ARTISTS TALKING

# 268 [29 November 2012]

I've been crazy busy. Went to view the gallery at London Rd studios that I'm going to be having my solo show in through Jan-Feb and it's massive! http://londonrdstudios.wordpress.com/

So I've been working really hard on a new body of work which will be shown with other environmental installations. Plus I've been getting work ready for a Christmas show at Merseybio, (I'll be showing my snowfalkes and some Sinister structure books) and I've just finished a new batch of stock for Paper Gallery. Finally I'm in the middle of decorating my Christmas baubles for the Arena Auction, I've completed one side of each of them, just got to match the other sides now!

If you want to find out more about the Arena Bauble Auction look here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151141725022256.441275.658067255&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.491095177589655.119474.191334737565702&type=1

# 267 [10 November 2012]

I haven't posted on here for quite a while. I've just been so busy writing proposals, working on workshop stuff and getting artwork made at last. I've been offered a spot in a gallery in January for a solo show, it's a massive space though and I'm not sure I can fill it, so the last few days I've been working hard on a new project (old idea though). Now that I know what I'm doing with with the project and think it's going to work I need to work out how long it'll take to complete it.

I can make five pieces in a day and I probably need 200 pieces so I work that out as taking 40 days, but of course I can't work from morning through to night most days so it would probably take double, ummmm, I'm going to have to think of a quicker way to make them.

On monday I'm going over to the Liverpool Biennial on a school trip. I've been meaning to go over for weeks but haven't been able to make the time so I'm excited to be going over for the afternoon.

# 266 [28 October 2012]

I feel like I'm going a little crazy! I've been off work this week so have spent most of my time researching and thinking, with some tidying up inbetween, a tiny bit of artwork being worked on and a little bit of workshop stuff being done. Nothings come of all the research though, I'm as confused and indecisive about the subject I want to study and work with as I was at the beginning of the week!

On the up side I've been working on something I haven't had to think about in the evenings when I've had enough. It's based very loosely on the inner ear although now that I look at it I'm reminded of something I studied when in the first year of my degree. The Fibonacci sequence throughout nature, although not accurate at all. I do have intentions of doing something on it in the distant future. Anyway it's probably not going to end up being anything but it's relaxed my mind and given me something to do when I'm winding down.

I had been working with wire and printed cells but got frustrated and through them all away which then led to a clear out of lots of my work which is now on the tip.

I'm not regretful though, I feel it's time for something new!

# 265 [25 October 2012]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklynartscouncil/3996297656/in/set-72157622453929028/

I found this artists work which makes me want to sew again. Well I've been wanting to for a while really and I have been sewing recently but only in preparation for a couple of workshops so I am itching to do something with fabric. I think I want the stitches to mean something though, that's as far as I've thought about it, ha ha.

I've been doing lots of research today and have happened upon lots of unexpected sites that keep leading me away from what i should be doing and Lisa Kellners work was on one of them.

I have also been thinking about the work I did on blood cells earlier this year. It was produced for a solo show and although I had the idea for a while before I made the work it could have been experimented with and developed further. I'd like to produce something on a muchlarger scale and for the shape and size not to be determined by the canvas. Infact I'd like to find a way of making something that doesn't use a canvas.

I'd really like to find a venue that I work directly onto the walls of. These took so long to make though and I'd like the image to be something more meaningful than a digital print. I was thinking through drawings or printmaking. A project for the distant future I feel.

# 264 [17 October 2012]

I received a package this morning from Elena containing a childs sock! I had been waiting to see it before deciding what to do with it. With the only restriction being that it should remain socky I had so many ideas. I've just started working with wire again and have started altering a project that I was unhappy with. I've spent ages trying out different ways of altering the work and I think I'm finally getting somewhere but I'm off track now... So I wanted to take my work and somehow represent it a little on the sock, sort of giving a little bit of myself, or rather my work to the sock, ha ha. I first tried stitching in wire but this was problematic, I had to think how this would leave the sock for the next artist. I wanted to wire stitch between the lines but this w ould leave the ends Of the wire in the sock which could be a nasty suprise for someone so I decided to make some of my wire work and stitch it onto the sock but after making a couple I wondered if this would leave the sock socky enough as Its shape would change so I compromised a little and stitched a design on instead.

It was a nice change to be sewing, it's made me think about sewing projects again!

# 263 [13 October 2012]

It's the closing event of our show at the bridewell tomorrow. Then the work is going onto Leeds, I don't kow how the trees will be rehung there, but I'm quite excited to see what they do with them.

Beth from the bluecoat display centre sent me this video from my workshops at the hospital.

https://vimeo.com/51076020

My daughter said the artists book fair was great, she really enjoyed it. I hope she starts making books too. She also went along to the first cut exhibition and wanted to blow whats left of her student loan on everything in their shop.

# 262 [11 October 2012]

I was asked if I'd like to have my work shown with PAPER at the Manchester Artists Book Fair. I asked my husband if he'd come along because the box of books was too heavy for me to carry. We got the train but took the satnav so we'd know are way but as it was we jumped a cab from the station to the gallery anyway. Then my husband left the sat nav in the taxi so he spent his time running round the streets of Manchester while I delivered the work. So it's turned out to be a very expensive day! Nicola was very welcoming and showed me their gallery which has some lovely work in it at the moment, it put mine to shame. I really liked some paper cups, I'll have to ask about them when I next visit. http://www.paper-gallery.co.uk/70882/about-paper

My daughter is going along to the book fair as part of her course so I've asked her to take some photos which I'll post.

Nicola told me about 'The first cut' showing at the Manchester Art Gallery which I visited before going home.

I was so excited to see lots of artists work which I'd only seen in pictures previously. It's worth travelling to see, I'm going to have to again before it ends http://www.manchestergalleries.org/whats-on/exhibitions/index.php?itemID=92

# 261 [10 October 2012]

I am so exhausted. After the workshop this morning we set up the installation in the Roald Dahl Haemostasis & Thrombosis Centre. We had planned to show it on a trellis but the professor preferred us to use panel pins to attach it to the walls or ceiling of the corridor. This proved to difficult to achieve as we couldn't reach theceiling on the ladders and I was concerned about marking the walls with lots of holes. But the opposite wall of the corridor has a panel of glass windows on it with viewing into the waiting room. By putting it here the installation could be seen on entering the centre and also viewed whilst waiting for appointments. But I didn't want to mark the frame work with lots of holes either so I had to change the way I was going to display the work by gathering lots of pieces together to pin up using a single pin and then repeating this process at a minimal. Then we worked from these points adding more ivy by wrapping it around the previous pieces. Not ideal but I'm not as disappointed as I first thought I'd be when I realised displaying it would be difficult. We also had to take into consideration that children shouldn't be able to reach it easily so it couldn't venture down the windows very far.

It's not as invasive as I'd hoped but I think it'll attract attention, hopefully encourage recycling and is a nice addition to their centre.

# 260 [9 October 2012]

When I first went to the hospital to discuss the residency there the subject came round to how the work would be displayed at the end. The professor was concerned about it being secure so we decided a trellis would be a good idea. It could be half screwed into the wall, then the ivy could be added and then secured tightly so the ivy can't escape. So my task today was to find a trellis! That was the easy part but I've been spending the rest of the afternoon sanding it because it's made of a soft wood with lots of potential splitters. 

I've been asked to show my work with PAPER at the Manchester artists book fair so I've been working away at a new little type of book which I'm really enjoying making. I always have a panic showing work at artist book fairs in case my work doesn't stand well against other artist books but I'm happy with these. They took a little while to work out how I was going to cut them to make them work but once I had a formula it was easy. Saying that they still take an hour or two each to make!

# 259 [7 October 2012]

I spent yesterday making seeded ivy for the installation at the hospital. I haven't attempted doing this workshop with the patients because it takes so long. But I thought it was a shame for them not to be able to make flower heads as well as the ivy so I've been showing them how to adapt the simple pattern I show them so that they can continue working with milk containers at home if they wish to!

I've had such a great response during my time there. I really didn't know what to expect when I started there as people don't start the day thinking they'll be helping to make an work for an installation when they go to hospital, but it's been great!