Spent the weekend writing the second draft of my Grants for the Arts application. I am still sitting amongst dusty chaos at home, which didn't help and I got rather overwrought during the process on Saturday. However, I turned a bit of a corner towards the end and it went better on Sunday and I hope that this draft covers all the necessary elements.
The form itself is very well designed, with the tick list on the right showing what has been completed, half completed and what is still to do. The help boxes for each section are also very useful. What is not so helpful is the Arts Council web site itself; the search facility was not working and it took me ages to find anything relating to public engagement with the arts, some of the documents in their lists were not available either. Not particularly helpful, but I have done my best. To be honest, I am so fed up with it at the moment, I am not willing to make any more adjustments to the draft, but I am sure in a couple of days I'll be feeling more positive about it again and less exhausted!
I have next year's work planned out! The first half of the year is going to be very hectic, with preparation for the solo show in April, the accompanying publication and new contacts to be made. I am really looking forward to the challenges and to exhibiting work in new venues. Most of all, I am looking forward to getting back in the studio and making work.
Albums of my work and development can be viewed on my facebook page:
www.facebook.com/SueGoughArtist
An unexpected break in the build due to lack of funding has given me a week of peace at home to think about and plan the next few months.
I met with our Creative Economies Officer Yvette Turnbull yesterday with the first notes for my Arts Council application, which will be to help develop my re-emerging carreer in the next few years. First draft was deemed a good start, now I have to crack on and finish it for my deadline in early November. It will be a burst of frantic research and writing, but I am looking forward to it.
My schedule for the solo show at The Gallery, Ryedale Folk Museum will be tight; it allows me eight weeks in the studio to make work after Christmas, as well as managing the design, copy and print of the accompanying publication - provided I am awarded the grant, that is! Nothing will stop me making work, I just need a bit of support to make things even more professional and then there is that pressing need to earn some cash.
I have a couple of ideas for the show that I am excited about and after all these years, I finally feel that my carreer as a fine artist is going to be real and full time.
It was so helpful to be able to sit down and discuss all this with Yvette, what would Ryedale artists and makers do without her unswerving support and encouragement, I wonder? Her knowledge, committment and understanding are exceptional; she is the best arts officer I have ever worked with.
There are cobwebs glistening, laden with jewels of dew, between the stems of some shrubs in the front garden this morning. The sun is streaming through them and the early mist is transforming this familiar scene into an ethereal and wondrous vision of light.
The dampness is weighing down the vegetation at the bottom of my garden at the back of the house; what were tall wild plants are now beginning to sigh and lie down across the soil, ready to impart some nourishment into the earth and deposit their seed for the next generation. I know that I should be doing something about this too wild and verdant patch of ground, but I love the tangle and the smell as I wade through it. These so called weeds, a little out of hand even for me, are beloved by the birds and other wild things, I shall leave them for a little longer before attempting some order.
