Studio time

I applied for and got a studio space in June this year out almost in the middle of nowhere, that said the main road can be damn noisy outside despite being surrounded by fields. i have no view out of a window other than skylights.

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Since I pay for it I figure I should use it, maybe I don’t as much as I could due to my somewhat erratic lifestyle and occasional bouts of work.

Its a good space that I occupy and I find myself there because it allows me to try to make work or to discipline myself into doing things that I don’t do when at home for whatever reason.

I’m not sure what I was expecting but quite often I have the whole building to myself which is great at times for it allows me to listen to what I want and for a certain peace in solitude or was I expecting a livelier building with discussions about art and artists?

Although at other times I do wonder where everybody else is perhaps they have better things to do on Sunday afternoons than sit in the studio listening to the traffic and jazz.

I could/will paint or carry on with online tutorials for design software as soon as I’m done with this quick observational post.

I might just walk around shouting at the top of my voice…

😉

Open Studios – Digswell

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I became a fellow at one of the Digswell Arts Trust sites in June this year. I finally have a studio space where the plan is to work on some of the ideas that I’ve been storing away in my sketchbooks over the years.

This weekend is Open Studios where the Studios are open to the public from 11-4.

Drop by if you get a chance and say ‘hi’.

http://digswellartstrust.com/2013/09/02/open-studios-at-all-three-digswell-arts-trust-sites/

I am at The Forge.

David Bowie Is…Universal

David Bowie Is...Universal

On Sunday I was very fortunate to get the opportunity to go the V&A here in London to see the exhibition, “David Bowie Is”. The tickets came by way of Twitter and the friend of a friend who was unable to attend but had the grace to offer the tickets to anybody who was available to go.

I would have more pictures to show if I was allowed but there was a “No photography” and this is new one to me “No Sketching” policy inside. Throughout the exhibition and in the advertising for the exhibition the sentence “David Bowie Is” completed in various forms.

I didn’t see my version which is “universal” and this comes really from my observation of the people who were at the exhibition. I had tickets for 7.15 p.m on a Sunday evening and it was packed. It was rather bizarre in that you are given a headset to wear as you go through the exhibition, the downside of this technology is that you’re all in your aural bubble as you go from exhibit to exhibit and not interacting with the people you came with. There was also the odd sensation of the wireless sound technology cutting out and replaying the track from the other side of the wall in certain areas.

I saw people from all ages, shapes and sizes, colours and creeds, there were the rock star wannabees who could do with aging gracefully and might want to consider age appropriate clothing and sunglasses in a darkened exhibition space just looks terrible, there were the fashion students making their mental notes, there were the V&A members who will go to everything because they’re members, there were kids who were engaged with this figure for whom this might be their first exposure.

The exhibition tried as best as it could to cover as much of what it could and boy has David Bowie been busy. There was a lot to take in but I think everybody can’t not have been impressed by the attention to detail that Bowie puts into the involvement and invention for each period that he chooses to investigate and expand upon at a given time. It was a real privilege in a way to see behind the curtain as hand written lyrics and methodolgies were revealed as well as Bowie’s own sketches from album covers to costume or set designs were shown.

It is a big show and you’ll be there longer than you think but its been put together well enough that until towards the end you will be immersed to such a degree that you lose track of time.

Would I recommend this show? Yes because ultimately there is enough to interest the casual observer to the die hard fan and also for those who might not think that Bowie is relevant to them.

I also think those across all of the arts would find some source of inspiration amongst the diversity of exhibits on view here.

I almost feel as if I should try to write more but also know that too much text is sometimes off-putting so I’ll leave it at that.

Affection

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I feel a certain sense of disconnect from the world, in part this might be partly geographical but also mental.

We can feel affection for places and despite people taking the higher ground of claiming not be attached to material things, we cannot help but me driven towards or feeling affection to ‘things’.

But is it as simple as being around or having access to the people that you meet in your lifetime with whom you have a genuine sense of affection for that makes certain places worthwhile?

Perhaps the musings on here are becoming increasingly philosophical in their musings.

When really readers are just looking for a travelblog. Let me know what you think.

Thanks.