ARTISTS TALKING

# 7 [20 April 2011]

Hoorah for childcare and on that note,

I have been invited to have a conversation about my work, visual representation (or lack of it) of pregnancy and childbirth in Art with Matt Collier at the Birth Rites Symposia, May 9th and May 11th 

(http://www.birthritescollection.org.uk)

 We have been asked to join in as we are the newest artists to have work included in the Birth Rites Collection.

There is a variety of speakers & different forms of presentations at the two talks; one at the Whitworth in Manchester and one at the Whitechapel in London. It is a ticketed event £15.

I have never been to Manchester or the whitworth and its currently exhibiting four decades of work by Mary Kelly!!!!!!!!!!!

This is an exhibition that I am truly excited to be going to see. Also looking forward to being immersed in conversation and listening to quite a few of the speakers, some familiar names that i havent seen in a while, brilliant opportunity to catch up.

# 6 [15 April 2011]

has taken me a week to get on the computer.

Jo Longhurst (http://www.jolonghurst.com) visited last week to check out the room, take photos & measure up. And it was brilliant to catch up, chat and talk through ideas.

Things I have managed to accomplish this week (even though its Easter holidays & had no childcare for weeks. Elder child just left to go on a grandparent break until sunday and the younger is snoozing. It is the younger who has caused chaos by changing his sleep pattern/needs. Gone is morning sleep i happily posted about which meant i could achieve things whilst the other is at nursery. Now its a giant middle of the day sleep which means no alone time at all....) 

I have a 5 hour break booked on Tuesday as we are test driving a new/emergency/ad-hoc nanny, so maybe there will be another blog entry soon.

rant over. Back to the art & events achievements.

 - I have registered a wordpress blog for check in & out and will use that as a gallery/ promotional space whilst continuing to use this one to empty my head & reflect.

- registered our interest to be included in the shepway fringe events guide & found out the deadline is the 5th and not the 11th.

 - I have probably annoyed Triennial workers with my over exuberant emailing about wanting work over the past month. Then i received an email about jobs. The tour assistant work is a good student summer job, the hourly rate is above minimum wage but I would make no money/lose 50p an hour paying for childcare to actually do the job.

I am hoping the chat that i have this afternoon about a possible artist/educator role for 3 days in the summer holiday will be more positive. I know it shouldnt be all about the cash but it is all about the time i have and how I can afford to spend, use & lose it.

Love the arts, but dont want to be totally altrustic and do want a return of some form. Am I getting old & more cynical, when the experience is just not enough... oh well

RECIPRICATION in any form -is the name of (my) the game.

# 5 [4 April 2011]

Hoorah - i have had a piece accepted for Orebro Open this summer.

http://www.openart.se/

It was the work in progress, just the prod i needed/ carrot at the end of the stick to finish the piece. Sometimes I am more than happy with seeing it in my minds eye. But one of the really exciting things about this show, is the amount of possibilities for placing work. I am really curious to see where it will end up in the town and the scale. It could be any where from a 10 x 8in to billboard......

# 4 [29 March 2011]

deadlines make things more real for me.

The Folkestone Fringe are organising some really interesting and exciting events & projects for the Triennial. See here http://www.folkestonefringe.com

Check in/Check out should get into the  fringe leaflet as long as i meet the deadlines: The deadline for artists registering their projects is 11th April and the print copy deadline is 2nd May.

So now i get a week or so to come up with the copy & make sure everyone is happy. Sometimes i really enjoy writing, other times it is excruciatingly painful. I have some ideas already for the publicity image, just need to take a few shots.

I am really excited by how the four artists want to do more than I originally asked.

I have admit that one of the biggest thoughts i had when starting this was how to make an exhibition for as near to free as possible. How could I try to keep costs down for everyone. I knew I had left it too late for funding apps and didnt want to rely on that anyway. So i asked for existing work, that was already printed and exhibition ready. Though I should stress it was also selected for curatorial value and intent as well.

The artists are starting to book times to come and visit. I am really excited to show our mental house purchase, show off Folkestone and have a chat.

I think and feel one of the best spin-offs from organising this event and probably one of the real reasons I selfishly wanted to organise this event was about having direct access to people and conversations.

I do get frustrated sometimes about lack of art & adult conversation but I have learnt and still learning alot about Thomas the Tank Engine/Spiderman/Speedy Racer and most things with wheels. I have had to think about what is invisible, and if night time animals are nocturnal what are day-time animals? This i didnt know and had to look it up - they are diurnal.

One of the most memorable lines from my 4year old this week was 'When are you going to die?' It feels abit shocking and painful when first asked. We agreed that a hundredhundred was probably old enough and about right.

So now by meeting a few deadlines I get to talk and engage with art at home with people who are interested and interesting.

How brilliant is that!!



# 3 [16 March 2011]

neither child safe or safe from children and probably thats how my studio & practice will stay for now.....

Ive already made myself laugh with a funny typo in a residency application that i just caught before emailing it off this morning. i signed off with

Thank you for our time and interest.

It seems to make perfect sense to have forgotten the y.

Today and my life at the moment with a four year old is all about the WHY?

I have 45mins - 1hr30 weekday mornings to do stuff. Oldest son at nursery 8.30-11.30 and the smaller one snoozes.

How productive i am is dictated by how long he sleeps, so i have to decide/prioritise what to do in this race against time.

Domestic stuff has never featured in the equation as i decided with the first child it doesnt happen when they're sleeping, it isnt an invisible activity that magically happens. They can watch me, preferably join in or play around me when I do, do it.

This morning ive finished off an application & e-mailed it (I am concerned though that my enthusiasm for wanting the residency might not show through) and am now blogging, cheered on by featuring on the A-N mail out yesterday. So just in case people do come a looking, i am appearing active, writing something interesting is a different matter.

So the question is as for most artists with limited time is, do i try and apply for stuff or do i make? Do i do research for applications and funding or do i make?

Currently I have had a spate of applying for residencys & commissions that are local'ish and paid. I want involvement, conversation, interaction with people, to leave the house, studio, children & also to expand the community/workshop side of my practice and receive payment!!! 

but also I want money so that I can pay for childcare on another day that I can earmark as my day for making work.

# 2 [7 March 2011]

The purpose of this blog will probably shift the more I post.

It is centred on the check in/check out shows but also on my own practice. I feel out of the loop and thought this would be a good way to re-focus. I have followed 2 or 3 an blogs closely over the last year and have been encouraged by their developments, it does seem to pay off. (will go into this more at a later point/post)

I've been trying to finish a piece of work for a year!! It really shouldn't take that long. So now I've started submitting it as a work in progress for different shows.

Sensible or not?

I obviously need external deadlines & pressure. In my defence (why i feel the need to excuse myself is annoying) I've had a second child, moved house to a totally new area and have been trying to establish new friends, networks and work out how to work and make work with a young family.

I am really lucky to have a brilliant working space at home. As we've bought an old guest house I've got the reception & lobby as my space it even has its own separate front door.

Shelves some how seemed important. 5 months after moving in I now have a glorious shelving system, complete with colourful storage boxes due to unexpected sale at B&Q.see pic

The dilemma now is do I make the space child safe or safe from children?

# 1 [3 March 2011]

I have been running www.nepartism.com a series of online exhibitions for the previous 15 months and have put it on hold so that I can concentrate on finishing a project of my own and making a physical exhibition.

So far what I have come up with is  ‘Check in’, 25 & 26th June and ‘Check out’ 24 & 25th Sept

I have invited 2 artists (Jo Longhurst & Eva Stenram) for the opening weekend and 2 artists (Claire Haddon & Lynda Doyle) for the closing weekend of the Triennial
and the basic premise being that they get to exhibit in the bedroom they are staying in. Some of the artists know each other, but I know them all either through study, work or exhibiting with them previously. (Three of the artists I have shown on Nepartism)

I am working on the idea of the hybrid home/hotel and the opportunities that gives for displaying work. Our
home still has obvious hotel traits and I like this idea of
inflicting/reflecting the personal on a transient space, a space that is
meant to be an escape for others.

So thinking about dogs on the bed, illicit affairs, the romantic, flirting, the domestic and suggestion of unseen narratives.

I’ll be taking over the living room and I think the corridors will be displaying work that we own