I had seen a few posts come up on Face Book about #artchain but wasn’t really sure what it was about. Then I was nominated by a couple of friends. As I am quite distant from my own work and very busy with other work and life at the moment I felt fearful of having to perform and post my stuff when I didn’t really feel like it. But I also wanted to do it for my friends and because I thought maybe it would be good for me.
The basic rules for #artchain seem to be you post three pictures a day for five days of your work on Face Book with the hash tag #artchain in the title somehow and nominate someone else each day. Everyone does it their own way and for different reasons but basically its about sharing.
I decided do a mini retrospective of my journey so far as an artist and went right back to my student days and I ended up enjoying myself and I feel like putting the whole #artchain thing on here so it’s all in one place.
So here it is
Day 1 #artchain I have been nominate by two artist friends to do #artchainThank you Suzy Sharpe and Tamsen Flack. Sorry I have taken a while getting around to it. I have to post 3 photos of my work for 5 days and nominate a new artist every day. Not sure I can nominate anyone as I don’t know many artists and the ones I do know seem to have done it already. Anyway I thought I’d go back a bit and have a look at my degree and post graduate work. So day 1 is from Kinston Polytechnic 1986. My degree show. Big stuff in steel and bronze.
Day 2 #artchain a few years on, some things from my post graduate show at the Royal Academy of Arts1990 – lovely latex!
Day 3 #artchain– so my art was smaller and more private for the next 15 years or so. Busy moving to Cornwall, getting married, working full time for Cornwall Wildlife Trust and having a baby. Just writing, dreaming in sketchbooks and occasionally painting small things for my friends.
Day 4 #artchain. 2006 onward drawing and writing and making digital collages in Photoshop. Eventually 2010 had a studio and could start to make again. I’ve put a 1990 latex piece along side a 2006 digital collage and finally a 2011 resin piece. Things are different and the same.
Day 5 #artchain. I was always outdoors naming the plants and the birds as a child but I got lost in London. It wasn’t the best place for me. Now having lived in Cornwall and worked for Cornwall Wildlife Trust for more than twenty years I have re-linked with my roots, my curiosity and awe of the natural world and my being an artist. Now it’s Me, Cornwall and the sea.
Not sure what happens now because I am still overwhelmed with life and work and still not making or drawing but it’s helped me see that it’s OK to stop and do other things. I am not a career artist. I just do what I love doing and sometimes that is making art and sometimes that is swimming and walking and enjoying being with my friends and family. When I feel good about things I will share and when I need to keep quiet I will keep quiet.
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