground' project and its development through 'Outside In'. It was good to meet them again and interesting to see the fruit of their collaboration. Their space was filled with beautiful books and evocative images and lists of words. There is an interesting structure to their project with distinct episodes or chapters which can respond to what has gone before. All the visitors were involved in the discussion and had to bring a 'gift' from the outside to the project and before we left had to make something from stuff from the worktable in the project room. I made a small posy of daisies. It was a good event filled with interesting ideas mapping connections and marking exchanges. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 I have been in France for a few days and came back to a rather busy time straight away. Over the weekend I ran some workshops at the Riverhouse Barn in Walton, Surrey. This is the base for the Robert Phillips Gallery where the current show is 'Breaking the Mould', an international  exhibition, curated by Hillary Sussum, of artists who work using paper. The exhibition is a really interesting survey of different approaches to the medium and I was pleased to be asked to run the course. I enjoyed the weekend very much, meeting a lovely group of people who responded to the materials and processes with enthusiasm and by making some wonderful work.  www.riverhousebarn.co.uk/ The last couple of days have been filled with preparations for Wednesday when I am making a temporary installation of 'Storytrees' in the courtyard of the Lightbox Gallery for the launch of 'Contemporary Art in the Surrey Landscape'. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Yesterday evening was the launch of 'Contemporary Art in the Surrey Landscape' which spotlights various art projects through Surrey and for which I had made an installation in the courtyard of the Lightbox Gallery. The launch went well, I think and it was good to see what everyone had been working on. Some of the individual projects will have their own openings over the next few weeks throughout August and September. There were speeches and thanks, the odd glass of wine and a chance to meet the other artists. Jonathan Parsons (one of the artists featured in the project and also arc coordinator based at Aspex) talked to me about some positive developments for networking locally. The last few days leading up to the launch had been good for me. I enjoyed installing the work at the Lightbox. It was good to see everyone again and they were all really helpful. It was also good to be working in a public place because all the other trails of 'Storytrees' had been installed through woodland. Although eventually they get seen by people it isn't necessarily when one is there oneself. I enjoyed seeing people reading the stories and talking about them.Because of the funding situation the stories I had used for this installation had had to be drawn from my own research rather than direct contact with people. It would have been great to gather them in the same way as I had with the rest of the 'Storytree' project however I was really happy to have had the opportunity to do this installation. The stories I chose were partly from the oral history museum at the Lightbox which has a great collection of anecdotal descriptions of Woking in the recent past. I concentrated on ones about the landscape and how it was used; to play on, for crops, for industry and combined these with excerpts from the Domesday Book about the manors of Woking and the Woking Hundreds. The last set of texts I used were lists of plants found even today in the area. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 I am hard at work now finishing off work for the 'Recycled by Design' project. The group show starts on 20 September at the Guildford House Gallery and my solo element goes from 16 September at the Lightbox (my home-from-home). I have just begun to be able to relax into the work again after all the competing bits of this and other projects. Sometimes you have to turn off the editorial / organizing voice in your mind and just work things out through doing them. It is a huge relief to find that it's possible to do this even though the deadlines are hanging over me. I am very happy to be involved in all the things that I am involved in but it can get rather stressful. I'd better confess here that I am involved in another project or two straight after this one. This year has been more like a fun-fair ride than a calm meander through things; although I think I described it as 'free-fall or flying' at one point. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Busy working. I'm not going to write much but I want to post some images of what I am doing at the moment. Ideally I would like to have a bit of time to step back from things but I'm not going to have the chance to do that. Most of the things I am doing right now have that feeling of being an endless or impossible task, like emptying the sea with a teaspoon or spinning gold from straw. Some of this work is for the exhibitions coming up in Guildford and Woking in September. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Being chosen as 'Blogger's Choice' by Stuart Mayes has made me feel rather fraudulent. Firstly because I haven't posted to the blog for ages and secondly because of his lovely comment about my 'up-beat analysis'. It may be up-beat and even analytical in the blog but I am a major practitioner of the 'midnight worries' as a way of avoiding analysis and just heading straight to panic! However, onward!I am in the middle of a real working-slog patch at the moment and will resume posting after I have got past this particular bit. I would urge everyone to go and look at Stuart's blog. It all seems very positive at the moment.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 It has been a bit of a week. I have been moving into a new studio (by coincidence back at St George's in Esher where my 'Papertrails' residency last year was based), emptying a store where lots of my work and loads of our personal possessions were kept and also installing my work from this year's project at the Lightbox in Woking. I have also been delivering (and helping hang) work for an exhibition at the Guildford House Gallery. Its all been rather hectic!The exhibitions are the culmination of a project which has involved artists who use found materials or reuse discarded ones. (This project has been the main subject of this blog.) The exhibition at Guildford House Gallery is an overview of different approaches to materiality as shown in the work of a range of artists and designers whereas the Lightbox has selected  five artists to make installations of work throughout the building and courtyard between now and May 2009. My slot at the Lightbox was the first and the reason that I have been a little uncommunicative in the blogging world. My Lightbox installation: 'Translations' has grown out of a residency at the gallery where I have been working teaching paper-making, bookbinding, printmaking and other good things to a group of 8 to twelve year-olds. Some of the work shown has been made collaboratively and the rest including a fairly large wall based piece is my own reaction to the particular place and theme of materiality and transformation. I have a sense of anti- climax now that it is got to this point, partly because there isn't a specific event launching that particular bit of the work but also a huge sense of relief. The work looks good there; it could do with a bit of lighting, but they are working on that!For more information about everyone else's work see the websites below. Over the next few months Lucy Fergus, Nick Sayers, Tim Gentry and Paul Matosic will be making their installations at the Lightbox too and some of them and Cas Holmes will be working or will have worked with other groups at schools and colleges. www.thelightbox.org.uk www.guildfordhousegallery.co.uk      ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 I have a couple of workshop days connected with the project still to do. One of them on Saturday in fact so I'll have to spend a while preparing materials later in the week. Until then I am working on research for the next couple of things coming up.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 I am in that dazed state I seem to enter at the end of projects. I suppose what I really would like is a couple of days off just to look at stuff and recharge a bit. Instead of which I am trying to get my mind focused on the next steps. On Thursday I am having a meeting to discuss setting up an art space and residency programme at a beautiful building in my home town. The redundant church where my residency in 2007 was based is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust and also the Friends of St George's Church. They were very pleased with the way that an art residency brought the building into a purposeful use and have asked me to oversee and advise them on establishing a future strategy. In fact it isn't as distant and theoretical as that sounds. One of the requirements is to set up a residency for next spring / summer as well as a series of other events. At the moment my r and d is funded in kind but I can see a large funding application looming! To see more about the building and it's potential as a project space see the website from my project there: www.papertrails.org.uk In October my next project as an artist starts in Caterham where I'll be working with various groups centered around the Arc. I am in the process of researching this area and developing approaches to the work. There are huge amounts of writing and photographs etc to look through so it will be interesting.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 The meeting on Thursday went well. I am very interested in working with what is now being called 'St George's Art Space'. The building itself is atmospheric and wonderful and there is a huge amount of good will driving the project but that's not enough unfortunately.Also on Thursday I went back to the Lightbox to visit the installation of my work. One of the pieces is still a little under-lit but I am really pleased with how it looks overall.  Caroline Jackman, who has been organising this part of the project in collaboration with Michael Regan from the Lightbox, was there to discuss some final touches and we had a cuppa. It's good being the first of the artists involved in the project to have their work shown but it does mean being the dummy run for everyone else's installation!Friday was spent preparing materials for the associated workshops at Guildford House Gallery. Running paper-making workshops always seems to involve hauling around unfeasible quantities of stuff; pulp, vats, moulds and deckles, materials of all kinds that might just come in handy, paper dryers, and even an iron and ironing board! Not to mention books, handouts and other paperwork. Saturday itself went really well. Both the children in the morning and the adults in the afternoon were a lovely lot who responded well to the activities and were a pleasure to spend time with. Jane Alexander, from the Guildford Recycling Department who was original instigator of the overall project was along to help and swiftly roped in various 'volunteers' to help with the morning session. Many thanks to everyone involved.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 From a promising start it's turning into a bit of a rubbish week. In terms of tasks to do I have to prepare for more workshops at the Lightbox on Saturday and I am continuing my research for the project based at Caterham, and also preparing information relevant to the development of St George's in Esher into a place for art. I'm not sure why I'm not feeling so positive right now; I suppose I would just like to actually make some work instead of all this 'stuff to do'. Sometimes I'm not so sure that it was such a brilliant move to alter the role of the artist to the all-round expert and general contortionist that seems to be part of the job description now.Looking at things more positively though, it beats most other ways I have tried of earning a living and next week promises to be much more interesting than this one. I always enjoy running workshops even if I agonize about them beforehand! In relation to that, I had a lovely letter from someone who had been on my workshop at Guildford House Gallery on Saturday saying how much she had enjoyed it so that really puts it all into perspective. And in terms of counting my blessings, I have been approached by a gallery interested in some of my older work including this piece from 1999. So everything is great really!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Tomorrow I am running some paper-making workshops at the Lightbox Gallery and so today I will be spending hours making cotton pulp; a cheery thought. Actually I enjoy it really!With activity winding down on this project and the next project moving into consultation stage in November I am aiming to get out and do some recharging of batteries. Over the next couple of weeks I want to go and look at things. Sometimes I feel as if in 'doing' art I never have the time to 'experience' art. I am also visiting co-blogger from Artists Talking, Alinah Azadeh and her installation at Origin. When she posted a call for volunteers to help with some of the installation work I realised that I would very much like to see how that project goes and what better way than by being one of the volunteers! I am really looking forward to being in contact with people, communicating with them and participating in things because they seem worth-while rather than because it's part of a proposal or built into a budget. Yes, re-reading the above, it's clear. I need a holiday! ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 It's been an exhausting, happy, worrying and rewarding few days in that order. The workshops at the Lightbox were tiring but really worked well and Monday was good in the end. There have been such a mix of different things trying to co-exist at the same time that it has been a bit hectic. I have had good news about a potential exhibition, I've been selected for another, I have devised, prepared, run and cleared up workshops. I have visited Alinah and her growing installation at Origin at Somerset House, helping to thread ribbons of words through her structure and I have also been 'Mum' to a twelve year old with suspected appendicitis. We spent most of Monday at Kingston Hospital before (happily) being given the all clear. So I might have a slight blogging break to catch my breath and tend to my son. Anyway, if you are in London over the next couple of weeks I urge you to go to Origin and see how Alinah's installation progresses. It was going well and finding lots of contributions from the visitors yesterday evening.       ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 I can't believe that it has been so long since I last posted on the blog. After the worrying time with my son (see my last post) we spent quite a few days just 'being' and not really doing anything purposeful. Luckily it was at a point with work that allowed this to happen. Since then I have been doing a lot of necessary, behind the scenes stuff that wouldn't make riveting reading. This week though, I am devoting my time to research. The two  main projects that I am working on now and into the new year are; running the pilot programme for an artist residency locally and also the Surrey-based community art projects that I am involved in as an artist rather than administrator. It all seems rather teetering on the brink stuff right now and I very much want to plunge in and get started. On Friday I am having a meeting for some much needed advice on both aspects of my work and on Tuesday 11 November I will finally meet some of the people I'll be working with on the Caterham project. There is a proposal for an artists blog for that project so when thats up I'll post the links. In the meanwhile I have been looking at the history and geology of the area. Looking at what makes it what it is. Is it the people or is it the place, or is it both? The town has recently had a 'health check' and many of the comments point to a sense of a lack of connection.  Art can only do so much, maybe sometimes what you need is a bus that runs on time!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Research for my Caterham Project:What makes the place what it is? In the beginning it was the sea, which stretched across all of what we know now as the south of England. During the Cretaceous period, over almost unimaginable lengths of time, the calcified remains of minute algae and other fossil debris drifted slowly to the sea bed eventually to form the ridges of chalk that make up the North and South Downs. Rather comically, the image looks like a bunch of buttons. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Tomorrow I am finally to meet some of the interested parties in the Caterham project as I go to the Arc for a meeting of the Caterham Arts Festival committee together with Becci Kenning and Katy Potter from the Arts Team at Tandridge. I am really keen to get started as it does seem to have taken a long while to get to this point.    http://www.tandridgeleisure.co.uk/thearc_home.phpOther news concerns the project to develop St George's Church in Esher as a venue for artist residencies and exhibitions. I went to Brighton on Friday to meet Frances Lord, a source of much good advice, to see if she could suggest any strategies and useful contacts regarding the research and development application that will be required to get a long term programme established. She was very helpful and I'll post as things happen. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 Well I hope yesterday wasn't a sign of how things are going to be on the Caterham project. Late on Monday I was phoned to be told that the committee meeting was cancelled as there were too few people able to come along to make it worthwhile but could I come along anyway, at 3.30 rather than at 6.00, when it was originally scheduled; to discuss things with Becci and Katy from Tandridge and the Arc and Celine the project co-ordinator . During Tuesday morning there was a further call to ask could I make it 3.00 p.m. instead? And once we got there we had to wait till 4.00 anyway.I feel a huge urge to try to find a nice, comfy ivory tower and just concentrate on making my own work.It will all work out I am sure. I have been feeling at little guilty for presenting a rather one-sided view of events yesterday (above) and would also like to say that everyone at the meeting was enthusiastic, focussed and supportive as well as slightly late!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 There seems to be a bit of a go-slow on the Creative Communities project at Caterham. There is due to be a rescheduled meeting with interested parties before Christmas but I haven't heard anything yet. Thank goodness I have some (unrelated) workshops in the pipeline. One in fact is tomorrow; which I am looking forward to.Some of my work has been selected for a group paper exhibition and coming up is a meeting for artists from the south east selected for 'Visual', the Art and Business organization but apart from that things are rather flat.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 I am having a rather frustrating time right now. Things are good but everything seems to be achieved after huge efforts and in slow motion. Yesterday was a case in point. I had an important meeting and set off in good time (I have a bit of a problem in that I hate being late so I always set out early). It was a complicated train journey with about three changes so it takes a bit of time. About halfway through the journey there was an announcement that someone had died on the line and so the next two hours was spent traveling around south London in orbit around the point I was aiming to get to; always in motion but never getting there. Today I have overcompensated and have done huge amounts of phoning, emailing and general arranging and being busy but feel that I have in some ways also been in orbit around the point I wished to arrive at. I want a day in the studio doing work just for me. Who would ever have thought that one could spend so much time doing office work and commuting while being an artist? ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 It has been over a month since I last posted a blog entry. I'm not sure why it has taken this long. I've been very busy, I suppose. The last time I wrote anything here was before Christmas and the family were going down with various ailments and work was getting complicated. However the new year has started well despite a growing suspicion that I have too many fingers in too many pies. Just at the moment my own work is taking a back seat to more consistently money earning activities and my role co-ordinating the Art / Craft Residency at St George's Arts. The project at St George's is going very well, with the news the other day that we have secured funding from Grassroots over two years for organisational development. I hope that this will help us to weather the storms. Being involved in organizing the residency itself has proved very interesting. It's strange being on the other side of the fence. I keep wondering how I would frame an application if I was applying. One of our hopes is that people interpret the opportunity imaginatively and don't think of it as a community art project with a studio thrown in but take the twelve days stipulated 'outreach' in quite a broad sense and think about things that they would actually like to do. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 I think the time has nearly come when this blog splits into two because my work seems to be diverging into two related but separate activities. The project in Caterham which has been progressing oh so slowly has gained some momentum and looks as if it requires its own blog while my work at St George's Arts helping to organise the 2009 residency is also developing apace. Unless this blog is for the bits of my practice which are outside  both of these activities; in other words 'my own work'!I decided that I needed a bit of time devoted to that particular area of my experience and so spent a wonderful day preparing for some paper-making by using a hollander beater to make gallons of pulp from linen. I really enjoyed just doing stuff without any rationalizing and with absolutely no typing. I have pent up so much of the practical 'making' side of my work recently that I am overwhelmed with ideas and want to run away from all responsibility and carry out some of this making. However, that's not to be; during the week I have a few days work on the Caterham project and some admin for St George's too.I am really happy about how St George's is working out. We have not only secured our Grassroots funding for the next two years in addition to support from The Churches Conservation Trust but also heard on Thursday that we have succeeded in our application for a grant from local funders The R C Sherriff Trust. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 I feel rather thinly spread right now. My time is divided between regular work and the rather sporadic (read frantically busy and not very remunerative) projects that I find interesting. I'm finding it difficult to write about the work I'm doing overseeing the St George's Arts Residency because at the moment the applications are coming in and while the whole process is fascinating I don't feel I should comment on them other than to say that I have met some lovely people and heard some really interesting approaches to the residency. It has made me reflect on applications in general though; why don't people type, why have so many people forgotten to enclose their c.v. or the contact details of the referee and why have people applied from so far afield? We have had applications from the US, France and Thailand amongst others. Although saying that, I find filling out forms paralysing when its my own particular project that I would like to be given the opportunity to do. I have three applications to write for opportunities I would so much like to do and am finding them impossible to put into words. I am preparing for and carrying out some workshops at the Arc in Caterham today and on Thursday as part of what used to be called 'So, Surrey' but has now been renamed 'Creative Communities, Surrey'. It's hard to comment about this project too because there are so many people involved and so many hopes and wishes riding on it.In my own work, I really want the opportunity to develop things that I have started to work on over the last year or two. It's one of those points when I am so excited by the work but have no real time to actually carry it out. Thus the need for the fluent, persuasive form filling! ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 The workshops at the Arc were the first practical (as in 'making' rather than 'talking') interaction with local people and functioned as the opening events to the project that I am working on in Caterham. The two afternoons went well, participants made individual maps of themselves and their town and we had some interesting chats. The events were open to families and it was run at half term so it was mainly youngsters taking part. Most people went home with a book that they had made about themselves and we tried to document the workshops as we went along; not always easy.Irrespective of the merit of the occasion it felt like a minor milestone actually making a start though these feeling were completely overshadowed by the news which emerged over the two days that the Arc was being forced to close at the end of March. This is the same Arc that we were working in that was noisily packed so full of people that finding somewhere to park nearby when I was dropping off my materials and equipment was almost impossible.This is not some elitist temple to obscurity, it is a well-loved, well-used home of musical events, dance classes, art classes, small exhibitions, soft play areas, it's where all sorts of local groups like the 'Baby Cafe' meet and interact. It's one of those places where that most box-ticked group, 'the community', actually get together.The Arc, Caterham: http://www.tandridgeleisure.co.uk/thearc_home.php  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991 It is almost a year since I began this blog whose purpose was to record and reflect on the twelve months after most of the work on my 'Papertrails' project came to an end. It has been an odd year; neither falling nor flying, more like blown around in all sorts of directions. I suppose that that's the result of being an artist with, what we are all encouraged to have now; a portfolio career. Apart from keeping the wolf from the door type activities I have also been involved in various exhibitions, two big projects, have started work at St George's Arts organising the residency programme and fundraising for it, have run workshops thither and yon and have made some work that feels as if it's going in the right direction. I should feel a sense of achievement but I actually feel as if I am losing focus. I have made a resolution to streamline things a bit once I have carried out my present commitments (read, ruthlessly prune out everything that is distracting me).Navel gazing concluded! This blog has reached its own slightly inconclusive conclusion too and is going to be replaced by a blog which focuses more on the actual work and less on the rickety edifice which holds it all up. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/415991