All packed up

I'm not long back from handing in my work to the Jerwood Drawing Prize. It's been one of those days where I'm feeling very unmotivated, I think it's got something to do with the heat wave that's hit London. Thankfully I had the help of lovely Joanne to give me a lift with my works to the submissions office. Otherwise I was feeling like I could just sleep for the day. Although I know that wouldn't have happened, I had to take a day of annual leave to go today, so it was now or never. But it just would have taken me a lot of strength and power of wills to get there, not to mention about 6 pairs of hands!
I really don't enjoy handing work into such things. I guess who does? Everyone is checking each others work out and I tend to feel so vulnerable showing off work that I have made. It's just such a personal thing, it makes you feel exposed in some ways. It's like you can almost hear peoples opinion forming in their minds of what they think. Paranoia and self doubt sets in and the temptation to perceive what others think can be a little destructive to say the least!!! It's all totally irrational, but my brain often doesn't take this on board. But I'm happy with the work I submitted. As I often have to remind myself...if you don't believe in your own work who will!?! There was a lot of work submitted already today at around lunch time and they still have tomorrow, so I think competition will be very high. Or maybe it's a case of quantity over quality, but I'm hoping at least one of my pieces will be chosen as a quality piece!!! So it's just the waiting game for the next couple of weeks, I'm not sure when I find out if I'm in or not, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Latest from the studio

The new studio space is paying off already, not financially (yet!!!) but from a creative point of view.....It feels good.
Here's the latest!

The Hair & Heart piece is a pen drawing using thread stitched into the paper. The Heart piece below is using pen and gouache whilst also using the pinhole technique that I have often used in the past.

I'm going to put both of them up in the shop over the next few days.

New Studio Space

At the moment I have an amazing amount of energy. I can't remember the last time I felt so buzzed up with lots of get up and go. Long may it last, I don't want to peak too soon. So, I'm trying to make the most of it before the beached whale look arrives and my movements look like they are in slow motion!

R & I both had a day off so we decided to rearrange the furniture...oh fun times...what an exciting life we lead! Our living room is open plan & it's quite a big long space. The thing is we tend to use about two thirds of it and the end of the room kinda gets ignored. We had a large bookshelf against the wall and beside it a few boxes and bags of art materials that have remained there since I moved out of my last studio space. I was so sick of looking at them, I like order you see and it used to drive me crazy that they didn't have a proper home. Now the bookshelf has been moved about 4 foot forward which acts like a partial room divider, I have a sneaky little desk in behind it against the window and the boxes are out of sight. It still needs some major organisation, to make it a proper working space, but it's looking and feeling good so far. The great thing is that our living area, even though it's been cut short, now works better. It feels more communal, having friends over no longer means that we are shouting at each other across the room, but it is more intimate with a proper seating area. We still need to do a few other things around the apartment (the nesting has well and truly begun!) but for the moment I'm happy to have somewhere to work that doesn't need to be packed up each time and put back in boxes.

Jerwood

I've just entered the Jerwood Drawing Prize. One of the aims of this prize is to create debate around the nature, value, status and representation of drawing as a contemporary practice. So whether you view this as more traditional drawing practice with a pen and piece of paper, or endeavour to cross the boundaries of traditional technique and challenge preconceived notions of what drawing is, it is generally up for discussion and open to enter.

I had great intentions of entering this last year also, but I missed the deadline as my work for the degree show was still up. So this is the year...If you're not in you can't win as they say! Who knows, it's a long shot, but if I got accepted it would be a great confidence boost and fantastic to have my work on show. But hey, I'm getting ahead of myself...I won't find out until July, so fingers crossed. But it's just good to get back into the mindset of creating and showing work. The works I have entered are works that I had on show for the 'Seamless' exhibition I was involved in a few months back. So, I haven't actually created any new works for it, but am giving 3 works an airing and a chance to be viewed by a new audience.

R&R

I just got back from 10 blissful days in Portugal! There wasn't much on the agenda apart from some major R&R (rest & relaxation) I got through 3 books, sat by the pool, that is on the days that the clouds parted and ate delicious seafood. Oh, and I even treated myself to the odd glass of vino, a woman in my condition has to live a little once in a while. But don't worry there were no renditions of 'Down at the Red Rose Cafe' in the wee hours!!
I had planned on bringing my sketchbook and some pens, but alas that didn't materialise. I have been thinking about doing a jewellery making course or getting back into knitting. Not that my knitting skills are in abundance, plain and purl is about the extent of my knitting talents. But I'm thinking it would be good to do something creative and crafty just for the fun of it...for the shits and giggles as they say.
Hope all is well wherever you may be & the sunshine is in abundance!

::roll up, roll up::

Some of my small canvas drawings are now up for sale on Dwanda for sale. I'm gong to try this out for a while and see if it's a grower and if so, who knows, I may even add to the collection or begin selling various other works.
Get em while you can!!

Excuses, Excuses....

Here's my excuse and a very valid one at that I think!
After weeks of nausea and fatigue, I finally feel more like me again.

Yep, looks like things are about to change around here!