It's been too long!

Having started a company and opened my own business in May this year, I feel I have neglected my artistic being. My absence from both my website, my blog and art production itself are a result of 98 hours of business running each week since opening. Upon having a conversation about my artistic past with a friend today, I have come back to regain an element of that life I loved. It has been nearly a year since I last wrote a blog so excuse me if I'm a little rusty... It's been a very long year!

On completion of my degree last September I moved to Bristol and was greeted with my first experience of complete nothing-ness. With no friends, no work and a pile of never-ending job applications to complete, I lost myself in an unemployed depression for almost 8 months. Rather than using this new found loneliness, isolation and rejection from all possible employment opportunities as a tool for what could have been some very expressive work, I unfortunately sank into a state of disbelief and somehow lost a serious amount of time on nothing.

In April, I found that enough was enough, ressesion or not, I needed interaction - work - life. It was at this point my partner and I stumbled upon a disused cafe on a boat in the centre of Bristol. A beautiful location, a floating world that offered an opportunity to build a business - the birth of Under the Stars our now 6 month old cafe bar on a boat! Whilst Under the Stars has seemed to consume my life since opening in May, I have loved every minute of it. It was a project, created in two minds and bought to life by a team of lovely people... still building...

Our attempt to use Under the Stars as a site for creativity is a work in progress. Whilst we have had many a musician perform on our stage and many a film shown on our screen, I don't feel it has yet reached its true potential to be a world of creative thought and production, such an ideal location for the uncanny... November 20th will be our first attempt to really push the boudaries of what can be achieved when one owns a location such as this as we open our doors to "Strange Creatures of the Night" a surrealist evening of music, poetry and character creating.

Christmas Postcards from Leahdee

Bristol so far...

My artistic endeavours in Bristol have been slow. I have been more focused on networking since I arrived. I joined the Bristol Creatives and attended their monthly meeting which I thoroughly enjoyed, met some interesting artists and gained valuable contacts. I am looking forward to attending a meeting of community arts group Phoenix 52 (an arts initiative running very local to me).

I have also been following the progress of a new festival called the Bristol Ecoshows. The pilot was running while I was still in Lancaster but it is now in its early stages of development. I had a meeting today with festival organiser/creator David Mowatt, to see how I might fit into the programme of participatory arts planned for the city. I am looking forward to meeting the other artists involved.

I want to start work on a new project as soon as possible, and am awaiting the guidelines for Ecoshow artists to see if I can work on something that would fit with what they are doing. I am finding it hard to be inspired at the moment - I am hoping to find my feet here soon.

In the mean time I am hoping to volunteer at Dance Voice and hopefully re-connect with Art + Power, an organisation I enjoyed working for earlier this year. I was pleased to bump into 2 of Art + Power's participants today while waiting for my meeting with David.

Lancaster Guardian, Friday September 11 2009

Expressing Pride: Tent Donation

Throughout my exhibition in the shops, I have had regular visits from a group of participants who are homeless. They have been keenly engaged in the work and have made valuble contributions to the 'Beach in an Arcade' pebble painting installation. I am happy to announce that they will be collecting and keeping the Expressing Pride tent at the end of my exhibition. I feel that this will be a positive end/new beginning for my community based installation.

Painted Pebbles

Over the last few days at Mapped Festival, I have watched my collection of decorated pebbles grow. They look fantastic and yet again I find myself over whelmed by the creativity and imagination of the general public. It has been a fantastic experience to have the opportunity to share this creative experience with everyone who has entered my Expressing Pride shop. I found out this morning that I might be able to take over a shop space in Bristol when I move there at the weekend. The painted pebbles created in St.Nicholas' Arcade in Lancaster have inspired a new idea for my next endeavour. I hope to take the painted pebbles in a different and exciting new direction... watch this space.

Mapped Festival Opening Weekend

Mapped Festival is now in full swing across Lancaster, with 4 other visual artists: Carlos Franco, Lauren Miller, Carla Nizzola and Laura Stevens, we have transformed disused spaces in Lancaster town centre into a fantastic collection of contemporary art. I am extremely proud to be a part of Mapped Festival. Two excellent performances from David McBride and Chris Williams started the festival off on a fantastic start at the pre-view evening on Friday.

Both of my shops have had many visitors, many more than I had anticipated for the opening weekend. I am thrilled by the positive and creative response I have had to my interactive A Beach in an Arcade piece, where local people have been painting pebbles for the creation of a 'Lancastrian' beach.

Photographer Richard Davis managed to capture the essence of this piece in this photo:

The shops are a perfect venue for my work, capturing the interest of people passing by. I am also in love with the architecture surrounding the shops, which contribute beautifully to the "Brighton" and arcade theme in Expressing Pride.