Food glorious food

I have been thinking and talking about food a lot lately. The Ickworth part of the project is fast moving and very exciting. I have taken Ben to see the house and gardens this week and I am hoping to take Jamie there also soon. Plans are afoot to recreate history in an edible form and the writing planned is truly enthralling whilst the scope for making new and exciting things is for now, gigantic. The enthusiasm met at the house is quite frankly a revelation to me and is more evidence that people inside institutional frameworks can act appropriately and with much kindness.
I have been attempting my own sugar and salt craft this week to disastrous effect, so back to the drawing board for a while so to speak. My drawn imaginary landscapes however have been a lot more enjoyable and a run around the show at Smiths Row in Bury St Edmunds three times over, a brief run around Bury Gardens as well as Ickworth have put fresh air into my lungs and have cleared a path through the grey fog of the day job. Hurrah.
In a week or so I start my own Grand Tour of the English landscape, meeting new writers and revisiting the houses involved in the project.

Yesterday I visited Smiths Row to see the fantastic work of Pip & Pop with a friend. As well as seeing the work I mixed in a couple of mini meetings to which one extended to the early evening. Plotting and planning the next couple of weeks I am hoping to take Ben Moor to Ickworth to think through our findings and ideas. Catherine and I met up with him on a very cold day on the Southbank this week and he is onboard with the projects and has offered forward some great ideas in terms of story telling. This is SO exciting.
I have also asked another artist friend to make some culinary delights for the opening and he brought with him some beautifully illustrated ideas from exerpts from a book I have leant him. We had a lovely walk around the House in semi darkness just to give him an idea of the grounds. I hope to get him to meet the lovely people there soon and to inspect the interior. The project is now moving on a pace and Catherine has been brilliant in inviting a really exciting designer to pull the images and text together. I should hear back fro the NT this week about the images I have sent them, so hopefully that will be able to move forward too soon. More updates over the next few days..

Musketeers

Tomorrow I am meeting up with Catherine and the writer and actor Ben Moor to discuss our ideas for Telling. I am looking forward to this part of the project the most as I hope to be steered gently into the arms of some truly creative collaborators. Along with this I hope to get to see Miss Dover's show at Transition and Mr Pearls work at The London Art Fair as well as running past Five Hundred Dollars to collect unsold work. I did also sell work, so I am keen, as ever, to see who too. These snippets of information add to the backstories being written in my diaries that contain the secrets of gimp and his world.
I am hoping to hear from The National Trust this week about the print run and have booked a trip every week in February to other venues involved in Telling; so a lot of time will be spent discussing ideas and plotting with writers in Suffolk, Yorkshire, London, Devon and The Lakes. Its going to be great!
I hope tomorrow to start plotting my build for Exeter, I love plotting!

Oh the joy

At last I have stopped momentarily. Last week was of epic proportions in terms of teaching, accounting, gallery visits, airports and making work. It reached a climax on Friday when I finally arrived home, climbed the stairs and headed straight for my pillow. I rested there for 11 hrs, true bliss. Why is it that so many deadlines come at the same time when I am behind in the first place? Urgh, never mind. Next week involves a trip next week to London town once more to visit and discuss our exciting project with the first writer and curator. Things are now moving forward a pace. I also having a meeting to discuss another part of the project on Friday with another artist which ssounds very promising indeed. The good people at The National Trust and their design company have asked me to tweek the work for the leaflet, so after photographing them tomorrow, they should be in the relevant in trays at the end of play tomorrow.
My plans for The Exeter show are moving on slowly and my purchase from ebay arrived safely on Friday. Now I just have to find the time to draw out a plan and then start to make. I hope to get to my away studio on Wednesday. I need to start building the frame first and that will take a bit of time as it will need to be portable in order for it to travel.
Exciting week ahead, looking forward to it alot.

Lord fanny and his crystallum mount

Things are moving on a pace. An exciting proposal for the summer has just been agreed and as soon as I am able the next meeting will take place to discuss things further. I have decided to make a structure to house my works for the Exeter show. I am therefore sourcing materials for this and hope to start making soon. Its is very exciting for me in terms of culminating my recent thoughts, so lets hope it works. if not, well, it will be warmer in my studio.
My research into The Herveys of Ickworth has involved buying a book to get to know the inhabitants more. Published in 2001, it is a relatively recent account of the activities there and is so far proving invaluable.
The Fellowship in which I now belong is starting to amass ideas for forthcoming shows and hopefully a residency. If our proposals are successful it should be a really good start to the year, hopefully moving on to other exciting propositions at a later date.
My work for the Trust New Art has been photographed and sent and my next exploration is to attempt crystalising certain solutions to inform new working ideas. Lets hope it doesnt all evaporate into very little.

I start the year of 2011 with the following in mind. Puce, flour, bigamous marriages and 'Young Hounds', a reference to some extremely handsome young architects that are close to hand.
These excerpts are included in my diaries and will probably feature heavily in this years work. As the pace gathers for what I can only see as an amazingly exciting year, I am starting this year of 2011 with working hours of around 16 - 18 hrs per day which is how I function best. Of course, after around 6 weeks of doing this, exhaustion catches up, but for now, I am high.
I am filling my sack up with more secretive issues which again is something I enjoy. Unlike a child and seemingly some adults, I am able to keep secrets well and quietly enjoy the frustration from others when I tell them I have them. So this will be integral to my practice, more so than before.

As well as making new work, I have been reading heavily for research purposes and my life has become much richer for it. The eccentricities of my research feeds my diaries, ideas and work and with the addition of overheard conversations and the found, it is my plan that 2011 will be the year of escapism.
With many plans afoot, my escapism should be held upright by a number of exciting residencies, stays away, collaborative and solo happenings. Undoubtedly, I am sure Freud would read me well, so for now, catch me if you can.

Trust NewArt

I have been working on some images for The National Trust, in particular for the Trust New Art initiative. I have been selected to
make work for a large run print run for a leaflet that will be travelling up and down the country to promote Trust New Art.
As well as this I am making new work for those couple of shows I have been talking about which will involve (hopefully) structures, drawing, sounds and the like before I embark on making work for the five stately and unusual properties across the UK later on this year. Head down and off we go.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-chl/w-places_collections/w-trust-new-art.htm