Coming home, two main things came out of this experience for me. Firstly, the cost, time and effort it takes to exhibit in an international exhibition, and secondly, the vast difference between Amsterdam and where I live now.
In terms of professional ambition I have always wanted to be an international artist, part of a global network of creatives. This, my premier showing outside the UK has proven expensive on my budget and I need to find ways to manage this whilst remaining true to my artistic intention and identity. This is tricky, and I need to think more carefully about what I make, how it can be transported and can it be installed without me? Can I find funds to make this happen, how do I distribute my money and what are the most important bits from the development of the artwork to it's exhibition and display? This I'm sure is achievable and I may need to think differently at certain points in the creation of new artworks. I employ the word 'may' because I mustn't put up barriers when in the flurry of creativity, although many artists as part of their practice set up rules or boundaries deliberately as part of their creative process.
Amsterdam is a beautiful city, vibrant and colourful. I walked everywhere whilst I was there and got lost in the process, still not finding all that I had intended to go to but happening upon other places in the interim. Everywhere there were bikes and cyclists, very innovative in the designs and use of their vehicles. You can purchase anything you want here. They have dedicated chocolate shops, cheese shops, sex shops, pancake bars, flower markets, I could go on...
The island I live on in Scotland is remote, but not the most remote. I have my silent place where I go to have quiet, just me, the loch, the mountains, the occasional sheep and birds. We have one street in our village which provides me with most of the essentials that I need. There is a community around me and I sometimes go further afield, even off the island, and that is when it gets expensive...
I regularly talk about de-cluttering in my life. It is a life style objective. We won't live on this island forever and when we move home next I surely cannot take all my art miscellany with me, not this time. I have started to reconsider old artworks, retrieving forgotten drawings, and liking the idea of making them into something new - the next stage in their development I guess. It is all relevant.
I have read about an artist who has set them self the target of writing each one of their blogs to a maximum of 50 words only. I like the idea of re-cycling and the concept of 'make do and mend' and embracing what you have got. Can I produce artworks that are aesthetic and worthy (whatever that word means) from this stand point?
I have some slate monoprints that I made back in 2008/9 and I have cut into them, dividing them up into portions. I am back into thinking about travelling, displacement, maps, territories etc. I would like to draw into them and change their appearance. Potentially I could have up to sixty drawings, a series, or one big fragmented piece?
Various including divided slate monoprints
You see on the right hand side of the photo above there are some fragments of a map, a series of line drawings I started on postcards, portions of places I had visited when I was travelling the UK back in 2010.
Photo still from film by Stephen Hurrel
You can just see a hint of these postcard maps on the wall behind the red chair when I was piercing my roll of paper in 2012.
Photo still from film by Stephen Hurrel
And notice the view of the world from space in the background.
Photo still from film by Stephen Hurrel
And behind me in this image are some large line drawings of whole journeys we took in the 18 months we were travelling around the UK and Europe.
Dress pattern paper yarn. Work in progress.
Whilst pondering I have done a little more yarn making with the dress pattern paper that has been in my storage for at least eight years. If you are able to look at the image closely, I particularly like the black markings that appear intermittently along the line of the thread. What can I eventually do with this? Present it as a ball of yarn? Or an installation of thread unravelled in a space...? N.B. I have tried knitting with it and it was horrendous with no give or elasticity, and this process seemed to complicate the simplicity of the thread, that being the 'star', the main focal point...
Three dimensional divided slate monoprints
With some of the portioned slate print cut ups I have been along the three dimensional route, influenced by my book making courses. I can visualise these as sculptures in their own right. They need drawing into, more work on them. I can also see them as large pieces, scaled up to walk around, imagine that.
The other thing that has been highlighted recently is how isolating living on an island can be. This is both a blessing and a curse. On a professional level I need to be in touch with my audience and the global creative community and I am working hard to increase my social media skills. I have spent quite a lot of time recently on the computer doing some online internet training, setting up a twitter account and working to improve my Linkedin profile. Do take a look and join me if you would like to.
I'm aware I haven't mentioned piercing paper in any way this time which is my identity and what I am known for particularly at the moment. The process of putting a needle through paper hundreds of times still sits there as part of my practice. My needle is poised you could say.
And the knitting with fishing wire? A piece is hanging suspended in front of my studio window, glistening, then vanishing in the changing light.
Here are some links to the various things I have talked about in this blog:
'The Critical Image' An Exhibition of Contemporary British Art by the group Plastic Propaganda
26 June - 27 July 2013:
The artists' group Plastic Propaganda which I am a member of:
My twitter page:
My LinkedIn Profile: