Woolly the sheep is finished! On Monday afternoon I'm off to Skipton to deliver him to the lovely Brett, Town Centre Manager and Shepherd for all the Flock to Skipton sheep. Now, the journey to my workshop was interesting the first time and that was when woolly didn't have his technicolour coat on and was a modest and rather reserved shadow of what he's become. I can only imagine the looks that my poor dad is going to get on the way back with a rainbow of colours bleeping out of the back windscreen. Once again, sorry dad!
With the finishing coat of varnish came jubilation at what I and the other artists have achieved, but also a little bit of sadness that this fantastic project is coming to an end (creatively speaking). It also means that I've reached the point where I'm really going to have to get stuck into sorting the workshop out for future work. All those cobwebs, yuck! and get my kiln serviced and.....lots to do.
So the launch of Flock to Skipton will take place on Friday 13 August (who on earth chose that date! Not that I'm superstitious but it might put others off!) and hopefully that will give me and the other artists chance to meet each other. When I find the invite which has been put in a safe place!!! I'll add the venue in case anyone wants to join us in the dales.
Last week (think it was last week, seems a life time ago) I went to the Arts Marketing Association annual conference which was all about social marketing. Not just new social media tools like Twitter, facebook and Flickr but the reasons that these tools are proving so successful - which is basically that we are social creatures and even when we think we are being unique there is probably a clique we fit into. I'm not sure I believe that, surely no ones elses view of the world is of pink candyfloss and all things fluffy? God help the UK and wider world if there are too many of us out there, the economy will never recover.
Today I've been to Potfest at Hutton-Le-Forest near Penrith. This is an amazing event that showcases some of the best ceramic artists from around Europe. As usual the work was of a breathtaking standard but all my little boy and mum were interested in were the hot dogs and cups of tea respectively (see what I have to work with!) Thanks to them both as usual for happily traipsing round a muddy field with me oooing and arghing every step. Managed to reign myself in this year and didn't buy anything. With my new found freelance and designer maker status I have lost (for the short future) the luxury of being able to indulge in impulse purchases of things that I know will make me very happy just by looking at them everyday. (Anyone worried about this shopping tactic should try it, it's liberating and you can always pass of the purchase as a future antique and therefore an investment!) The lack of buying though did leave me feeling guilty. I like to support other artists and makers (this is why I went into arts marketing) but I just have to tell myself that when I'm a self made millionaire from my own creative endeavours I can have ten of everything.
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