Sorting through and sanding back old surfaces. Getting ready for the next batch of work.

One from the archives above and a few conversation snippets from the week below…

• The cost of making art… the amount of money and time artists put into their practice with no guarantee of return.

• The loneliness of being an artist (in any form) and working freelance, and the challenges this brings.

• Do art competitions really benefit the artists?

• Where are all the affordable / cheap studio spaces?

• Instagram – how important is it, what’s it got to do with art, and is it worth the effort?

• How do you get into a curated group show?

• And remembering the excitement, energy involved when you find yourself talking about a topic you’re really into.

Another day of wrestling with code and crossing the gaps in my knowledge. I find it so different from painting – all cerebral and not of my body at all. Quite separated in fact.

Open my laptop, type ⌘-7 atom, hit return, ⌘-7 term, hit return and I’m good to go. The best solutions come quickly and are elegant. Ugly works too. Or it doesn’t.

Captivating and consuming, the process tickles the problem solving aspects of my personality. I must find something attractive about it (even in the shallow levels I work at) and yet after overcoming frustration with moderate success, I find a day in front of a screen less than fulfilling. My body feels empty somehow.

Time to escape the screen and see what I can do with some paint.

Oh, and the image – it’s one from my year long project. The work was released five years ago this week.

Lost in code, updating and preparing to move my website I almost forgot I’ve a short blurb to write for my exhibition in February.

Meanwhile I’m getting to grips with serverless hosting, merge conflicts, Git LFS, and more. At least the branches above are nice and colourful.

File under: other things artists do

On my large white table a small stack of memo cube note paper sits in a makeshift container. It’s all too easy to sit and make small drawings.