So I have this good idea of what to do for the day’s artwork and I prepare for it and gather together what i need to make it and just as I begin I think “but what if i just….?” and then something else goes “Get out of the way and let me do this!” and I start getting scared because I have done that preparatory work and this other mad being that has possessed me might mess it all up and I’ll have to start again. On the other hand it seems to be going well. Ooh that looks good. Ah OK you were right. And then I find that I have a piece of work that looks like it is mine; that sits within the scope of work that I am currently experimenting with, yet moves it on in a new direction; and the best thing is it caused me no great effort. I am reminded of the story of “Mr Horrox and the Gratch” by James Reeves with wonderful drawings by Quentin Blake.
No341 gets posted in the dull light of a February day
Been doing admin sort of stuff today, mostly towards the show. If only “being an artist” meant I could spend all my time playing with paint or doodling with pens!
There have been more sightings of this snail mail snail, Helix preposterous. It was seen turning into East Street. If it is the same one that took No220 it could be headed towards Bridport Arts Centre.
I have been looking at the catalogue to the recent Miró show and I confess that certain things influenced my starting place for #Letter365 and in one way wish I hadn’t. I have been working on other aspects of getting this #Letter365 show on the road (and taking time out for a massage – much needed!) so I had left the creation of the artwork till quite late and it ended up taking much longer than I wished. It is a return to a theme I worked on a while ago and I am thinking I may do a lot more on once I have got this project out of the way,
Sometimes it all goes so swimmingly! I thought about this one on the way to the studio and wondered how it would work and apart from one minor hitch that I had to compensate for it all just fell into place and worked perfectly. If only everything in life was such a joy!
“How can that be” you say, “two #Letter365 postings on one day?” Well as you can see from the image above it was me that had to cough up for the fact I forgot the stamp the other day. Of course, when presented with the Post Office card, I couldn’t just nip round to the sorting office and pick it up as I’m not supposed to touch it again till we install the show. So I had to get the stamps and send off the card to get the piece delivered. Later in the day I popped No337 in the same post box.
No337 gets posted
Now the thing about No337 is I found it difficult at first to appraise its quality. I had been busy all day and just come from a meeting with Laura and Megan at Arts Centre planning the installation and though I had the idea quite quickly, my head was in a different space. It took me a while to move from the administrative state I was in and reconnect with my art life. I suppose you could say I should have trusted my instinct whatever state I was in – and I am very pleased with the result – but I had to be sure. It was worthwhile to have to find a way to switch states quickly so I now have some useful techniques at my command.
I spent the day in London to check out the Works On Paper fair at the Science Museum so posted my piece at South Kensington. I subsequently visited the excellent Marlene Dumas exhibition that just opened today at Tate Modern all of which you can hear more about on my blog.
One benefit of buying art unseen is that no one can question your taste. If someone says “why on earth did you buy that?” You can respond that you didn’t choose it, the artist did, you merely bought the idea (and it was cheap).
What do you get for your money when you buy a #Letter365 piece? You get a story: a story of how you were an art visionary; how you instantly understood the whole wonder of unseen art. You’ll laugh and joke as you tell the story and your friends will think you deep and intellectual; they will think you know a lot about art. You can tell them about meeting the artist at the private view of the installation, of the deep conversation you had, how amusing and witty you both were. You’ll talk of all the other influential art aficionados you met there and glow with pride.
An unfolding artwork created a piece each day for a year
