Sign On The Window

After nearly 3 months and 8000 words later I finally submitted an application to the Arts Council for a Grant for the Arts this morning. It’s a huge relief just to send it off as it has really taken a lot of effort, but also been difficult to deal with alongside all my planning for my lecturing every day and my painting practise. The latter has really taken a back seat for this time.

Still, I’m not complaining as you have to try and apply for these things, and they do take serious thought, effort and time. I’m not complaining if it does not prove fruitful either (although just from doing the application and contacting people I’ve creating some exciting future opportunities that I’ll discuss at some point).The process has been really useful in focussing my ideas and thinking around my art. And besides, what is the alternative? Not to apply and just continue as I have ben? That hasn’t seemed an option for a long while. Whatever the outcome, it has all been worthwhile.

It was great to press ‘submit’ and then go down the studio for the rest of the day and work on a few things. I have been messing around with these small still life studies (above) for a while. Today I decided to drop a dark background behind these four paintings of ‘crapola’ (after Guston and Roth’s idea), to try and enhance the figures from the ground. They look a bit like Dutch still lives now which wasn’t the intention, so I’m think they’ll end up changing again.

I then set to task on working on the next charcoal drawing in my motorway series for a few hours. This is it so far. I need a few more hours on it yet. I’m pleased with this and the previous one I made and I’m keen to develop them into paintings, but I just can’t imagine the scale at the moment.

At around four I heard the ring of the wind chimes that hang on the gate on the top of the garden. I opened the studio door to see my little boy, Isaac come racing down. ‘We do some painting in Daddy’s BIG shed!’ he shouted excitedly as he pushed past me and ran inside. Let’s hope so over the next few months I thought…this is what it’s all about.