It's so nice when an exhibition is all up and looking lovely. 1. Because all the hard work is done 2. I get to see my paintings properly rather than all stacked up in my studio in silver bags and 3. Because I get to spend Saturdays up at Chantry House Gallery, nr Ripley with Emma Hargreaves chatting to customers who have kindly made the effort to come and see my work. I wish it could go on for longer actually!
It's a funny process painting as there are always several stages when trying to decide whether a painting is actually FINISHED or not! One of the questions I get asked most frequently is ‘how do you know when a painting is finished?’ Well for me there is the , ‘yes I have finished painting it’ stage, then I get it photographed by Heidi Coppock Beard and during that process, of seeing them on screen for the first time, I think, either yes they are finished or, they do need more work, then finally when they are framed they seem to look different again. So sometimes they come out of the frames and I work on them some more. Then finally they are officially finished...hopefully ! It is an on going process as you may have gathered, as your perceptions change of how you want your work to progress, they may in fact alter again. It's a case of at some point having to draw a line in the sand and move on.
One of those 'here is a post you posted in 2014 do you want to see it again ' things, came up on Facebook today which was The Top 10 Things I Love About Being an Artist list. In reading them again, they made me smile, as today is another dull November day . It feels like life has a predictable rhythm which is both comforting and spurs us on to do new things, so it felt nice to have the reminder, so here they are again.
10 Things I Love about being an Artist..... always good to remind yourself on a grey November Morning.
1. Not having to wear tights. My Mum once told me when I was an adult I’d HAVE to wear them . Nope hasn’t happened!
2. I can Dance at work and play whatever music I like very loud
3. I can stare at clouds all day and call it work
4. Look a mess quite a lot of the time as that’s what people expect
5. Write on my ceiling inspiring words
6. I get to meet other people who love the arts which is a constantly positive thing in the world when confronted with so much inhumanity on the news.
7. The arts are often the first thing to be controlled or curtailed in the world when things go wrong and that’s because ultimately it is the voice of humanity and much that is great about being human .
8. Because life without music, art, sculpture and beautiful words would be a life in black and white.
9. Because it’s not ageist or sexist ,in fact the longer you do it the better you get. And there are not many professions you can say that about!!
10. Because if there were no artists who would be here to remind us everyday to really see what we all often walk by or make us feel for a moment what we had forgotten.
So tell me as I’m interested what would you add to your list ??
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