Countdown

In around 72 hours I'll be in the air, and on my way to Riga. I am running around doing last minute jobs, terrified I'll forget something. There were lots of unexpected, extra expenses (when are there not, when travelling?), and I have been sorting my husband's travel arrangements too, as he is not computer literate. All of this has meant little time for painting - but the exciting thing is that soon I will have plenty of studio time!

I'm staying overnight at a hotel, near Riga airport. A minibus will collect us the next day, then it's a 280km journey to Daugavpils. We will arrive there sometime after 9pm. The next day we choose our materials and get to see our studios.

It is a big responsibility, as we have to do a presentation, and paint two canvases, but I work well under pressure. There will be lots of art discussion, conferences, lectures, and total immersion in art. I am looking forward to meeting the other participants and have already contacted a few of them via email. I am very impressed by their paintings, and can't wait to exchange ideas.

I have been asked to write a description of the residency, and my experiences, for The Jackdaw, (November/December issue) and also have just been interviewed for an artists' blog, so the residency has already sent out ripples.

It's a world away from that dark, wet January night, when I found my Axis membership had been cut. I was trying to renew my subscription to this artists' database, and found a note saying that I'd failed the review (in spite of being a member since 1999). Tears rolled down my face, and my husband rushed over to see what was wrong. He was, and is, very supportive. Since that time, I've produced a whole new body of work. So my advice to any artists reading this is: Don't be defined by rejection!
('Untitled,' black paint on paper, 29 x 21cm - 'Symphony of Choices,' oil and acrylic on canvas, 80 x 40cm)

Getting Ready to Go

I am starting to panic, as there's so much to do before I go to Lativa on 13th September, for the residency! Jobs include updating my website, re-writing my CV and Statement, and creating a CD of images of my work for a presentation I will have to give on my work.
Today I received the postcards I ordered, which promote my website address. I designed them myself, (with a full colour image on one side) and they came just in time for the residency.  I'm still waiting for some paints I ordered online. We will be given materials but there are certain colours I like to have with me. I've also ordered the largest brush I could find, because I will be working on large canvases.
I am very excited! I'm taking some sketchbooks with watercolours and black and white paintings, as I want to have reference to some recent ideas with me, as a starting point. I also need these to show during the studio visits we will have from critics and artists. But I may end up being deeply affected by the scenery of Latvia, as we will be having excursions out into the landscape, and also Daugavpils may inspire a painting. I may make further watercolours in my hotel room at night, as there will be many ideas from my new environment and there won't be time to put everything onto my two canvases. Some will be kept for my return home.

It will be so challenging. I expect it will change my work in many ways - probably unexpected ways. Being with 14 other artists in a studio is going to extend my way of working, and thinking. I still can't believe I got this residency, and I'm itching to go. I will miss my husband, of course. (He will be going to Cyprus for a few weeks.)
('Inscape,' watercolour on paper, 29 x 21cm)

ACCEPTED!

I am very honoured to find out that I have been selected for the Mark Rothko residency I applied for in June! It is a marvellous opportunity to have intensive studio time, meet artists from around the world, and live art 24 hours a day for 12 days. I simply can't wait! Fifteen international artists have been chosen for the residency which takes place at the birthplace of Mark Rothko in Daugavpils, Latvia.  We will have hotel accommodation and meals provided, and tours, conferences, art debates, studio visits and a full, artistic programme. It all culminates in an exhibition and catalogue. My obligation is to contribute a painting, and I hope I can leave behind a painting that is worthy of the wonderful experience. All artists have to make 2 paintings and I have already chosen my canvas sizes (large ones), and our materials are provided. I may end up making more than two, as I like to work in series. I am very excited as I realise that this will be a whole new arena, and the experiences of working with other professional artists, with different approaches and ideas, and spending time in an art oriented environment, are going to have a profound affect on my work. I will be flying to Latvia on September 13th and returning on September 26th. The link is below:
http://rothkoresidences.lv/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14&Itemid=20&lang=en
I have already booked my flight!
('Paphos walk,' watercolour on paper, 8ins x 11ins)

Arrival

I arrived back from Cyprus on Wednesday, after a very refreshing and inspiring trip. While I was there, I made a large series of watercolours, black and white paintings, and drawings, from some evolving ideas. Somehow being out of my usual environment allowed me to feel quite liberated. This is one of them. ('Vista,' watercolour on paper, 8ins x 11ins) I can't stop drawing at the moment, so am going to just follow where it takes me - which seems to be into watercolour. Next week, once I've done all the tiresome, post-holiday jobs (washing, tidying, etc), I'll take some of these ideas onto canvas. I do feel incredibly inspired right now, and that something new is emerging.

Summer Sun

As my first wedding anniversary approaches, I found that my latest painting evolved into a memory of my Paphos honeymoon.  We spent many hours walking along the coast, with the lighthouse visible from most of our pathways. It stands like some kind of beacon, and gives you a sense of direction. As I painted, scraped off paint, wiped paint, slashed paint on with my palette knife, gradually I felt the rocks under my feet, and the razor-sharp grasses, and the sparkle of the sea shimmered in front of my eyes. 
My painting became all the more intense as I am going off to Cyprus tomorrow, to celebrate my anniversary on August 5th at this exact place. This painting needs time to sit, as I'm unsure whether I will work on it further. I may come back from Paphos with fresh eyes and make changes, or even start another. That's the wonderful thing about painting - it's fluid, you can change your mind at any time and take a new direction, or not!
('Paphos Lighthouse DeConstructed,'  oil and acrylic on board, 61 x 91cm - in progress)

Saatchi Online surprise

I was very surprised and happy last week to find out that a painting I'd entered into the Saatchi Showdown competition has gone through to the next stage,  a recent painting entitled 'Swings, Roundabouts and Ceanothus.'  I've entered work before into their regular Showdown, where paintings are chosen by the public and 300 go through to another stage, but never had any success.  From almost 3000, I got into the next 300! Now it's the turn of the Saatchi judges, and I have to wait and see. From there, 30 are selected for the final round.  At that point, an artist will select two artists, and one will get the top prize. I'm doubtful I will make it to the next thirty, as I'm not sure my work will be seen by the judges as truly Surrealist (the category of the competition).  It is Surrealist in a way, as I've overlapped and embedded swings, roundabouts and the lovely blue Ceanothus bushes into the painting, and the underlying theme is the swings and roundabouts of life - with the blue Ceanothus of hope.  But it may merely be seen as a mix of impressionism and abstract expressionism.  But at the least, it is lovely to know that people voted for my work.
Life has emulated the theme of my painting this week as it's been a textured mix of good and bad. I was turned down for the Cork Street Open Exhibition. My husband said, 'I told you not to bother, they only want realistic work,' but I'd been tempted by seeing abstract-type paintings in previous exhibitions there. What was truly disgusting was that they didn't even email me the results. My understanding was that we would all be informed by email (this is what they had notified us), and in the end I had to go on the website to find that my name was not included in the chosen ones.  The fees were the highest of any (even higher than the Royal Academy submission), being £38 for two works. I'd submitted two of my best, and I was furious that they didn't respect artists enough to email the results. In no other area of purchase would you pay and get dropped entirely. It's a kind of theft, in my opinion. No one asks you to enter, and it's always a subjective (or biased) process, but any other open submission I've entered has always either emailed or sent the results by post. I am thinking to write an open letter to an art magazine on this theme of the way artists are being taken for a ride!
('Swings, Roundabouts and Ceanothus,' oil and acrylic on canvas, 40 x 80cm)
http://www.saatchionline.com/art/Painting-Acrylic-Swings-Roundabouts-and-Ceanothus/82603/1419085/view

Signposts

There are no signposts saying 'This is the right way.'  I have often wished there were, but that would take away from the broad, exciting sense of journey!
I worked on three new canvases this past week, and in the arid, unposted landscape I found some beacons of encouragement. Friends on Facebook left positive responses to some new work, and noticed glimmers of a new direction. I never wonder am I a good or bad artist? but as the oil paint congeals into a colourless, meaningless paste, support can help you to at least feel positive enough to scrape it off and start again. A Facebook friend, who used to be a dealer/gallery owner left me a comment saying not to be upset by selection committee's responses to my work, and added that he thinks I am 'a brilliant artist.' I will hold on to this when I finally get the courage to open the email from the Cork Street Open Exhibition selectors, saying whether I have been short-listed for the next stage! I received an email from them last week (a circular to all artists who submitted work), saying that we must remember that responses to art are always 'subjective.'  In other words, the £38 I spent was like a throw of the dice!
I am still waiting for the results of my submission to the Latvian residency.  I sent a large number of emails regarding the submission, as I do not have Powerpoint on my computer so couldn't send a Powerpoint presentation, and though I sent 10 images in an email, and a CD of images by post, I was told that this wasn't enough. So I spent hours finding out how to put together a rudimentary slideshow, and attached this to an email. They received it and praised my 'persistant efforts,' and within such a competitive arena I can feel that I did my best. A year ago I wouldn't even have considered applying for such a residency.
My application for funding from Artstap came back negative. No matter - there are plenty of other funding opportunities out there.
('Edges,' oil and acrylic on canvas, 50 x 70cm)