I saw this pigeon sat in the window of a posh shop front in Nottingham City centre and it made me smile from ear to ear. It was so out of place next to the huge high heels. Imagine a world where pigeons walk freely among us. Not labelled street rats but equals. I wonder if many others would have the a penchant for heels such as these
Real inspiration
I have just had such a wonderful evening with my two friends, Tom and Lyz drinking tea brewed in a teapot and eating carrot cake. Blooming marvellous!
For a long time now, Toms Dad has been a source of inspiration to me because of the stories I have been told about his meticulous categorisation and data collecting of every day life happenings. He has been collecting every train ticket he has ever used dated back to the 80’s, he has a spreadsheet where he logs every car he has ever driven and he has a beer bottle collection. The latest one is my favourite by far and made we far too excited! Toms Dad has kept a list (again on a spreadsheet – brilliant!) of all the money he has found in the last 3 years. As someone who takes great delight in picking up a penny and believing in its luck value, I think you can understand how this has made my day.
Lyz also has a relative who enjoys the act of list making. Her Uncle has a suit where he keeps in its pocket a list of all the occasions that he has worn it. I think that is such a lovely idea and keepsake. Imagine going to a charity shop and buying an item of clothing, only to find a little glimpse into its history in the pocket.
The only time I have successfully collected data is when I wrote down absolutely everything I spent for a couple of months at University. I had to stop as I started to bring every conversation back to how much things cost and it wasn’t a popular subject. Also, try going for a drink with your friends and getting out a notebook after every transaction; you’ll soon realise, I was far from the ideal date.
Craft potential
As part of White Rabbit Studios we are hoping to get involved with the Hockley Arts market. I have my thinking cap on about what I could bring to such an event.
I have a few ideas along the same lines as my practise but in a sellable form. I would like to use some of my photographs of abandoned furniture in some way.
I would also like to try my hand at making clocks as someone who is fascinates by them. I think I’m finding it difficult to translate my ideas but I think it’s an interesting challenge.
We went to the Hockley Arts Market this weekend to have a look round and I thought Gemma Latimer’s illustrations were fantastic. Will definitely purchase when I have moved into new house. Looking forward to having lots of framed delights on the walls.
Time for reflection
How long is a piece of string?
I think that this piece was the most successful out of the three. It was a development from measuring physical objects with string, to measuring time.
A lot has happened since Sherwood Arts Week which has given me the time to think about how it all went and what’s next. I was very nervous about our first open studio event. I work full time and had an important deadline on the day before the studio was due to open its gates. I hadn’t exhibited for about 5 months and some of my ideas were very new, for example the video piece ‘Five and a half square feet’.
I couldn’t have been happier with the amount of people who came along and the level of engagement was brilliant. I think because it was a weekend, daytime event people had more time to stop and share opinions. Also there was a regular flow of people instead of everyone arriving at the same time which meant that you could give people your time.
Wonderful weekend
I had a wonderful weekend at our open studio as part of Sherwood Arts Week. We had 200 people through our gates and we met such lovely people. I’d like to thank everyone who came and showed their support. I am looking forward to us hopefully having more events in the future.
As part of the exhibition I had a computer set up with excel open so people could make their own spreadsheet art.
It was a very straight forward idea. I just wanted to give people the opportunity to use a piece of office software for a different function than it would usually be associated with. Here is what was created:
Finding time – 1 week to go
There is 1 week to go until ‘Finding Time’ located at White Rabbit studios. There is lots to be getting on with and I am feeling a nervous excitement. We were at the studio till late last night and I realised two things 1) I have never looked in our shed before and 2) The space has lots of potential for future projects. I think I finally feel at home in a studio.
All the colours
I have just had my second attempt at spreadsheet art and I have realised that I like the idea of giving myself rules. This came as no surprise! This one I had to use all of the colours and I could only use them in certain orders. I am in the middle of creating one called ‘All borders’ where I have to used only borders to create a pattern. It is harder and less satisfying but I shall persevere.
I have so much to do and make for ‘Finding Time’ which is very ironic. I am currently making a 4 week action plan. It reminds me of how much I used to thrive on making the revision timetable (colour coding and all), always at the expense of the revision. You would have thought I’d learnt.
100 balls of string
100 balls of string were delivered to me this week and now I can really get stuck into the work.
Getting anxious about the amount of time left but there’s no surprise there. 6 weeks and counting until Sherwood Arts Week. Made a week by week plan tonight which I will no doubt disobey.
I’m wondering how long I can wrap string around my hand for. The bigger the balls of string are, the more intricate they become. I would like to do it for a days work or a nights sleep. It’s a huge investment and stress on my body. May start with a film.
Memo Holder
Spent the evening in the Robin Hood which is a lovely pub in Sherwood with Katie and Adam. Feel really positive after being a little lost about what I’m making for Sherwood Arts Festival. We’re having an event/exhibition at White Rabbit Studios which we’re all in the process of making work for.
I cannot believe how link happy I just got. I’m very excited about having this space to jot down my ideas and progress.
I have been trying to make a Memo holder using wooden rulers and combs. Today I realised that I don’t like using glue to stick the ruler to the comb and i’m getting frustrated. I either need to get more patience or try different materials. Perhaps string or tape. I might even start to make different objects with the wooden rulers as I’m falling out of love with the idea of a memo holder. It’s starting to feel a bit daft and would like to work on other ideas.