Sometimes it seems time is living me, and I am not living it.  What with the crazy seasonal change (sunburn last week and snow yesterday in Newcastle) I don’t know if I’m getting younger or older, whether it’s a week past Tuesday or Christmas time.  So apologies for a later-than expected blog post, it’s been a frantic mar-pril.  And it’s so long, it has SUB-HEADINGS!!

MYSELF AND MATT FOSTER (STUDENT REPS)

But other than confused Mother Nature, everything is fine and dandy (but the daffodils have died) up North.  Us (Matt Foster and myself) AA2A reps are running around like manic beavers in prep for our degree show.  Matt is distinctly better at me than writing, and so I would advise a swoop over to his own blog (http://definitelywriting.com/) for a lovely time.  He recently wrote about A Newbridge Enquiry, a project by Toby Lloyd and former AA2A artist Andrew Wilson.  I pulled up my sleeves and helped out with this one, but our very own Iris Priest wrote some tasty words about it too.  Get stuck into http://anewbridgeenquiry.wordpress.com/blog/.  It’ll make your hair grow.

Much more excitingly than myself or Matt, Northumbria’s AA2A’s this year have been busy busy.  So here, I shall try and do them justice and poetically describe their endeavours.

DEBBIE BOWER http://aa2a.biz/pg/profile/deborah

Debbie’s .biz page tells of her adventure times to Christiania; a unique self-governed society in Copenhagen.  From this journey, a film is soon to be premiered; a collaboration between herself and fellow explorers (See http://www.crir.net/ for more info!)  Another residency will follow soon afterwards to Rotterdam (http://www.worm.org/) where a previous journey to Berlin’s findings on lighting gel’s used with film will be picked up and continued.  Somewhere in between being in all of the places at once, Debbie has managed to help out with a film as part of the massive AV Festival which ran throughout March in the North East (http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2012/events-and-exhibitions/layerscape). ANNNND she’s been having a lovely time making screen prints, for the project described in her blurb on the blog (say that quickly 10 times).  So basically, Debbie is either a super woman, or has Bernard’s watch.

YVETTE HAWKINS http://aa2a.biz/pg/profile/yvette

After visiting ‘Places Our Path’s Might Cross’ and ‘Forty-three Houses and a Ford Escort’ (See http://www.globegallery.org/ - more pictures pending!) at the Globe Gallery in Newcastle, it was clear to see that Yvette has been working hard!  The exhibition is fabulous; I strongly recommend popping in if you find yourselves up ‘ere.  To me, this alone would have been a mean feat to achieve, but OH NO!  With the trend of super-productivity, Yvette has her fingers in all sorts of art-type pies.  Because of her super-success (http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/news/arts-council-news/north-east-artist-wins-big-us-hotel-contract/) Yvette has been able to concentrate on her practice (with the aid of a giant bespoke table and a squeaky new studio) and her Book Apothecary project, detailed on her profile page.  Through the AA2A placement, Yvette has met valuable arty-type student’s right here at Northumbria to collaborate with on this, whom have had the pleasure of advice, workshops, and of course the company of lovely Yvette.  Lucky people!  With exhibitions and workshops in the pipeline from Newcastle (http://www.thelateshows.org.uk/home.html &  http://www.litandphil.org.uk/index.shtml) to Barcelona (http://www.mitte-barcelona.com/mitte_Barcelona/Mitte_Barcelona.html) it doesn’t look as though her feet are going to touch down any time soon!

IRIS PRIEST http://aa2a.biz/pg/profile/iris

And last, but most certainly not least, Iris.  I’m going to assume Iris refers to a group of octuplets.  So here is what they have all been doing.  Iris 1 has busied herself with A Newbridge Enquiry.  This has involved disco-dancing like a pro, and also writing about it for CANNED, the fantabulous magazine (http://cannedmagazine.com/) she is responsible for.  Iris 2 ran a writing workshop with a group of budding students from the University, where she brought light into the many dark areas on writing about art and being published.  (Thanks!!)  Iris 3 busied herself curating SUPERCONDUCTOR whilst Iris 4 did a lovely interview for a-n, where she much more successfully than I, conveyed thoughts on the AA2A scheme (http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/article/2092824).  Iris 5 has been very over-run too, working on various commissions, both drawing for people (http://www.bridiejackson.com/news-2) and writing (http://www.thisistomorrow.info/default.aspx?webPageId=1).  Iris 6 spent the whole of March volunteering for numerous parts of AV Festival, whilst always making mental notes to share with Iris 1 to change into beautiful words.  The remaining octuplets have been sorting through proposals for organisations, being invited to artist-exchanges, and being published in conjunction with the Venice-Biennale 2013 and trying to squeeze studio hours in too for her own projects.  Iris can also be found constantly in the library, with her head in one book from a towering pile.

PHEW. I’m exhausted from thinking about what everyone is doing.  Time for a cat-nap.

xxx

Everybody loves an epiphany.  And a slice of toast with a cuppa-brew. And crikey-Charlie, I’ve had both this week. 

As I sit here, with another pot of the good stuff, looking out wistfully over the sun setting upon the back-streets of Byker, a smile creeps onto my face.  I have realised my place this week, why I am here, in this city, and what it is I am doing.

I am doing art.  I am living art.  Art is living me.  And how could anyone in my position possibly frown?  I am here, doing what I want to do, meeting many wonderful people along the way.  Having fun, working hard, enjoying every minute.  And for the moments when it seems hard, exhausting, when I can’t see why, the community of artists here is only ever a preview away; willing, smiling, laughing, discussing, collaborating, realising, justifying.

And so next time someone asks me what I study and “What are you going to do with that?” with a smirk on their face, I shall simply reply,

“I am living.  I am an artist, and I can’t wait for Monday.  Can you?”

Today the inevitable came; the dreaded presentation. Two actually.  I suppose it's like waiting for a bus and then two coming, but not.  You never want to be faced with giving a presentation, and then you have to do two.

I'll admit.  I thought that out of anyone I know, I'm the least likely to crumble at the expectation of talking to a crowd.  Afterall; I moved to Newcastle because my Mam said its the type of place where you can talk to the person next to you in a queue and they'll talk back and not glare at you.  Wrong again.  Usually, I could talk without the moist palms and tremblings which make your notes impossible to read. The funny thing is; this was a VERY small group of peers, and one tutor.  A hundred people or so? No thanks.  I began thinking about what has changed?  I used to be able to speak without "errrrm" punctuating my sentences and then spurting mindless babbling-rants... I guess as you get more confident in your art, you care more what people are thinking about it.  To talk about the very thing you put your heart into, is sort of like taking all of your clothes off in public?

Moral of the story? Be very very nice to all visiting lecturers.  Poor souls...

As I sit here, thinking about sewing the holes up in my socks, I consider being poor forever.  I wonder if I will make money from being an artist, will I ever be the owner of a Pringle sock? Or am I destined to only wear see-through-use-them-once-before-they-disintegrate-socks, forever?  And then I think about the AA2A talk that Northumbria's four resident artists gave this week, and how I hope in a few years I will have achieved half of what any of them have done...

And then I stopped thinking about socks at all, and my mind began to wonder about all of the magical things that they can do this year, if they have already done so much without AA2A... I'm expecting great things, and I'm sure they won't disappoint.  So here's to the first chapter in a year long book, lets see where it takes us.