ARTISTS TALKING

# 40 [27 February 2008]

2008 update

Writing a regular blog for Degrees Unedited in the run up to my degree show was a surprisingly therapeutic experience. It helped me to get perspective on my technical problems – to realise that if a painting wasn’t working one day there were better solutions then sticking a palette knife through it... I’d resolved issues before, I could again.

Since leaving university I’ve enjoyed the freedom of being able to paint whatever I feel like without having to analyse myself, or make a piece ‘fit in’ with a dissertation philosophy. However, I do miss the luxury of having nothing more pressing to do then paint all day. The main issue has changed from ‘will I get these paintings done in time?’ to ‘will I get the time to do these paintings?!’ I currently work as a Gallery Attendant in the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London. It is an amazingly relevant job and looking at art all day is a constant reminder of what I want to do with the rest of my time. Being in London, I feel much more in touch with the art world than I did at university, as I can visit galleries and museums with ease.

My paintings juxtapose photorealism with strong abstract elements – in ‘This moment, now’ the drippy effect in the background symbolises the slippery nature of memory and our inability to recall the past accurately, conjuring up a feeling rather than a visually accurate account. Not being perturbed by last year’s rejection, I’m once again entering the BP Award with ‘You choose what you reflect’. I’m not expecting to be accepted but in art I think perseverance is key. Or perhaps it’s just stubbornness...

# 39 [17 May 2007]

 I'VE FINISHED!!!!! put the wooden beading on the bottom of my space today, so that's everything done. the opening night is this saturday. so excited! it should be a really good show this year, i've had a quick look round and there is a lot of quality work about, better than previous years, i'd say. About five undergrads are doing figurative painting like me, and the standard for that is certainly very high.

# 38 [15 May 2007]

remembered my camera today! unfortunately the battery went after the first few pictures so i'll take the rest tommmow. today i re-measured the skull placements, then put them on, put up my labels and biseness cards, re -painted the sky in the one of adam, re-painted the edges of all the portraits where they had got skuffed during instalation; cleaned up the skulls where they had been flicked with white at some stage, signed the skulls and signed kate. all i have to do now is paint the wooden beading that is going along the bottom of the boards, which should be up by tommmorow. da daaaa.... can't beleive its all done! looking forward to opening night. i had to dye a pair of my shoes black today as i don't have a black pair to go with the dress i'm wearing on opening night. oh, the joys of being a student....!

# 37 [14 May 2007]

well, i would put up more photos but i, erm, forgot my camera this morning. d'oh!!! anyway, today i re streched the skull pictures as they where sagging in the middle, then painted all the outside edges on all the paintings the same white as the wall, so they wouldn't look dirty. then i hung the portraits. tryed to hang the skulls but they kept going in the wrong place so i must have got the measerments wrong somewhere (mathemeatics never my strong point)... i'll definately put up a photo of the whole exhibition tommmorow. hardly anyone was in the art school today, they must all be at home, frantically painting their exhibition pieces...

# 36 [13 May 2007]

all finished! just done the last skull.   i'm putting up the pictures tommorow, so i'll photograph them all then.

# 35 [10 May 2007]

painted my exhibition space today. will take a photo on monday. did another skull painting yesterday, for my one, i think ill put them all up at once, on sunday. my space is just under 14foot, which is a very reasonable size indeed.

# 34 [8 May 2007]

cant seem to make the image of livia less pink, don't know why, its blue on the camera screen. maybe it will print blue, mother...

# 33 [6 May 2007]

just did a bit more work on olivais right hand side eye, its definately finished now..

# 32 [6 May 2007]

just finished the portraits. did another skull painting a couple of days ago, need to get a move on with them really, as the exhibition goes up on thursday, but its quite a morbid activity.!

# 31 [3 May 2007]

nearly finished both portraits. i think. just my lashes to finish on mine, not sure with olivia, maybe she is done. i'm sure ill find a few things to pick at. one week today that my degree show goes up! i'm actually on schedule, amazingly. need to finish the portraits by tommorow, so they will be dry for next thursday. need to do the skulls, though they shouldn't be too much of a mission (famous last words)..., need to finish sorting out my portfolio, presentation of the big photos etc. finished my dissertation today, so thats out the way. oh, need to buy a paint roller to emulsion the exhibition boards, need to print some biseness cards with a photo on them, need to do the labels for the exhibition. so, quite a bit, really. d'oh....