I am busy writing my dissertation, not doing an essay this time but rather a report called 'Conception, Perception, Reception – UK Public Art in the 21st Century'
What a long title eh?
Hope that this will be a prelim report for what can continue into full research project for an M.A.
I am making a facebook group, myspace page and have just started twittering. (Thats a very odd thing I'm finding)
I am hoping for lots of input from joe public, if you would be interested in answering my questionnaire please email me at [email protected]
If you twitter, please follow me and leave comments at
http://twitter.com/Publicartquest
Easter Hols – spent 3 hours in an indoor kids play area – very loud!!!!
Spent the rest of the day trying to get my head around my essay and failing miserably but have made a facebook group for the Degree show and my friend Julie made a myspace website: www.myspace.com/wmcdegreeshow2009
We spent all day yesterday preparing the pdf pages to send to the printers for our catalogue so I guess it's been a productive week so far.
Been doing some photo manipulation too, just so that I didn't have to write essay – the things you to for avoidance tactics.
Tomorrow (in fact I have just seen the time, so later today) I will be spending the day at Liverpool World Museum with the kids and……with my essay notes.
Got my site specific elective results and scraped a 1:1 – phew!
Got 70 which is the lowest 1:1 mark you can get. I should be really pleased – I got a 1st!!
Instead….. I am disappointed in myself that I didn't get a higher mark – there's no pleasing some people is there?
Waiting for elective results and stressing out about it
I know they get posted out today so it'll undoubtedly be Monday before I hear anything – if at all – I have a habit of never getting the letters college send and always find out after everyone else.
Andrew Bryant has put together a blog cluster on art and parenthood and has asked me to reflect on this, so I have been thinking…I wonder what effect my studying has on the kids?
I have two boys aged 4 and 10, I was especially stressed in November when I was preparing for assessment AND helping one revise for the 11+ exam. It's not just us artists who have to work hard – that 11+ stuff was actually quite difficult!
I know I don't have anywhere near as much time as I want to actually 'play' with the boys and I am looking forward to the end of June so much as it means I can 'temporarily' get back the fun part of my life with them. I do feel a bit guilty but art really is something I NEED to do, I wouldn't be much of a mum if I was unhappily sat in an office job for the rest of my days.
Anyway, I mix parenthood and art – both boys are amazing at drawing for their age, both love making things with me. Take the books I have been folding and making for my degree work, I have sat with them and shown them how to do it which has led to paper folding of their own, they can both make a mean paper airplane and we had fantastic origami snowflakes at Christmas.
I think if i keep them included and they understand why I love being an artist so much, they will never mind me being so busy. The little one has his own mini easel that he loves painting at while I am painting at my own easel.
It's all about sharing…. mind you, if they got hold of my 'real' art materials instead of their own cheapy kids stuff I don't know whether I'd be saying that so easily!
Well, it took me a week to recover but I finally got all the elective work displayed – just have to wait now. That part is always the worst for me.
On a different note I have been researching cardboard tubes – mad the things you have to think of on this course but so useful. If I was a working artist and my work that I am producing at the moment had been commissioned I wouldn't be faffing around with making wooden transportation frames, so I researched how else I would be transporting the books.
8ft high cardboard tubes is how, cut in half and hinged to be removed once each book is hung – ingenious.
AND only £250 for 10 tubes – I am so tempted – life would be sooo much easier with said tubes but then I have to feed my kids too – so -cardboard tubes and beans on toast all month or hard work and let them eat cake?
