Collaboration – the action of working with someone to produce something. What a lovely idea, especially when I might otherwise be inclined to drift a bit post diploma with no specific project in mind. So just when I thought there was no life after City Lit along come two people, quite independently of each other, wishing to work with me.
Actually, if I am totally honest, the project with Trevor Ruddock Black had been on the back burner for a bit whilst I made it to the end of the course, but this week is the first time that I have begun to think seriously about it. Trevor paints in oils. He makes vibrant abstract paintings on a very large scale and with fantastic texture. A little while ago we discussed the possibility of creating complimentary three dimensional pieces and so this week I started exploring how we might do that. Of course foremost in my mind was how to get a cast of his paintings without destroying them in the first place. Funnily enough that seems to have been the easy bit! The painting has survived completely unscathed. Phew! Next came the difficulty of working with a great many undercuts which normally make it impossible to take a good cast from a mould. Lets just say that I am working on that. But the good news is that, at least on a small scale, I have almost cracked it – please excuse the awful pun! And now I have a small box which is a copy of Trevor’s painting awaiting firing. I can’t wait to see the results. The next step is to think about colour – I could pass the box over to Trevor for that bit, or I could do something which compliments his painting. The one thing I know for sure is that I am not going to copy his art!
Then, out of the blue, I was approached by a sculptor wanting help with casting porcelain. Her project sounds really interesting and we met for the first time to discuss it yesterday. I am full of hope for another interesting partnership.
Meanwhile, this week marked the first every meeting of the City Lit Ceramics Diploma Alumni 2015 reunion. More on that anon, but it is great to know that we have each other in this time of transition and the thought that we are already planning our first group exhibition post graduation fills me with excitement. Not sure where or when but we will Re-turn. Sorry, more awful puns!
I feel so lucky to be surrounded by people who are in one way or another supporting my quest to become an artist. I never realised that I needed people so much as I have over the past couple of years and I cannot end this post without saying thank you to my best friend, the person who, over the past couple of years, has demonstrated the most amazing capacity to support, understand, wait, cajole, cook supper and keep the house from becoming a health hazard.
I do not think being on your own between study and next step would be good for anyone but I certainly feel pretty blessed. Go Team!
Bridget Macklin 