Welcome to my first blog post. Blogs apparently are a great way to connect with your audience and keep them coming back. They would also appear to be a great way to position yourself as an authority in your field. However, this post is not about being an authority on anything, it's about prevailing; prevailing in this world while trying to be an artist, and having some fun doing it!
This first blog post is about starting an artist statement and bio, which is a struggle, well for me anyway. So, I've taken some advice from a book written by Gita Joshi, Show your art: How to build an art career without a gallery. This book arrived in the post last week and I have read all the way through to Chap 2 (0f 13). Gita suggests you ask yourself some questions when writing your artist statement and bio. The book has some great advice and I don't want to be flippant about that advice, but I do like to start with some fun. So, I wrote out the questions and then answered them with the first thing that came into my head. It's just an honest and simple starting point for further explanation, or excavation, as Gita suggests.
If you've ever trawled through artist statements and bios to get inspo and found them all way too academic or beyond comprehension, and still haven't managed to put into words what informs your ideas and why something interests you, without getting boring, off track, or desperate, then maybe start where I have, with honesty and a sense of humour. Now I need to start excavating!
Non Art Life:
This would be the years I spent partying, not studying, going to galleries, drinking, reading W Somerset Maugham, dabbling with watercolours, sun baking, followed by years of working in very boring jobs.
Where I was born:
Newy (colloquial for Newcastle, Australia).
Where am I based now:
Newy
When I started making art:
I'm going to say 10 or 11.
What was the pivotal point for you:
Standing in front of a massive piece of copper art in my neighbour's house when I was about 4 yrs old.
Where have I exhibited:
Newy
What are the ideas you are exploring in your work:
How to make it look good.
Why do you make it:
It pleases me.
How long have you been making art:
If you don't count the first 10 or 11 years and the time I was busy having a baby, it's been a very long time.
What is it that makes the art work personal for you:
I made it.
Are there any life experiences that have shaped your art practice:
Art School, my first set of watercolours, visiting art galleries, getting a job with a photographer when I was 17, teaching screen printing after finishing uni.
Add in a fun fact:
I'm not very good at picking colours.
What do I enjoy doing when I'm not making art:
Reading books about making art.
Awards, prized etc.
I once won a year's supply of dog food for coming second in a competition run by the local television station. I think I could have got first prize if my texta had not run out half way through colouring it in.
What do curators, artists or art professionals say about my art:
They say I have some talent...
