Restarted

Belated Happy New Year !

Mine has started off a bit stressful and panicky – but all self inflicted.  Mostly to do with studio space…or lack of in my case.

Being on a low income at the moment, I absolutely cannot justify paying out for a studio space – especially if I’m not using it 24/7.  I’ve  managed so far using the spare room in my house – which is also a dumping ground, a bedroom for the occasional guest and a place where things mysteriously end up.

Its not ideal I know, but up til now hasn’t been a major problem.

My aim this year ( I won’t call it a resolution) is to get my work out there and not to just plod along as I usually do.

So my interest was sparked when I received an email about the open studio tour happening in summer, asking if I would like to apply.

My own space is not an option. I don’t particularly want people traipsing though the house and also I don’t live within walking distance of the other studio venues.   People won’t travel , we know that.

A friend of mine, in the same position as me,  opened up her house / cum studio space a few years ago for the tour and apart from nosey neighbours wanting to snoop round, she got very few visitors.

So, I’ve spent an enormous amount of time sending emails and posting on social media asking for help in finding a venue.  Finally – just yesterday, I was offered a room .  Its actually in the community space of the church where I had my last installation.  There are at least 10 artists that I know of so far, who are in the immediate area, so that’s worked out really well.

Having got over that hurdle, I’ve now got to work on getting prints and cards made AND start a new website.  So much work…. I just hope its worth the time and expense.

In other news, a bit of a disaster with my last painting.  To save cash, I’ve heavily reworked old-ish  canvases rather than use new ones. One was already in a frame, so . not being able to find my roll of masking tape ( hidden under the junk in my ‘studio’ ) I used what I think was gaffer tape to cover the frame to save getting splashed on.

All seemed fine until I tried the take the tape off.  It was stuck fast. Although I managed to peel of sections of it, It left a nasty residue.  I just couldn’t believe what I’d done !

I spent ages doing internet searches on how to remove adhesive, then spent a whole day rubbing it down with white vinegar, using a hairdryer ( that’s a good tip by the way) and lots of sandpaper.  All this took of most of the original paintwork, so I could have left it unmasked after all.

My job today is to try to paint the frame without damaging my artwork.

Lessons learnt and all that….

I should imagine lots of artists will be thinking about 2023 now. How things went, what could have gone better, what to do next…

I can honestly say that I’ve had a good year.  I’ve done a lot of travelling, a lot of socialising, read 76 books ( which I log on Goodreads) and had the huge achievement of going to the theatre and ballet on my own !
Workwise, I was halfway through the church commission. It felt like I was working every waking hour making those paper fish – exhausting, beyond tedious. frustrating … but seeing them all spread out in Chester Cathedral was exhilarating.

From the Cathedral, the installation was then displayed in a local church for a while before heading off on its travels.  This should happen early next year sometime.

It was a good experience, great to be paid for it and it certainly kept me going for a while.

I’m keeping an open mind  whether I will do another one. There are lots of plusses and minuses to it all, apart from the enormous amount of work involved.

The end of the year has seen me going in what seems to be a totally different direction, in that I’m painting again.

I’ve always painted, on and off,  so it really isn’t that much of a change. I do it almost as a sideline though as I find it peaceful and relaxing. I don’t always post about it though, which is something I’ll have to rectify next year.
One of the speakers at an a-n seminar I went to once, criticised artists using social media for constantly posting about work. We should show ourselves as more rounded – life alongside our artwork. I’ve pretty much stuck to that rule , though now I’m wondering if I should post at least once a week about my work?

In my last post I mentioned open exhibitions. I hadn’t been a fan of these in the past, but I’m now finding that they help me focus. I’ve produced quite a lot of work in the last few months. Whether its shown or not is another matter, but the work is now there for me to contemplate.

I’ll be showing a small work in the postcard exhibition at Sheffield’s Fronteer Gallery 10 – 20 January, so that’s a good start to the year and great that I’ll be showing work with artists we exhibited with in Athens. ( yes, that was another great experience that shifted my way of thinking over working more with other artists)

So on that note, here is one of my more recent paintings… slightly more ‘traditional’ than others I’ve done, but I see it as a learning curve. This year has  definitely been an education!

Happy New Year everyone !

https://www.instagram.com/wendywilliams_artetc/

It’s been a few days now since the exhibition ended and I’d collected my work.

It was, for want of better words – an experience.

Although I did initially disagree with what was exhibited and how things were set out, more than anything it made me realise what an art snob I had become.
I was shot down twice when commenting that I thought it wasn’t professional to have work dated pre 2000 in the exhibition ( there were several from 1989) – ‘Whats wrong with that if the artist liked it?’ ..or that there was too much work overall in the exhibition – ‘More for people to look at!’

Several works were sold ( not mine though ) so I was wrong about the public and what they liked.

My head isn’t in that way of thinking. I’ve never produced work with selling in mind so it’s hard to see things from another point of view.

There will be another one in May and I’ll probably go back … but with a more open mind next time.

That happened quicker that I’d planned…. I saw an open call for an exhibition , so I submitted work on the deadline date.

Its a ‘local’ artist one . held in the visitor centre of a public park. I was accepted straight away, but I suspect everyone that applies is accepted.

There was an admin cost of £12.50 to pay, but you actually get that back if you invigilate .

As it was last minute thing, I didn’t have time to organise framing OR finish new work, so I took a couple of my small studies and framed them up using what I had in.

As they were tiny works though and the hanging method was hooks on display boards, I had to rethink how I would exhibit  the work.

This probably took longer than actually doing the work in the first place, but |I took the glass out of another frame and  stuck the two paintings inside.  It looked secure which is the important thing.

Two tiny framed paintings swinging on cord would  have been a nightmare to hang, would look awful and also could have been just whipped off by a park visitor.

I really felt like I was starting at the bottom again and questioned why I was doing this.

We’ll see. At the end of the exhibition, I’ll evaluate costs, time and outcome.

Tomorrow though, I’ll do my 3 hour shift in the space.

So since I’ve been to Athens, I’ve connected with a lot more artists…. adding the ones I’d met or whose work was shown , on to my instagram account .

I don’t use a website anymore as I initially had problems with the account ( think it was hacked) but it was rubbish anyway and hardly got any traffic.

As I added those artists, , more followed me as they had connections with each other. Really that’s what this blog post is about – the importance of connecting with other artists.

Did that sound like I was just after more followers ? I didn’t mean that . I’m genuinely interested in what others are doing.
What really struck me, was how many are always exhibiting .  They list what they’re in on their profiles . Crikey, that’s worrying… my profile contains nothing at the moment.
That got me thinking – should I start applying for open exhibitions? I’d steered clear of them for so long, but then, how do people get to know what you do if you merrily work alone in your own space?

I’ve listed what’s coming up anyway , ruling out the ones with silly fees to enter.  Whether I do enter or not is another matter, but it’s giving me something to think about.

I’ll let you know.