It’s that time of year again where the trees have lost their leaves and the evenings have drawn in. Its winter coats and woolly hats and time for reflection.
As I look back over the last twelve months I see a less hectic calendar of exhibitions than 2015. I deliberately slowed down this year. One: because, we moved house to a lovely home with a studio in the garden so that I can work from home. Two: because I was developing a new series of paintings. Coincidentally everything I have done this year has been local!
I start 2016 with my head down working hard to complete “But is it RAT?” my shortlisted installation for the Anagram exhibition at Kingston Museum. Work for this commenced in October 2015 when I sent in a proposal for the concept using photos from my first draft. I made the shortlist and started work in earnest to produce the final piece. I was really pleased to have been shortlisted and determined to execute it well.
There were times during the planning and making of this installation that I wondered: “Have I taken on more than I can handle?” It was a project that stretched me in many ways. I was working with some dangerous chemicals and there were lots of moving parts that had to be brought together in a timely way to make it all work. I think I would make a great project planner now given the skills I gained along the way. It made moving house feel like a breeze. To top it all off, my installation was runner up for the people’s choice award! I blogged the whole process of making “But is it RAT?” on my blog.
Overlapping the Anagram exhibition in April I also exhibited “Eve in Exile” and “Eve’s Soul” at the Baxter Gallery in Kingston with Patsy Buchanan’s Under the Radar exhibition. Every time I used to drive into Kingston I would see the artwork in the big windows that faced out to the road. It was such a visible location for passing pedestrians and traffic.
Open studios in June went well. We had a greater number through our doors than ever before and I sold a few pieces. One in particular was bought by an art lover who had seen the piece the previous year at Open Studios and again at the Menier Gallery before contacting me this year to make the purchase. I am very happy it went to someone who will really appreciate it.
In September, I participated in The Merton Arts Festival for the first time, with fellow artist and friend Ben Nicholas. It was an arts trail for the Merton area and a lot of the exhibitors were from in and around Wimbledon. We showed our work in Ben’s house with some glass makers. There were lots of interesting sculptures made of glass and ceramics in his garden. I kept walking around going, “I want that one!”
Finally, I was contacted by my college Putney School of Art and Design, to give an artist talk for their second year students. I was delighted to be asked and spent over a week preparing a presentation on Keynote, an excellent presentation tool my husband recommended to me.
The talk, at the beginning of December, was a journey of my experiences as an artist. My aim with this talk was to get them thinking about their development and identity as artists and their strategies for moving forward. I had learnt a lot in the last four years and it was rewarding to be able to share that with them. I enjoyed being back at my old college and seeing my tutor Jan again. It brings back many fond memories. It was an honour to share my knowledge with this years 2nd year students. My talk was well received and the students found the content useful. It’s amazing to think that it wasn’t that long ago that I was sitting in their seats listening to another artist talk about their practise. So much has happened sine then and I have grown through it all. I look forward to developing my practise further in the New Year where I will be focusing on my painting in my lovely new home studio.