DEGREES UNEDITED

# 21 [1 March 2012]

Gosh, feels strange working with the colours I am using and developing and developing the way in which I am using the layers of image and colour. I just keep mixing and mixing the colour, diluting it to see how far down I can take it and getting something new each time. Not sure if I have reached the final palette yet, does it have to be final?

I need to photograph all the work I have done so far. I am working in screenprint at the moment and although it sounds limiting and as if I will just get multiples of the same image the possibilities seem endless.

I put in my final learning plan, first draft I was told that it needed to be more descriptive Submitted second draft and another tutor said that it was now unfocused. Not sure where to go with it as they need to send it to the external examiner on Tuesday.

I am going to the AV Symposium at MIMA today, so that should be interesting and less physically demanding than all this screenprinting

# 20 [20 February 2012]

It was such a mad week last week. I was really pleased that I was selected to put my work in the Boardroom at NGCA in September as part of the New Talent/Boardroom project between NGCA and the University of Sunderland.

On the work front I worked with some new images and on Saturday I had a new idea and did some trials for that so I have added them to this post.

I thought about an encapsulated fairytale world because I have been working with these circular zones I decided to try a more circular format on the plain paper.

Also using heavier paper so that the work can hang on the paper without the need for a frame.

# 19 [13 February 2012]

Enjoyed the Cyanotype course at Northern Print on Saturday. I used some of the inkblots to make some pieces and also messed with some bits of dead plant material. I like the deep blue of the prints. I am not sure that the things I used conveyed the mystery that I would like to achieve. I think I would need to experiment with it a bit more.

I was tempted to use some text with the images but I am not convinced about why I would want to use text. Is it because I don't feel that the images carry enough weight, or is it a reference to the fairytale and childhood, or is it referring to our love affair with the written word or is it something else entirely?

Working with manipulation of images in photoshop today. I did some yesterday and learning more all the time.

# 18 [9 February 2012]

Making inkblots today. Great fun with some interesting shapes resulting from them. Anthropomorphic ones and animal or insect creatures. I wonder what that says about my personality, according to Roscharch.

It was good to see that some cave paintings in Spain have been dated to Neanderthal humans.

# 17 [6 February 2012]

Well, twice in one week, that must be a record.

I enjoyed my tutorial today with Natalie Gale, my first with her. She was very quick to understand what my work was about and I got some positive feedback about it and some ideas for research and ways to push the work forward.

I am enchanted with enchantment and trying to create other worlds, glimpsed or hinted at.

I managed to complete my proposal for the New Talent exhibition and got my images and video uploaded so that they can be viewed on-line.

I also talked to one of the other MA students, Bob Lawson, about organising things for our MA show in July.

We talked about getting organising a reciprocal review with other MA programmes. He knows some artists who may be willing to be involved in some way.

We need to start early to organise our catalogue.

# 16 [5 February 2012]

Been really busy since December, when I started to get results that I could feel satisfied with. Since the begining of Janaury I have been working producing screenprints and video  that are starting to make more sense to me.

I applied for a place on a Red Nile Factory Night at Roker and was amazed to be accepted. That was last Saturday and was incredible. Great to meet new people and have access to inspiring places.

I have just put a proposal together for New Talent (between Sunderland Uni and the NGCA)

# 15 [12 April 2011]

Enjoying chasing crows and sketching on my phone every day. I have also started to put some paint onto one of the boards I prepared. The down side of work at the moment is essay writing. It needs to be done but is causing my energy to stagnate.

Just don't seem to have enough hours in the day for all of the things that I want to achieve. On the up side I have found some interesting things about social media as art.

# 14 [30 March 2011]

Ant Macari exhibition at Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland, was amazing. I was astonished at the sheer amount of work but the breadth and depth of the content was inspiring. That was last Wednesday at the preview so I need to see it again.

Also managed a visit to Yorkshire Sculpture Park on Friday and saw, Soliloquy by Shirin Neshat. The space used to show the work was in the Georgian Chapel which gave greater resonance to the images and soundtrack of this haunting work. This was a dual screen projection of Neshat within two landscapes representing her homeland and her home in exile.

Visited Kettle's Yard Gallery in Cambridge on Tuesday and enjoyed the variety of work that is in their current exhibition of work donated to raise funds for Kettle's Yard Development Appeal. A diverse range of 2D and 3D works. Favourites included 'Crack and Warp Column' by David Nash, and Phylidda Barlow's 'untitled:crushedrolleddropped', but there were lots of things to like.

On the home front, I am still chasing crows and other assorted corvids. My studio space took on a very white appearance last week and some meditations on performance issues are starting to coalesce into plans. I cannot say too much yet as there is much to decide.

# 13 [21 March 2011]

Alastair MacLennan performance/actuation on Saturday at 25SG, excellent. There was also a talk by Ben Ponton and discussion about documentation in Performance Art on Sunday.

The ephemeral nature of performance and its resistance to commodification are some of its attractions, but these ideals could be undermined by photo and video documentation. Many artists have attempted to control the documentation of their work in order to retain the nature of the performance. Others have used the documentation to provide another layer to their work.

With the ease of use of image capture technology it is increasingly popular for the audience/witnesses of a performance to record video and still images without the express permission of the artist. As artists we need to decide how we can respond to these prevailing conditions in a way that fits with our own values and purpose in making art.

I must admit that it's ephemeral nature and audience engagement are two of the things that attract me to performance. The need to record the work whilst doing a Fine Art course have involved me in recording parts of the performance work for the purposes of assessment. If applying for funding, commissions or competitions it is also likely that I will need images of previous work for the application.

I have not resolved the issues of documentation for myself. I tend towards the wish to reach a wider audience through social network and other internet platforms but I am also trying out other methods for recording and responding to my performances.

Assessment results due tomorrow. Today I am feeling positive about what I am doing with only small reservations about the ways in which everything will come together.

Sorry that I managed to lose the video link I placed here twice. I need to find out what went wrong.

# 12 [14 March 2011]

Sorting sketchbook images and trying to work out where to next. That suggests that I have finished something, but I am not sure that I have. My tutorial today went well and my personal tutor said that my work made 70% sense which she said was OK for this point in my MA. When she looked at my Corvid notebook she thought that the photos and sketches looked like preparation for a painting and my prints looked like they were trying to tell a story.

I am not sure of my direction but I can usually find a way by making work and sketches and photographs and prints so I guess I just have to keep working and things will turn out.

I now have a lovely smooth surfaced gessoed board that is tending to terrify me. Assessment tomorrow.................