Sunday 31 July 2016

development










I have been spending the last couple of weeks, rebranding myself no obvious change just yet, more of a slower burner development stage I am in right now. In preparation for my new show next year and my studio. A bit like developing a capsule wardrobe for yourself so you have to think less about what to wear each day you can focus on the things that need more energy. 
It has been tricky to create work for myself with everything that has been going on in work and personal life. I do feel very positive for the next stage. Writing down phrases to stick to for my next block of work. I feel flowers to me is what geometric shapes are to Sean Scully its a way of expressing yourself. I was saying to my potter friend who I am creating work with that, I may be paintings flowers on the pots now but I think eventually the shapes of the flower will be pure movement in the end. 







Games room in Landmark Trust property Monkton Old Hall in Pembroke 

Thursday 21 July 2016

of late










- started the ball rolling for my 5 year plan for buying my own land to build on. Firmly in my intentions  making a mood board. pinterest where would I be without you!

- the proms opened with the The BBC Symphony Orchestra playing La Marseillaise, France's national anthem, to a packed Royal Albert Hall.

- I have always been drawn to Andy Goldsworthy work. When watching him I find him such a true artist. It is all about he philosophy, inspiration and passion you have for what you do. Never during this video to you feel like he is lost in his work or that its all a big con. What he says about his red stone piece just opened my eyes, to how everything is connected. 

- off to see David Bowies private collection at Sotheby's soon. Watch the little video they created for it. So influenced by this man and how he found inspiration. 







bridget bardot
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Sunday 17 July 2016

of late










- I watched the film Paddington this week and its the most imaginative children's film I have seen since spirited away. And the comic timing was brilliant! 

- Saw on arts nights spotlights on contenders for museum of the year, and for the first time discovered the sculpture park Jupiter Artland looks fantastic! First time discovering Anya Gallacio her piece 'the light pours through me' has a spiritual quality to it because of the mass of Amethyst.

- looking forward to the BFG. Thank god for Roald Dahl stories otherwise I wouldn't of read as a child. And Mark Rylance is someone I admire, he has a subtly and knowledge.

- was my sisters wedding yesterday at the Talbot Inn in Mells. and they just smashed it! out of the park service and food, such a perfect day. 

- I have a girl crush on Jessica Kamm think she has a really brilliant aesthetic and approach to business and life. I also want her house and wardrobe. 









pinterest (i think instagram grau) 

Tuesday 12 July 2016

honesty










I often get told that I am a very intense person. I don't see it, I see passion and drive. And the person calling me intense or dramatic, is probably unaware what passion feels like. There is something to be said for the miss use of words at the moment. My personal theory is because we have forgotten how to feel properly how to truly be ourselves and speak our truth. I feel like a drama queen a lot of the time amongst groups of people because if someone asks, 'so whats going on with you these days' I will tell them. I wont hide behind my white picket fence and say its all peaches and cream chum. I will say what is going on that day, that might be the best day or might be an ordinary day or it might be a fucking shit day. Either way i am telling them my story. How are stories created? its through life! 
You don't read books about people having conversations on where is the best place to buy organic veg, or what funny thing your pet did the other day.  
Communicating properly is fundamental otherwise we would of been created to be mute! all animals communicate in someway. That is how you learn things, how you are shaped as a person. 
I am on my soap box about this because it is bugging me. We have got into this stiffling environment.

My views though are about to change. I was reading an interview with Hockney in Tatler and it is the same interview, which I have seen in the last 5 magazines. Smoking, being gay in bradford, Los Angles, how long he works. I admire this man a lot for his artwork but for someone who says he is so outspoken doesn't really seem to be. What is going on? Another person I admired was David Bowie I was devastated when he died, but he was incredibly private, and well known for that. They both have privacy in common could this  be a protection method? I guess so, I talk a lot about my private life to my friends as a way of differing from my artwork as that is my true private life, I don't want peoples thoughts on it. After recent events in my life, I feel I  have to become more like my idols and be more private. As its starting to affect me I thought as above it was great to share, but when people don't you feel very lonely in your honesty. And this loneliness has lead to vulnerability, and people can be cruel. 

I have other stories to tell, as I am a constant explorer of culture, maybe these are the stories I am meant to be sharing. 








acrylic on paper, Diana Jahns, E.M. Galerie, Drachten, Nederland.

Monday 11 July 2016

freedom










Since the move of the studio I have become very self aware of myself. I underestimated the effect it would have on me the separation of my creative place and all my work being stored in different locations.
It was the one thing of mine that I felt attached to, was my commitment. Everything else in my life is someone else's 'thing.' House I live in is my mums, part time job is someone else's vision. I know this is why I am having doubts about setting up my own building on someone else's land. As the building will be mine but still doesn't give me that 100% freedom. Then it was a eureka moment everything to me that is important is about freedom, and I only doubt myself when my freedom starts to get taken away from me. Probably why I have been dreaming of far off countries like the desert, everything is wild there. The Australian outback a harsh land but beautiful at the same time. I have always been drawn to it, to ride wild horses, to swim in the outdoors. 
I have this dream because I know it will come true. But your dreams always tell you something. I am dreaming of freedom, how do I create my own freedom? Firstly I know I have it and its not something that can be created or be taken away, freedom is in your soul. Thats why I think people get confused when they think of their job, relationships etc as encroaching on their freedom. Its your doubts and fear and monotony that chisels away at it. 
You got to look at your doubts as if it was a fierce animal standing in front of you, and how do you choose to face it? I know that someday in the future I will buy my own plot of land to build on, move the studio I will build in September onto it as well,  and then it will be my own little piece of wild. 
I see other artists have done this, Georgia O'keeffe had ghost ranch, the bloomsbury group had Charleston. And I suppose I have reached that same stage now that I know the reason behind these artists homes. 







pinterest

Saturday 9 July 2016

of late









- found this video through free and native. Going to have to watch it few times to get it to sink in but there is some very interesting advice to be learned. re programming yourself to break habits to let in new thoughts. 

- I like these " rules for life" very much. Found on a piece apart blog. 
1. Be comfortable in the discomfort – change is on the horizon and it will inevitably take you somewhere interesting. 
2. If you’re stuck, get up and leave – the answer usually is not within the room you are sitting. 
3. If there is any ounce of initial doubt, linger there for a moment and explore it. There is a reason it exists. 
4. If a piece is not singing to you, don’t be afraid of wiping the page clean and starting again. You learned from the experience, but you don’t need the paper to record it.

- I have put my postcards and tape I made at a lower price on etsy. Purely as I am going to discontinue the line because I want to make room in my studio and not have to buy special sized envelopes anymore that take up more room. that is all. 

- Richard Tuttle, artists are like clouds. I agree with some but not all he says. 

- my friend showed me an old catalogue of shaker furniture. I loved the honey coloured wood. Defiantly want to get my hands on something shaker for my studio, I find it very pleasing to look at. 

- the pottery collaboration is still underway, and I might of turned it all on its head. the tests we created are beautiful but it needs more something? so I have been looking at pictures of Lucie Rie. But it is hard to find things out about her, no videos or documentaries. why is this?






agnes martin

Monday 4 July 2016

of late











- some of the free people videos are quite cheesy but I have always liked this road trip one with erin Wasson. 

- I regretted not going up to see the Agnes Martin exhibition at the Tate modern. I just didn't know  about her. And now I adore her work and her philosophy. There are brilliant documentaries about her on You tube. Watch what she has to say, its so honest. 

- Georgia O'keefe. I like her work but I like how she moved to the desert and adapted her work to life out there. I will go see her show at the Tate Modern, even if I think £19 entry is very steep. 

- came across this beautiful piece of music. Umrika Village - Dustin O'Halloran

- listening to Tracks by Robyn Davidson on audio book, while traveling at the moment. It is a great story, fuels my desire to go to the outback.

- i posted this quote up on my instagram from the book into the wild. This quote to me sums up the only way I live, and where happiness exists. 







anish kapoor