Exhibition 'theme'...

...I seem to have unknowingly developed a theme for my exhibition pieces - all the things I come up with seem to be aquatic or oceanic in nature - sketches below...





The pearl cluster ones are based on oyster shells, concave silver domes with pearls attached...

Using the techniques I learnt at the smithing course, and the bursary money equipping me with the tools I need, I cna now start in earnest.

SPEED scheme business mentor

To complement Jo mentoring me on the practice side, I now have Peter Wyer (Head of Centre for Entrepreneurial Management at Uni) as my business mentor for the bursary scheme. Met today for our first session, and it was really reassuring for someone of his experience to sound so confident in my propsals for going forward. Also nice to know that I'm not talking/thinking complete nonsense when it comes to any business know-how I've picked up, whether it's from my CIPD qualifications, trying to get Ruby Rose off the ground or resource gained from the Connect programme.

Even more motivation to get things going - there's so much support available!

To follow up:
Monthly updates to Peter re. progress (email, brief)

Sound investments!

Have now taken delivery of the smithing kit I need, thanks to the first SPEED bursary instalment - £600 worth of workshop gear, excluding materials. Can feel the momentum building now, just can't wait to get going once Christmas is out of the way.

Big things to get done:
1. Beyond the Gallery proposal submission - 17th
2. Meeting business mentor Peter Wyer - 18th, and submit progress report to him by end of Jan
3. Order silver & copper to start work on 'prototypes'
4. Early Jan, contact Fashion Studies PLs again to re-establish intentions for Degree Show
5. Get three pieces made and ready for (a) Connect brochure photos on 21st Jan and (b) pitching to Fashion Studies students as per BTG proposal.

Silversmithing

Just got back from silversmithing course with Jes Marshall and Fran Barker at flux'n'flame in Dorset. Images of my first silver pieces...







This was exactly what I needed and managed to cram loads of techniques onto my very steep learning curve. The courses are so flexible, you just go and learn what you need to learn, no set agenda and LOADS of support - can't recommend enough. So for someone with no smithing expertise at all, not bad! Has also spurred me on for my designs for the exhibition, now have the know-how to realise my imaginings for the Connemara beach stuff, as well as other techniques to follow the 'oceanic' theme...

Mentor Meeting

Met Jo Pond, my mentor, for our first session on Sunday 2nd. Jo's about 20 mins drive away, so we met here in Derby at The Broadway for a lounge about on the sofas. Was a bit daunted at the prospect of meeting her having checked out the website and seen the HUGE list of fairs and exhibitions she's done... was soon set at ease, we chatted really easily and I think we're going to get on great. She started in much the same position as me, making very commercial pieces but wanting to add value and be more design-led in her practice.

We had a good two hours, could have been much longer, we've got quite a lot in common in the way we approach things, taking loads of photos and using those rather than sketching and honing, which doesn't really suit me. She passed on loads of info re. suppliers and websites for materials - FAB! ..already checked most of them out and I can no doubt use them in future. Also gave me loads of info on organisations I may want to join or get involved with - ACJ Midlands; School of Jewellery, Birmingham etc. Great stuff, looking forward to next meeting :)

To follow up:
Invesitgate remainder of link, compare suppliers' prices etc.

Testing, testing...

Just seeing if I can embed my calendar into the blog posts...and to see what it does once it's embedded - I'll then be able to keep my monthly calendar as an integral part of it....

Timetable

Need to produce detailed timeline from now until January when Connect photography is scheduled. Basics are:

1st Dec - no fair, Alec visit
4th Dec - Mum & Dad visit
7th Dec - bursary instalment no.1 - £1000
8th-10th Dec - no fair, Dorset silversmithing
11th Dec - finalise sketches for initial exhibition pieces, get silver/copper/stones/tools ordered
14th(ish) onwards - start on copper 'prototypes'
21st Dec - finish at work for Christmas
4th Jan - back to work....

...then have two weeks to finish some pieces for photography.

Also need to chase Jo Pond and Maggie for replies to emails re. first meeting and display plinths.

Exhibition

Have decided on principle at least what my theme will be for the exhibition - 'regular patterns in irregular places'. Has come from the sketching and doodling I've done following our Ireland trip, and the wonderful patterns and shapes in and of the landscape...also ties in nicely with the geological thinking I was having after seeing the rock cores at The Collection....didn't get any pictures of the peat bogs in Ireland unfortunately, but the patterns provided there by excavations will contrast nicely with the wave forms I'd like to use from the Connemara beaches...

In terms of developing my work, I think as a principle it's flexible enough, and will give me a great starting point...I could even turn it on its head to work on languages, codes and scripts - irregular patterns in regular places - like far eastern scripts, really ornate characters in neat little rows :)

Can't wait to get cracking in my big silver pieces now...very exciting!

Fairs/Markets

Been at an all-weekend fair run by Studio 61 near Matlock.... just about broke even despite organiser assuring us that the fair was well-advertised in prestigious publications. As always, attendance by potential customers depends on may variables, from marketing to the weather, location to number and quality of stalls on offer.

Customers were few and far between, but the main issue is that I've wasted a whole weekend on not making any money. Domestically speaking, it means I've spent no time with my family whatsoever, home affairs are no more organised than they were on Friday, and the working week starts again tomorrow.

I think I need to make the decision that arts & craft fairs are not going to be a good way for me to make the business a success, for various reasons:

• not selling enough pieces to make it profitable
• eating into time that could be better spent pursuing other opportunities/activities that wil benefit the business
• affecting my home & family life dramatically

I've tried enough fairs now to make some kind of judgement - part of that judgement is to aim higher.

Devise my marketing package, i.e. images, leaflets/flyers to distribute to higher end studios and galleries, get added to mailing/invitation lists etc. and wait for the contacts - meanwhile using my time more effectively to establish myself in stores instead. I think this will be more effective in the longer term, and will allow me time in the new year to focus on the exhibition.

New photos, new work

I've found some quick Photoshop tutorials that have enabled me to sharpen up my product images - exactly what I was looking for and takes about 2 minutes a shot. Results as shown...

Before and after shots, quite a difference and will look great on a white web background :)

So, hopefully (at least in the short term) some shots for publicity material for fairs etc. will be easier and cheaper to come by!

Episode 2 - CVs

WHAT HAPPENED/WHAT DID I DO?
Looked at CVs for various purposes and at initial elements of career/business planning.

HOW DID I GO ABOUT IT?
Examined other artists' CVs written to pursue different opportunities and for different practices
Discussed what us typically looked for on an artist's CV
Devised draft list of objectives related to business/career plan

WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME? WHAT HAVE I LEARNT?
Extremely useful - discussing the potential different approaches to CVs within the group was very interesting. I've only ever looked at CVs in one way before now, from a bog-standard HR viewpoint, looking for people to fill office positions, so looking at it from a creative practitioner's standpoint was completely different - presenting myself as a 'package', a discrete service, is a whole other approach, but ultimately much more satisfying to read! It's much more about conveying a particular message about me and my work - challenging :)

The objective setting and determining whether I want to write a career or a business plan I found pretty straightforward - I know I'm trying to create a means of earning a living, so a business plan is what I need, and I've been looking at this, however cursorily, for a wee while. In the initial session we looked at our draft (for draft read vague!) objectives for the period covered by the business plan, so as a means of making them firmer, setting specifics (SMART!) and timescales etc. was extremlely useful and goes a long way to getting my head in the right place to start tackling the plan, in conjunction with Assignment 1, the statement of intent.

ACTIONS?
Assignment 1 - due 23rd November - first written intentions for business plan. Keep objectives tight, SMART.
CV - start drafting 2 versions - one for approaching stockists/galleries, one for exhibitions/shows. To include with assignment.

CONNECT asides.....

I've decided to add another blog for my 'random' posts, or rather those that don't easily fit into the 'learning log' style of things - so weekly targets, new ideas, stuff like that. It's to be taken in conjunction with the main blog, but I'd rather keep the two separate so it's all neater....

Anyway, I'm about to start that so here goes....

Episode 1

Presentation day...

First entry - until now it's mainly been introductions and some guidance on presentation skills - useful stuff, but this is where the learning curve REALLY gets going. Will start using the basic structure I intend to keep up throughout.

WHAT HAPPENED/WHAT DID I DO?

Asked to conduct a 10 minute presentation about ourselves, our work and our aims & objectives for the future, incpororating our thoughts on the business plan, mentors & the exhibition.

HOW DID I GO ABOUT IT?

As usual, time in short supply - I've constructed my 'timetable', but it's too easy to underestimate how much time little things take. By the time I sit down for five mins in the evening, it's already 8pm, really hard to motivate myself to do something else, on top of a full day's work, getting the family fed, kids to bed and saying 'Hello' to the hubby. I took most of Thursday evening, best part of Saturday morning and Sunday to compose and rehearse my presentation.

WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME?

In a word, dreadful. Despite rehearsing and getting the timing just about right, either nerves, tiredness or being full of cold resulted in running drastically over-time, rambling and being too 'chummy'. Feedback received was, in hindsight, perfectly justified for my shoddy performance. What surprised me most was my reaction to that feedback - Marek's comment that I needed a reality check in terms of web sales got me really angry, and that anger lasted for hours! As I say, clearly the tutors and mentors, as practising arts professionals, know what they're talking about, and for me to feel so angry and indignant was completely unreasonable. One of my points in the presentation was that I recognise my weak points and act accordingly - clearly I'd missed that I can't take criticism!

I slapped myself around the chops, at least metaphorically, and told myself to get a grip. Feeling like I wasn't even justified in being on the course after one minor setback is pathetic, and if I'm going to make a success of things I need to toughen up.

Overall I was left with a real sense that I hadn't given them the right picture of me at all, and there's only me to blame for that.

WHAT HAVE I LEARNT/ACTIONS?

• take constructive criticism as exactly that - they know what they're doing!
• incorporate feedback into future actions more thoroughly and immediately
• pick myself back up
• research further into potential of website to generate income - should be set up within a couple of weeks so with ample promotion I should be able to get a handle on what to expect from it in the run up to Christmas
• stop talking about 'the proper job' - refer to it instead as my 'supporting employment' heheheh :)
  

All in all, a valuable, very surprising experience. I'm used to giving presentations, but (as I now realise) in a much more cosseted environment, and not about myself...

Afternoon all...

I intend to use this blog mainly for my own purposes and it's not really intended for mass consumption...as part of the CONNECT programme at Derby University we've been asked to keep a progress file that documents our learning experiences on the programme. I'll try to keep it as structured as possible, but knowing me as I do, no doubt some random (but no less relevant) episodes may well creep in.