Christmas has been wonderful with all the family staying up here in Yorkshire. It has been a lovely opportunity to get to know our new grandson properly. We are planning regular visits to London to keep the relationship strong.
Meanwhile, on with the business of being a “returning” artist. I have an upcoming exhibition with a group of artists and students in the spring, based on democracy. Each artist has a de-commissioned balltot box to work with as a starting point. I have until early Feb. to get to a point where it can be photographed, so I shall be in the studio for the next few weeks.
Plans for this year are simple really;
- Develop my work in the studio.
- Select and enter any suitable exhibiting opportunities that come up.
- Don’t get side tracked.
- Fight the constant doubt.
- Stay in contact with the interesting artists I have met in the last few years.
- Keep the entries in this blog regular, using it as a place to reflect on my practice and hopefully connect with other artists here because it is such a wonderful, supportive and interesting community.
- Fight the constant doubt. (I know, I’ve put it twice, but it looms so!)
I have no idea why I didn’t publish this when I wrote it in September, but here it is:
Life has been hectic; we’ve not had much chance to enjoy our new garden, we became grandparents at the beginning of July! An artist friend described the experience of becoming a grandmother as “almost feral” when I was telling her how surprised I was at my emotional reaction to having a grandson and I have to say that I know exactly what she means. Add to this a trip to Glastonbury Abbey to see Robert Plant and his band, (amazing), a big party at ours to celebrate my husband’s birthday, a family wedding and a trip to Florence; there has not been any time for studio work all summer.
I sold this drawing! Whoop! I don’t sell very often – can you tell? Sold from the show “Drawings”, in York. (See previous post). I put it in at the last minute; it’s one of my favourites and I was surprised at the wrench I felt when I had to leave it behind to be posted to the new owners. I need to sell more work so I’ll have to get used to it. The cheque, however, is useful and already spent!
I used the cash to pay for my space at Islington Contemporary Art and Design Fair this October. I was surprised and delighted to be contacted by Candid Arts a few weeks ago and invited to submit some work after they had seen some of it on line. This kind of thing does not happen to me so I figured I needed to overcome my fear of driving into central London and go for it. I am trepidatious and excited. I will take some extra time when in London, stay with my daughter and catch up on some more exhibitions.
