Threads

Someone’s given me another plate to spin. My work has been accepted for this year’s Junction Festival of Contemporary Art in Chapel Ash, Wolverhampton. I’m chuffed to bits. I have a fondness for this festival which started last year, and for which I did a one-day residency with Elena Cassidy-Smith. The reason for my fondness is directly connected with my thoughts about my work. This community of artists is connecting in a very real way with the wider community, providing links and a sense of helping each other. It is a strange, strung out area on the edge of Wolverhampton city centre, bisected by a tremendously busy 4-lanes of traffic, and roads leading in all directions (hence the name). I don’t yet know where my work will be placed, but to establish a new relationship with these businesses and people is a real pleasure. More people could and should do this sort of thing, get to know each other, have a drink, a laugh, support each other, get to know each other’s children, keep each other out of harm’s way and out of trouble.

http://junctionwolverhampton.org/

Also…

I have decided that the advice to have a separate blog for the shed is a good idea. That way, I can point people in the direction of that blog so they can just see the shed stuff and not have to get entangled with the rest of my life and sift through the twaddle that goes on here. “Shedding” will be shed-related twaddle only! Over the last few days I’ve written some entries, just to see how it reads and if it’ll work. So I shall hop over there after doing this post and publish it. There’ll be about 5 posts to start off with, but then as things happen to the shed I’ll post them there instead of here.

I’ve got lots of plates spinning at the moment… but the big thing I think that’s troubling me is the MA final show. I have a body of work that could be ready now to show. But I can’t leave it at that till the end of August, that would be a complete waste of time, and the resources that being an MA student at Margaret St gives me.

I also feel I’m at a bit of a crossroads in my work – crappy timing really because I’m not feeling confident enough about the new direction to just dive in. I may end up doing some sort of performance. I’m thinking about it. I might sing. Live. Oh bugger.

I have another song to finish recording with Dan, which will definitely form part of the show. I will also have these items of clothing to show too.

I am interested in the way that listening to music in one space, affects the way you look at items in the next. I’m fascinated by what you carry with you from one space to the next. Will me singing add or detract from that?

Last time I had “Lullaby” playing in one dim place, then the textiles hanging in another. If I am singing in either space how will that affect it? Will I choose the same place, sit on the stairs and sing? I want to show that I’ve thought about it, taken what happened accidentally and exploited it. Developed it. I want to be brave and think I can see it working, but because it is new, I’m not confident.

OK then! I’ll chuck it all in together and you can sort it out yourselves!

Right, the shed has 2 quite different confirmed activities for this summer, and a third one being discussed… and she might make it to my final show, you never know.

The first one is next month. From 12th June to 12th July (ish) My shed will sit in the lovely Worcestershire garden of Rachel Barnes, who is doing sterling work preparing her acre for the National Gardens Scheme, under which she opens her garden for charity, and last year had over 500 visitors – which for her first year is amazing. The garden is lovely, overlooking rolling Worcestershire fields. It is a family garden with rabbits, ducks, dogs and children, and Rachel still makes it look beautiful. There are little achievable vignettes that make you stop and sit and contemplate for a while, thinking you should be able to do similar in your own garden. You’ll not find perfect rows of obsessive planting, but a working garden, worked by someone who clearly loves it. I don’t know where she finds the time as she also runs her business – Hatfield Interiors – from here, alongside her shop and tea room!

What my shed will do is sit in the middle of it, overlooking the views, sheltered by huge old trees. What happens inside is up to the artists and musicians that book themselves in (contact me through my website if you’re interested). Some days will have loads of visitors, some won’t have any. The open weekend will hopefully have troops! Take a day, or half a day, or more, retreat, write, draw, play, stitch, perform, paint, exhibit… whatever floats your boat. Leave some words or work pinned up for the next people to look at and respond to if you like. Get booked in with a complete stranger and collaborate! I’m hoping that in amongst the hurly-burly I’ll get to retreat and spend some calm time there myself, to write, sew, draw, think. There is no charge to sit in my shed, neither will there be a payment. But it would be nice if you contributed to the charity while you were there.

From there, the Shed will be hot-footing it over to Stourbridge for LOAF. July 14th and 15th. She will grace the courtyard at the Coach House and be filled with wonderful live acoustic music… guitars, harp, double bass, violins, accordion, and beautiful voice after beautiful voice. I’m very proud of this little event, that grows every year. The quality of the art and the music gets better and better, as do the cakes.

As the organisation of these events goes on, I’ll no doubt be letting you know.

The garden in question is:

http://www.ngs.org.uk/gardens/gardenfinder/garden.aspx?id=22910.

If you have queries about the garden, contact Rachel, but if you’d like to know more about the shed, contact me through my website: www.elenathomas.co.uk

LOAF can also be found on the events page on my website, complete with links to all the musicians playing, so you can have a sneaky listen before you come. I’m also going to be doing some sort of SoundCloud release/download opportunity too.

Too long a post, sorry! Got carried away!

I’m torn…

Should my Shed have a blog of her own this summer? She’s got a few outings to herself, and plenty going on. Or should all these goings on be included in my “Threads” blog to keep the interest there? Lots of my work overlaps, but the Shed is one thing that could have a life of her own, bubbling along in the background, having her own adventures. I’m leaning most favourably on the side of keeping all my threads together, that’s why I called my blog threads in the first place really. I know many people have a new blog for each project – Julie Dodd particularly successfully. It can be read in isolation, just the bit you’re interested in, and have a coherence that chucking it all in together lacks.

However… I’m a chuck it all in kinda gal I think?

*shrugs*

Dunno.

(sounding more like recalcitrant teenager with every post!)

Also…

Because I’m a chuck it all in kinda gal, I’ve never had a plan.

Everything I’ve done, since leaving school really, has been spontaneous, accidental, incidental, co-incidental. Jobs have landed in my lap, or I’ve found myself in the right place at the right time – serendipitous – good word.

But…

At my age, waiting for something to fall into my lap could be seen as a waste of time. I could be “working towards” something. I could still be open to serendipity, but organise myself to be in the right places maybe. At some point in the next say… ten… years… I’d quite like to be in a position to say “from now on, I shall be an artist, and only an artist, till the day I die” What a wondrous, joyous, felicitous day of song and dance that will be!

Meanwhile…

I need an income, so I need the job, and I’m very lucky to have the job I have.

*shrugs*

Pipe-dream.

Photos of dress as promised…

also…

I had a review!

(scroll down below the pictures, the link is hiding!)

http:// garylongden.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/mouth-music-the-boars-head-kidderminster/