What I would like to do...

Sketches from when I used to go Life Drawing.

I've been thinking a lot recently about what I would like to be able to do.

Since finishing university, returning back to living with my parents and not earning much at all, I've noticed more that everything revolves around money and it saddens me. I need a job, any job that will enable me to be able to start saving up. However, getting one is not as easy as it sounds. I'm still stuck in the vicious cycle of needing experience to get a job, but I need a job to get experience.

I would love to be able to volunteer in a gallery; preferably at The Freudian Sheep because I adore the place, although they don't know about this wish. I already volunteer at the Banham Zoo Charity Shop and I really enjoy it. Volunteering can be good experience and at the moment that's the only way I can get any.

A big hope is that I want to have my own studio so I can paint and be creative without having to worry about making a mess or having cats get in the way. I'm finding it quite difficult without a space to go to like I had at university. If I could move out that would be a step towards having a place to work; I just can't afford to.

Now I'm also toying with the idea of creating my own zine, or maybe even a colouring book! What about a zine that you can colour in? Hmm... I'm going to need to look into this. I think that I would create an animal themed one; maybe animals that are at Banham Zoo and maybe donate some of the money made from it to them? To have any chance of this plan working, I have to get back into drawing!

Possibly would like to make small pots or something creature based as well (however, would a kiln be needed for this?). Just making something with my hands, that I could easily make and sell would be good... I don't know.

In short:

1. Get a 'proper' job to enable me to afford to do these things.
2. Volunteer in a gallery.
3. Have my own studio.
4. Create a zine.
5. Make little sellable items.

Right now I can only keep applying to jobs, keep hopeful and attempt to keep creative.

Degree Show set up & take down

Thankfully, I had a good idea of how I wanted my paintings set out for my area of the Degree Show, it really helped making a model (see it here) and planning what I wanted to get done at the end of each day.

I decided to hang first in an attempt to minimise any footprints that might have appeared. As people were busy sorting their own spaces out, I decided to do it all by eye and it didn't turn out horrendously. The floor edges were next and then all I had to do was simply fill it in with a roller. It was a lot of work, made worse by the fact the studios always get too hot!

My fellow budding artists seemed to like the orange. Although, one of my tutors had doubts - I proved him wrong! It was suggested to me at the beginning of the week that I should rearrange my paintings. I wasn't so keen on the idea, I wanted the space to be filled up and I was worried that the pieces may not work together as well. Apparently it was a unanimous decision of the marking team and I felt I had to.

The large grey painting was moved down the corridor and on the morning of the Private View, I finished moving what was left to make them all on a single level. I was definitely feeling the stress by then!

After the show was open to the public and finished, I had to get on with painting the floor back to grey before I returned home for a few weeks. Seeing it returned to the normal state of the rest of the studios, the orange was most definitely the right decision. Don't you think?

The final part was taking back to my room the paintings I decided not to put forward for the Truman Show in July. Then with the rest I covered the front in bubble wrap and put them downstairs in storage.

Courtyard Arts.

I think it's about time I shared this with you all seeing as it starts next week! You may remember that I blogged about an elephant painting last week and how it was going to go up in a show I was doing with fellow students? Well, this is that exhibition.

Things have been coming together over the past month or so, which is quite scary to think about, because it doesn't seem that long and it'll all be over before we know it. Being the lead contact, I've helped to converse between the gallery and the artists (students). Asking the questions that needed answering, organising meetings and just generally keeping everyone informed as best I can.

Honestly, it's been an experience, i've never had to do anything like this before. I now enjoy writing emails, I suppose they remind me of blogging, but are less... Public? I don't know. Working with 8 other people has been interesting, I've definitely learnt that making things happen by a certain time generally doesn't happen, I guess life just gets in the way. I also learnt that asking for help and giving out jobs is very helpful, especially if you end up forgetting a persons on the poster... (Shhh, we'll just brush that under the carpet). I did try and make it up to her by changing the poster the gallery made so it did have her name on it...

To put it bluntly, I don't reckon anyone would let me do it again, there were others in our group that would've been much better suited. It's been a learning experience to say the least and it'll carry on being so until our Private View is out the way. However, a couple of them said I've done well yesterday to the tutor. They had to be nice to me though... 1) I was there and 2) It was my birthday!

I'm sooo nervous about the PV! Never been to one before, let alone be the reason it's happening. Let's hope no one asks me about my work... Haha! I don't do too well in small spaces with people I don't know. I better get used to it, I do want my work out there! So wish me luck and I'll fill you all in about it next week. You know what I'm like with this blogging thing though. I'll either forget, be napping or watching Jurassic Park!

Oooo, I've just remembered we got a mention on our uni blog, so that was cool and exciting! See it here .

Deceased Fly.

All in the name of art...

Not only did I have the new experience of working with oil paint, I also worked with a dear little dead fly. This came about after moving my work from my studio space to the area I wanted to exhibit it in. I held the piece by the top as high as I could and walked along with it, not being the tallest person, the bottom dragged along the floor. I didn't realise the fly was there until stepping back from it after it had been stapled up.

I grew to love it over night and thought he was a welcomed addition. The next day was the time for setting up for the end of the warm up project exhibition (even though I had already set up - thanks to Uncle Clive). After helping to clear the spaces and we all started arranging where people would go, I had to move it again and unfortunately my new friend fell off. I had to have him as a part of my work, after all I have never worked with dead flies before, so I got some pva and covered the little fellow with it. I had to rest it up on the table because the fly would slip down and I didn't want him to fall off again. Eventually the glue dried and the deceased was securely in place.

Oxford: Take 2.

Last week we successfully visited the Ashmolean Museum, to see the 'Francis Bacon / Henry Moore: Flesh and Bone' exhibition. I should point out now that I advise you to go see it, whether or not you are a fan of their work. We learnt from our last attempt that Oxford is not like London. There are things that are not open on a Monday and this time we made sure to check before going again. Although it was an early start (for me anyway), it was worth it. I didn't realise until after leaving the building, that the experience walking through the rooms was an enjoyable one. We spent around 2 hours in there. I wasn't filled with a saddening eagerness to leave and get out as fast as I could, or blinded by shining lights and bright white walls. I'm surprised at how oblivious I was. There aren't many exhibitions that I can say that I have wanted to go to, other than the 'Litchenstein: A Retrospective' show at Tate Modern.

As well as visiting Modern Art Oxford...

(I'll get round to finishing this post at some point - maybe?)

Orange.

Acrylic paint on paper, A1.

‘Orange’. This is todays painting and once again the name is obvious. I have been thinking that maybe I need to be more imaginative with the naming of these pieces, because at some point I most likely will have a painting which will consist of a number of colours, e.g. red, blue, yellow, but what then, will I call it if those names are already taken? I guess I will just have to think about it some more. I am not as pleased with this painting at the moment, possibly in time it will grow on me, but for now everything I create is an experience to learn from. I don’t think this work has enough white in it and the brush strokes are not ‘messy’ enough. I had to mix the different shades this time to get the oranges, this made it difficult to add much white in because the would turn a flesh colour. Next time the painting will probably be purple or green.

Below are photos of stages to get to the final piece: