Yesterday I met up again with the two students who had approached me about running a mini residency/project with Book Apothecary.  Their project will form part of a new programme of work for 2012 and is one of 7 projects launching this year.  Strangely about half of the people involved are Northumbria Uni students, not all from this residency, so a nice coincidence there.

The meeting was fantastic, lots to talk about as we started to flesh out how it will work.  There are about 7 or 8 students involved in this particular project all working in different disciplines, all responding to the book format in some form and presenting their work in a modified vintage suitcase. Other projects in the programme include a travelling radio installation, a tour of train stations of work responding to the theme of journey, an animation book, a drawing project involving a group from Dyslexia North East, an altered books project and a Primary school tour.  A group of photography students will also be involved in documenting all of the projects to go into a suitcase too.

The next stage is devising some workshops so that all the students are equipped to develop their ideas.  So I'm planning some book making workshops at the uni.  I scoped out the room I was reccommended yesterday, just need to find some tables, order lots of tools and we're go!  The great thing about this workshop is that some of the books made will also be taken to a residency we're doing with ISIS Arts, so students will have the chance to make work for a live project.  Hopefully many students will be interested in coming along.  Once I have a date, i'll post it on here.

In the meantime, I'm still neck deep in making work for two shows opening next month.  Last week I ran a modular sculpture workshop at globe gallery (www.globegallery.org) which will form part of the exhibition.  

I also had the first meeting of a network I had set up called BAN (Book Artist Network) which brings together artists across the north east working with book art or artist books in some form.  It went brilliantly, with 15 people turning up and another meeting scheduled next month to discuss what we want to do and make together.  Contact me if you want to join?

I did manage to send off a big order of book sculptures for a Hotel too last week, so i'm quite pleased things are starting to free up and I can focus on Book Apothecary and this residency a bit more.

The new year has started slowly, as I'm sure it has for everyone.

Last week I invited six fine art students to my studio in Byker to discuss the idea of making some artist books for my project; Book Apothecary; The Travelling Museum of Artist Books.  They had found out about this project from a talk I had given last semester.

They got the chance to see a lot of the work that we had already toured and we talked in depth about how the act of making books could relate to all of their individual and very diverse practices.  It seemed clear that books was a universal object that could cross the paths of painting, photography, sculpture and that in itself was a very exciting prospect.

This year is a further exploration for the project of working in different mediums and I've launched a new scheme that invites young artists to take the lead and make work that responds to travel, to suitcases, to the olympics of which we are funded, in a variety of art forms.  I have sent them away to think about what they would like to do and to submit an application for a project.  This project will join 6 other recently funded projects and go on tour later this year.  In additon to their projects they have the opportunity to bring in an artist mentor of their choice and receive additional training in book making and project management.  It's going to be an exciting year for all of us I think.

At the same time, I'm currently working on a commission for 750 sculptures for a US hotel and perhaps a commission in India for a library, that's pretty exciting.  I hope I get to go.  But more excitingly (is that a word?) I'm making work for two simultaneous exhibitions coming up in March.  One is at Globe Gallery - a group show with two other fantastic paper based artists and the next is at Dovetail; a wonderful space which has in the past been curated by Allenheads Contemporary Arts.  The two exhibitions managed and curated by Globe will link the two exhibitions and present new works on paper.  The Dovetail space is all to myself, so much to think about, quite daunting and a lot of work to make for it.  I've buried myself in the library at northumbria researching like crazy.  I forget how much fun reading is.  

Later today I've got the biggest drawing table in the world arriving - 2.4m x 1.2m.  I plan on using this to make very large pieces of paper work.  I'm used to working with small sculptures in multiples which end up large scale so even though the end result is of a similar scale, it's a new way of working.

I'll be making the work both in my studio in Byker and within the workshops at Northumbria.  I cannot wait to begin printing!

I've been knee deep in folding lately working on some new pieces that I'm hoping to develop further in the workshops at Northumbria.  One piece was too big to bring into uni and I had to do it in my own studio by putting together two tables and balancing some large sheets of book boards on chairs to extend the tables surface.  I think I gave myself a bad back and couldn't walk properly for a couple of days.  It made me think about the need for allowing myself time and money to improve my working environment.  I decided that an elevated drawing board should go onto my christmas list as a matter of urgency.

Anyway it was all totally worth it as I finished the piece, it was so fragile by the end from all the repetitive work going into the paper and spent quite a few days worrying that it might tear during framing.  Luckily it didn't and the gallery were pretty pleased with the outcome.  Visit my New Work album to see work in progress pictures or visit it online at http://globeauction.co.uk/yvette-hawkins

I've donated the piece to Globe Gallery's auction, as has Iris Priest who has a piece of work in the auction which is tonight.  Quite excited about that.  Have a look at Iris' print here: http://globeauction.co.uk/iris-priest

So I'd been thinking about the actual map itself and as much as I love scavenging old maps in book shops, i'd quite like to draw and print maps to fold.  I have my print induction next week, it's been a while since I've done any printing and i'm scared but also utterly excited.  I'll spend the next few days coming up with some drawings just to get back into the swing of things and take it from there.  It'll be interesting to see how the ink reacts to the folding too.

Book Apothecary is all tucked up for the winter but I'm planning an exhibition in January at the uni.  It would be nice to build the collection while I'm in the university and invite students to make work for it at some point.  This week I got invited to exhibit in the US which is pretty exciting, there's so many ways to go with the project.  I also found out that one of our volunteers had secured a job helping to deliver a workshop festival which came about through our funders.  Brilliant!

So this week all of the AA2A at Northumbria gave talks about our work, our intents, that sort of thing.  I'd never given a talk to more than 25 people before.  My last job involved a fair bit of public speaking, but I found it easy because it was someone elses vision I was sharing and phrases had already been written and I could easily repeat them or make sense of them and make them my own. 

Talking about my own work is so very different.  Earlier this year I'd given a talk about my work to Xsite Architecture and I didn't think I did very well at it, though no one said at the time.  Deep down I knew I should know more about my work and the task of getting those thoughts out of my head through my mouth at a selected time, I found a real struggle.  Luckily I was invited to pitch for a commission by two other more experience artists and though we didn't get it, i definitely learned a lot from their approach, so I must admit I drew a lot from that experience and that gave me the strength to make it happen at this talk.

I was incredibly impressed by the audience, pretty much the whole course was there... I remember thinking back to the talks I went to at Uni, some very well attended, but others scarce, empty, holllow, depending on whether anyone fancied a lie in or had other work on.  I remember my friend saying that Artist talks were one of the best things about her University experience and oh how I miss them now that i've joined the real world.

I also finally joined the library this week, gosh that's pretty amazing isn't it?  I always end up buying books and spending a fortune, this is the greatest luxury for me in the whole world ever!  I'm being increasingly inspired by maps, it's always been something I've wanted to work with but always thought that i'd put it away in my box of ideas in my head until the right time.  Yes, now feels like the right time, so I got out a booked called Maps as Art and another one about an exhibition of stitch.  I'm gong to start with some collage and drawings and seeing where it takes me, hopefully into print and then to folding.  What an adventure!

I desperately, desperately find myself itching to get into University, needing to sit in my new perfectly formed space, making room for those wonderful thinking sketchbook moments, of pondering, of drifting down corridors getting utterly lost and then revelling in the moment when I eventually come across the printmaking workshop. 

Sadly any attempt is scuppered by so many things, mostly administrative.  Emails emails emails, volunteer schedules, mailing lists, facebook events (why do they take so much time to set up?) sourcing tables and chairs for workshops, booking vans, trying to find the right sized banner for exhibitions.  I stil haven't found a place that sells black aprons - the new uniform of Book Apothecary - my newly launched project.  Anyone who says the life of an artist only involves making work is wrong.  Even commissions take time.  Last week I had to find vintage maps with yellow in it so that they matched the rooms the artwork would sit in (a hotel in Australia).  Then of course the costing (worst thing ever).  I still haven't worked it out.  Any wrong footing here can of course cost you the whole commission.

Today I had to wait in for the plumber - being freelance of course means that you can easily work at home right?  So I decided to finish only my third sculpture of a five set (swiftly becoming a three set) that I need to make for a show that opens on Thursday.  I really ought to get on with that.

So the next week I have 2 exhibitions.  One is at MIMA opening Thursday, the other Book Apothecary opens on Sunday at Culture Lab Offsite (behind Central Station and a bit down the road).

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=106992542747730

Then I am definitely going to switch off work and sit and ponder about folding and learning a few new techniques and getting utterly lost in some corridors.