Christmas Break...

Today we are now on holiday for Christmas....but the work continues...got a film to make!!!

Steel Rooms Date Change...

Kirsty has told us that the dates of the Steel Rooms Exhibition has been changed

Exhibition Booklets...

Monica has looked into producing booklets for the exhibitions, a great idea

53 Degrees Statements...

Today finished my statement for 53 degrees website. Sent to Dale to put on because I have no idea how to

Video Statements....

Got the email today outlining video statements

Raffling On....

Judy has bought the wine for raffle and the tickets

Exhibition Limitation...

Received a message today from Kirsty in the group, unfortunately the Ropework is booked up

Pics In Studios...

Monica has put the pictures of us in the studios on face book. Thes eshould be on the website

Monica Takes The Piccies....

Monica took Pictures of us

The Artist's Statement...

I've been working on my "Artist's Statement" this week, which is a lot harder than you would think! It's quite difficult for me to say things about my artwork and myself as an artist that are really positive as I am quite humble as to what I do. It's funny but from a background like mine where I have been in sales since leaving school and running my own business, I find it so difficult to sell myself and what I do. I could sell a product using features and benefits for example, but when it comes to me and my artwork I find it difficult to sell those features and benefits, even though in the back of my head I know exaclty what to say or write. This is a massive learning curve for me. To write good things and "Big Up Myself". I think that this Artists Statement will be an ongoing process and even though I have wriitten something I know that it will be always a shifting changing thing and will eventually be a true representation of myself. But for now, I'm happy with what I am writing so far.

Film It I Shall...

I have been asked to film an "Advert" for 53 degrees after watching other exhibitions and Graeme's

53 Degrees....Poster

We each had to design a poster. Dale's won

53 Degrees...Website...

Today the 53 Degrees website has been created by Monica and Dominique
 http://fiftythreedegrees.weebly.com/

It's All Booked Up.....

I've got confirmation from Patrick that we will be holding one of the 53 Degrees exhibitions at The Steel Rooms in Brigg from the 18th of March to the 25th of March 2015! Needless to say that I am really excited, and quite proud of myself! I have achieved something that started out as somewhat scary as I was quite unsure of myself in the way that I had originally approached Patrick and it has pulled off. What i have most definitely learned from this is that although I was worried about my approach, in the end it could have been exactly the same result no matter what, the end result is that we have an exhibition under our belt that is confirmed by email. My concern now is whether to confirm this in a type of contract which is something that I would normally do as a singer with a booking. I have sent him a proposal over emails and he has confirmed so I would think that this would suffice.
Also Judy has booked Lincoln, Gallery at St Martins for the 23rd to the 29th of March 2015!
Two exhibitions definitely going ahead! We are still waiting to hear from a couple of others, Hull being the main one, Pop, I must admit that I am finding that difficult. In my new, or should I say former, frame of mind I would have possibly made more calls rather than emails to Pop and even rung around several galleries in Hull and set up appointments to see people. Given that Hull was not the area I was assigned to look into I feel that it is not my place to point this out, although I may soon.
But....by the by, with these bookings that means that I have to decide on a Performance for the exhibitions! I do have "How To Explain Art To A Dead Hare" on DVD, but I also have to think about something separate for the exhibition....

53 Degrees....Facebook...

After some discussion it was decided that we should create a Facebook Page for the group. This is quite an obvious thing to do in a way as it gets the public to start to follow us before we have even done anything! I would usually put everything in place and then think about advertising, but this just makes so much more sense. Create a following ready to come and see the work before the work has already been done. It also is a reflection on the Gallery hunting exercise, get the gallery first, then do the work. I have seen this before, many years ago when, I think it was Palitoy, created the "Early Bird" Star Wars figure pack. Basically, you send of for the pack, pay something like £30 at the time, and you get sent an empty box with a voucher to redeem against the figures when they are available. The beauty of this is that not one figure had even been made yet! Genius! So i guess in a way this is the same. It's like Graeme said...."Sell the sizzle, not the sausage". 

53 Degrees...

Today we have decided on the Group Name! It will be......53 Degrees! The name initially came from Jason, who commented that the three venues, Hull, Brigg and Lincoln are all, roughly 53 degrees north. The inspiration for this idea apparently came from Graeme when he mentioned that it was almost a straight line between Lincoln, Brigg and Hull , so Jason put in the latitudes. Clever thinking! (Still like mine, I may keep it for something else..."Ideam")

First Contact....First Meeting...

Today I met with Patrick at The Steel rooms in Brigg! We had a great chat and he showed me around The Steel Rooms, I didn't realize just how big the place was. It's in a lovely part of Brigg in the Market Place and there are, I think 3 floors. The ground floor is a restaurant, the first floor is a sort of "teaching" space wher they hold seminars on painting etc. and the top floor i the gallery itself, and it's huge! It's like a loft with the beams showing and painted white, very like and very big, I just hope that we can fill it. Patrick mentioned that we could also display on the landings and stairs if we need to. He is more than happy to have us, (and he really liked my Biro Pictures) and will let us have the room for free for a week with a commission of 40% which I think is fair. We have not agreed on a date as yet only that it will be in February March time. I will have to peak to the group as to when would work best for us.
I do believe that it is important to set up a face to face meeting with the gallery that has been approached, a lot of questions need to be asked from both sides. Obviously if the gallery was further afield, i.e. London, it would be difficult, (and costly) to arrange a face to face meeting unless it is definite that a booking for the gallery could go ahead. That in mind, once again, it is confidence in my own work and ability to secure a booking with the gallery and I see no reason why, for example I can't set up several meeting in, let's say, London over a day or a weekend so as to minimize cost and time to myself so long as I do have everything in place from initial telephone calls and emails.

First Contact...First Reply

I have just had a reply from Patrick with regards to the group exhibiting at The Steel Rooms in Brigg. I am meeting with him on Monday to discuss a possible exhibition! I am so happy! I still wish I had just rung him in the first place, but still it's a great result! It does make me wonder if I did actually take the right route in emailing rather than calling. The reply to my email was very professional and I'm not sure, but when dealing with some galleries it may just be best to email first then make a call. then again I could make an initial telephone enquiry followed up by an email. It's a gentle nudge in that way, rather than the other way around, email first then calling, it almost seems like pestering I suppose. I think that my conclusion is yet to be determined by more inquiries the further I go. On another note, Patrick has asked to see some work, so I will take my Biro work, as I have no up to date uni work as I am studying for performance art this year. This makes me think about my previous blog on whether the gallery needs to see work. Well it looks like, yes, they do. So if I have a project in mind, do a few pieces to get off the ground and then get a gallery booked and then crack on and produce some great work!

Penciled In For Lincoln...

Today we have our first "Penciling In"! Judy has managed to set us up at Gallery at St Martins in Lincoln for the whole of March 2015! The cost is £95 per week + 20% commission . I think that this is a real boost that we all need at the moment. It seems that most places that everyone is looking at is either fully booked or just no replies. With this in mind I think it actually pays to plan a year to 2 years in advance! If I come up with a concept idea for a new exhibition, should I get a start on the project so I can have a real hold on what I'm doing, or do I go straight to the galleries to "Pitch" the "Idea" and book the space and then crack on with the work once I have a gallery booked. Hmmmm......I think a little bit of both personally. I believe I need to at least have something to show. If, for example, I wanted to do an exhibition about, let's say, dragons, (I don't know, it's the very first thing that popped in me noggin'), I would probably need 2 or 3 pieces to at least show the gallery if they were interested. But on the other hand, do they care?

I have found that some galleries go through a committee, I haven't got that far into these types, but it does seem to me that they must see the work before they can say yes or no. I will look more into these types if they become an option.

But, for the time being £95 for a week in a gallery in Lincoln seems pretty fine to me!!

First Contact...

Having been told that Patrick Holley, a previous tutor, had Facebook-ed asking for artists to exhibit at The Steel Rooms in Brigg where he was now facilitating, I decided to get in touch with him about our group exhibition! I must admit that I did want to call, but for two reasons I decided against this. I thought that it might be inappropriate and a little unprofessional and hasty and a letter of introduction toward a meeting would be more suited. The other was that I saw this as an easy option. I am now wishing I had just rung him, it is something that I would have done in previous situations including getting my own exhibition. I was putting a scenario in my head foretelling a future and a conversation over the phone and thinking I knew what Patrick would have thought if I had called him. The thing is, I have no idea what anybody is thinking or how anyone will react to any situation that involves just giving them a call. I even went so far as to think that I may be calling him at a very inopportune moment, for instance eating his lunch, so there is no way that he would have the time to talk to me, so if I sent him an email he can read it at his leisure. Now I'm just playing a waiting game. If i had called him I would know right now what that outcome would be and if we could exhibit there.
So......I wait.....and grumble a little more to myself.

Thought for the day.....Just do it. If I'm thinking of doing something, don't put a barrier in the way before I've even stopped thinking about it, Do it straight away!


(p.s. our Facebook page is now up and running just for us in the group, now we can all keep in touch with what we're doing with regards to the exhibition.....nice)

Venturing For Venues

After our initial lessons with our new tutor Graeme we have been told that we are going to be putting on our own group exhibition! An exciting new venture! It appears that we are the only year to have done this at the Grimsby University. My contribution to the exhibition will be Performance Art, which I have chosen to do this year. Having held an exhibition myself already with my Biro work I am really looking forward to this. Looking back at my own exhibition, I know that I made a few mistakes, and this is one of the main reasons I joined the course. I pretty much did it on a wing and a prayer and muddled through to the end result. I'm not saying I wasn't happy with my exhibition, totally the opposite, I loved every moment of it, from the initial discussions with the Gallery to putting pieces together to contacting the papers to the opening and the run through. What I lacked was confidence in knowing I what I was doing. Hopefully this project will confirm that I was doing at least some of it right and that which I got wrong or even missed out will be shown to me and I can approach a new personal exhibition with more professionalism and confidence.
So....the first thing that we have to do, as a group, is find a venue!! I was paired with Dominique in finding a suitable gallery in the surrounding area, Grimsby etc. This is proving to be difficult as there aren't that many galleries close by. Abbey Walk was the first thought, but personally I would like to try somewhere that is different. Dominique mentioned St James, which sounds like it's worth a look at, so she said she will inquire further.....the search continues!!!!

So, here we are, gone midnight and just starting my new blog. What a way to start, tired and ready to drink. Here is where I shall be posting the details of my Professional Practice module and other bits and pieces here and there, but mainly "PP". (I really couldn't be bothered to write Professional Practice, it's extremely long and I keep spelling "professional wrong and have to go back to it's red underline and correct it, which is funny because this time I actually spelled it correctly, even though I didn't with spelled, maybe it's an American thing to write "spelt" or maybe there is no such word at all, as my computer tells me with it's squiggly red line still under the offending word, annoying me as I look at the screen and my eye is drawn to it, even though, you, dear reader, shall never see the mistake so richly highlighted, tutting at me as a teacher to a pupil that had asked his pupil to correctly spell on the blackboard and is now looking down in disdain as the young boy holds the chalk and look sorrowfully to his teacher's slow shaking of his head ready to bring forth the "tut" ).
I have all of my notes of PP written in my journal, but as this is the 21st century, the course requires this to be in a blog form. So I shall be going over my notes and transcribing them to......here. Starting from tomorrow, as I am extremely tired and have a very long day ahead.
G'night all and see you on the morrow!!!