Slight hiatus in the sending of No2 as I am waiting for something to dry. It could be paint, it could be glue or I might have washed my hair and don’t want to go to the post box with it wet! Have no fear #Letter No2 will be posted before the witching hour even though we have a friend staying over.
The first delivery
I met with Polly Gifford to sort out the details of the #Letter365 project and exhibition – at least as much as we could at this stage – and I delivered the first #Letter365 envelope personally.
I am really excited to be working with Bridport Arts Centre on this unfolding, year-long project and I am grateful for Polly’s support and enthusiasm.
No1 ready to go
The project is underway. The first piece is finished and sealed in the envelope ready for delivery to Polly at Bridport Arts Center in an hour’s time.
I had originally planned to design the envelopes before the event and get them printed so they would all be the same, but the swift start has meant that you will be able to watch the process towards the final design over the coming days. I had thought I would have this first one just drawn in pencil but I need it to stand out in a photo with Polly for sending to the Press!
I also didn’t manage to find any suitable envelopes in our lovely but small town of Bridport so I am using some old ones where the self seal has gone. So I have used sealing wax to secure this:
Of course you also cannot buy proper sealing wax in Bridport so I am using an old stick of not very good decorative sealing wax. The impression is part of our branding iron for beekeeping equipment. I suppose I should make my own sealing wax! Perhaps I will.
Anyway i am really pleased with the piece I created today and will be happy that the future purchaser has got good value!
Mad is genius
I am pleased to have friends in the Twittersphere to keep me sane! I do have a small concern about starting #Letter365 before I have finished #Collage365 – especially when I have to be away from home – but it’s only a couple of weeks commitment to the collages, after that I’ll have to decide if I continue making a collage a day. I need to have something regular getting out there to keep people interested as I will struggle to make #Letter365 visually engaging through the year.
So what’s the idea?
The basic idea for #Letter365 is that, wherever I am, I will create a small, unique, original artwork every day for a year. I will seal it in an envelope and dispatch it for delivery (or deliver it myself) before midnight on that same day to Bridport Arts Centre, where it will be stored, unopened until the exhibition.
People are invited to purchase these works unseen, in advance and during the show, at affordable prices. Only those works that have been purchased will be opened and the contents displayed as part of the installation.
I will record the process on this blog and photographically and in whatever other ways may evolve during the process.
I hope the process will be inclusive and that purchasers as well as other artists and performers will become participants in the process as it evolves
The fact that #Letter365 is starting so quickly means that everyone can witness the evolution of the basic concept and the design decisions as it proceeds.
I hope you enjoy it.
A new 365 project to follow #Collage365
About nine months ago I casually asked Polly Gifford, Director of Bridport Arts Centre, if she would let me display my #Collage365 project in the Allsop Gallery as it was probably the only wall in Bridport big enough to host 365 small collages. She said the space was booked up until 2015 but to talk to her about it. I said I would be finished with #Collage365 and have moved on to a new project.
A while later I started toying with some new ideas for a follow up to #Collage365 and #Letter365 is the result. Two weeks ago I had a meeting with Polly to discuss it and last week she gave me the green light. But the only possible slot in 2015 meant that I have to start tomorrow if the project is to be completed on the opening night! It has all happened so quickly that the planning stage will now become part of the artwork. Who knows how it will all evolve? I am certain it will be a fascinating and exciting journey and I am grateful to Polly for her encouragement, trust and advice.
This blog will record the process and development from now till the close of the show and the dispersal of the 365 individual artworks constituting the installation in the Allsop Gallery.