I have never been particularly organised, or have the best memory, so I find I forget a lot of things if they’re not written down. When I do remember I find it difficult to prioritise jobs and usually end up doing the one I want to do the most first, despite it being the least important. So I usually end up painting when I should be contacting galleries or looking at accounts!
I think this is quite common amongst creative types, and unfortunately I do seem to channel the forgetful artist a bit too convincingly. I could keep painting and painting until I have a whole warehouse full of pieces (…this sounds like my parent’s house is now) but what good is that if noone sees them? At the moment my priority is getting my work into places where they can be seen. Sadly for the introvert in me this involves proactively marketing my work and bringing it to the public’s attention.
At the moment I’m trying to take every opportunity which is offered to me. I was chatting to someone at my last open studios and they talked about an artist who would show her work in Fish and Chip shops, (and sell it! [wonder if it smelled funny]) because she believed it’s better for a piece to be seen somewhere than not at all.
Recently I’ve had my work in a the windows of an empty shop soon to be Dunblane’s answer to Tilly Tearoom (in prime high street real estate/proximity to famed Golden Postbox) which got a lot of attention, in a pop up shop in Stockbridge, Twenty Eight (see picture above), and I’ve got a few more events lined up this year. You do have to be flexible with your time, especially when working to short deadlines, and be prepared to go above and beyond to fulfil arrangements.
Anyway! I was up North in Aviemore last weekend, I thought I’d share a photo I’m pleased with. I believe there’s inspiration in even the most conventionally ugly of things, (like a scrap metal yard) and though I probably won’t create a painting from the image, I feel it still has merit :)
Once again thanks for reading!
Sarah x