ARTISTS TALKING

# 2 [25 November 2009]

Well, a month has passed and I’m beginning to realise how much slower things move outside the comfort of the art school environment. I finally graduated at the beginning of November which was great, apart from having to come up with an answer to the inevitable “so what are you up to now?” questions. It’s hard not to feel jealous of those of my friends who have landed themselves graduate jobs or are enjoying Postgraduate courses, being able to save up for return trips to Spain etc. I suppose what I have to remember is that being an artist is what I chose to do, and I chose it for a reason.

The visit to Harrington Mill Studios was a little disappointing. I only managed to make it on the Sunday afternoon, by which time I think things had gotten pretty quiet.  The space itself was really nice and a lot of the work on display was really good, but there didn’t seem to be much of the group atmosphere I had in mind. I think most of the artists there are already at a stage where they have a fairly defined practice and are pushing on in their own directions.

I tried to get to the opening of an exhibition at Surface gallery by Sixes and Sevens, a group of recent Trent graduates a few weeks ago, but I couldn’t find the gallery and eventually decided to call off the search after dodging a firework thrown from a car across the street.

However, the AIR Time and AIR Open Dialogue events at Nottingham Trent University last week were brilliant, I was able to meet face to face with a few different art collectives/studio groups from around Nottingham and have arranged to view some available studio spaces later this week. The open dialogue event was a really positive experience; hearing about other people’s struggles with the transition from Degree to ‘the real world’ made me realise that I’m not the only one in this situation and that I shouldn’t get frustrated with how slowly things seem to be moving. It was really nice to finally meet other Nottingham artists and learn a bit more about local opportunities.

So as far as the to-do-list goes; I have a job, I’m doing some temp work over the Christmas period, It’s not perfect but they’ve been giving me plenty of hours so far and at least It’s flexible; The studio situation is looking more positive, as is the networking side of things.
Unfortunately I managed to get my diary dates mixed up and missed the deadline for the Nottingham Open, but I think Ill register for the John Moore’s this year and there’s a local open call for small scale works which would fit well with my current practice.
As far actually making work goes though, nothing has happened at all for nearly a month, which is frustrating.

# 1 [22 October 2009]

My name is Vanessa and I am a bum. Well, not really but i feel like it at the moment. I finished m degree in Fine Art and Spanish at Chester Uni in June and since then things don't really seem to have progressed very far.

I moved back home and started looking for part-time work in the hope that i could buy myself some more time to figure out whether i wanted to do a post-grad course or try to get some freelance work in translation or get a job teaching English abroad or...well basically I didn't have a clue where to go next.

I managed to get a months temporary work as a photo processor which gave me some much needed inspiration; I've been experimenting with painting onto discarded overexposed frames but Ive spent so much time stressing about job applications and fighting with the Job centre that I haven't really had much time to really get going with any serious painting. Not really having much space in which to work(I'm making do with a desk in my bedroom) means that I'm limited in terms of scale and materials.

I have now realised that I really do want to make a go of it as an artist. I even managed to get myself an interview for a part-time job at Nottingham Contemporary which would have been a perfect way to start; It would have put me in touch with people and would have given me some money to find a studio. Unfortunately I found out today I didn't get it, and I'm pretty gutted.

So now that opportunity's gone I'ts time to get serious about this and go out and look for another way in. I'm hoping that keeping this blog will motivate me to keep going and remain positive.

So my goals are:

- Get a job! anything at the moment, though preferably part time.

- Meet people. I don't really know anyone in the Nottingham art crowd as yet. I need to get out to shows and events.

- Get into a studio. Not just for the working space but for the motivation of working with others.

- Start Exhibiting. Enter some competitions, maybe think about applying for commissions.

This week im planning to go along the Open Studios at Harrington Mill in Long Eaton to hopefully make some contacts and find out a bit more about the studio group set-up, Send back my application form to a guy who I've been in touch with who is looking to set up a new studio group in Nottingham, start trawling through job adds once more and start thinking about my what to submit for the Nottingham Castle Open. I've also booked onto the AIR events at NTU next month.

So all in all there's a long way to go but it's not looking too desperate yet and my luck is bound to change eventually...right?