next move

Six weeks in the making, Open House was wrapped up on Saturday at BCA where David and I spent the day talking and schmoozing with the good people of Bedfordshire and the turn out was very healthy indeed.
The work overall we were pleased with and the process of making it with each other successful. On our way back to Davids house I enjoyed my last (for now) reflective conversation that I have grown to love over the last six weeks.
I have spent the last few days attempting to coordinate the expansive life that I appear to now lead. Meeting people, collecting money, sorting out shows, emailing him and her messages all times of day and night....This has, for now, stopped momentarily and I am considering my next move. I hope it is in the forwards direction, rather than the sideways approach that I have been leading for the last month.
I will be part of the next Wysing Contemporary show which opens in little under a month. Lets hope it all runs smoothly. Now, I am off to draw.

The House, the House..

A good day with exciting outcomes today. Ickworth Hall in Horringer, Suffolk is an exciting place. With intriguing histories, stories and characters that have lived in it, I hope to start researching. My guide was a fantastically inspiring man with a deep knowledge of the inner and outer workings of the site itself. I came away with a head full and visual stimulated beyond my expectations. I have composed a list of things that could be of interest. But most importantly, the Marquis of Bristol returns to Ickworth next month, only wish I was invited.

My mind

My mind is a fog. Perhaps 'afog' is a true word, I must look it up, who knows? I am feeling slightly agitated that I have seen little of the summer this year due to my workload being 'busy' throughout the last 6 or 7 weeks. My life is being kept together (just) with a series of lists with so many fingers in so many pies that it is hard to work out the overall priority of my 'inbox'.
One mustn't grumble however, for it is just as well that days are given names from Sunday to Saturday, otherwise I would have been on a dripping pile long ago.
The show in Southend is now down and I am working for a couple of days in Bedford each week with the boys and our project is growing. It would have been nice to have the benefit of more sustained time, but this is at present, difficult for all of us for a variety of different reasons. There is an open house on 25th September, more details to follow.

I am to meet someone this week, veiled in a cloak of mystery, in the Bedford region to hand over a couple of works that he has bought from me. I have bought a new laptop in order for me to function properly whilst 'out of the office', so the guilt of spending so much money, has been relieved by the sales from the show and the promise of new work from it.
This week, I am also meeting some more people at the fantastic Ickworth House to hopefully cement next years 'Telling' project and have everything crossed that we can confirm the venues fully by the end of the month. Catherine has been working on the project going to a London venue, so I am hopeful that we will finally be on target. The majority of writers for this project have also been confirmed and I am really looking forward to moving the project on, collaborating with them as I go.

I have to find the time also this week to discover a sequenced way of working for a research project. This in theory should not be difficult, I am just needing to work through what I have to offer.

The priority this week is to work on images for a book binder to peruse, lets hope that idea works!

I am currently working on a new collaborative project at BCA. David, Darren and myself have wandered around Bedford to get a sense of what we want to achieve, with the the hows and the whys thrown in.
Our starting point is Borough Hall, a large, foreboding structure which somehow managed to remain quite tucked away in the town itself. I have decided to start some collages off with the idea of working on my own as well as others works. I would really like to interpret these somehow into small and large scale structures with the added process of superimposing a film on top. I am really keen to explore the theatrical side of things and can see it in my head, even if it hasn't been realised as yet. The boys and I really need to put our stamp on the place and tomorrow, I really must explore the idea of installing some kind of work station or surface to work from.

Under a heavy blanket

I am currently working through my 'to do' list for the weekend, will it never end?
Coexist
DB photograph
SG book cover
scans for boys
images for studio 8
Telling images
HH research
C of MC research
ALR phone call
neo C project
WH project
Liv's stuff
receipts
postcards
paint
Not to mention: day job and MA

Lots of exciting things have come out of the last few days. As a result of our meeting in Northampton and then Bedford our collective have some exciting news that will be revealed in the not too distant future. The day was mad with things flying in and out at a rate of knots but wound up in a 6 week project to work in a new direction. I have since sold work from the show in Southend and have a lead onto a further piece which i am negotiating as I write.
Next week I take a break to think and write more of my stories in the Yorkshire Dales to coincide with a couple of meetings in and around the area. Things, as ever, are super busy which is what I guess I fortunately thrive on.

Show opening in Southend done and appears to have been well received. Today I went on what turned out to be a whistle stop tour of Northampton and Bedford. More news about that in the days to come..