Not My Type

In the wake of my Fine Art degree I'm trying to find new avenues to fuel my creative urges. Because my course was so conceptual, a lot of the things I'm drawn to are back to my old craftier/illustration roots.

So I started drawing again and in order to find some inspiration I responded to a songwriter who was looking for someone to illustrate his titles, his first one being 'Not my type'.

We haven't gotten round to doing another title as of yet, but it's a start, and something to keep my creative juices (ew) ticking over. As well as this I have been starting to make resin jewelry, but I'm unsure how successful they are yet, resin is very temperamental (and expensive) as I found out from working with it this year. So, we shall see..

Begendings and the What Nexts?

Opening Night at Leeds Degree Show 2013

If you haven't heard blogger Ze Frank talk about 'begendings' then you would probably be a little confused by the title.

The begendings, and what I'm currently facing with my time at Uni is, as you have probably guessed, the beginning of the end. That moment when walking the same route that you have done a million times for the past three years, you suddenly become aware that there is a limited amount of times left that you will have to. I find myself walking through campus staring up at the big old beautiful buildings as if in a cliched movie, in complete naive surprise that I hadn't noticed how impressive they were and how lucky I was to be part of such a good University. I kind of like that feeling, the hazy joy of 'I enjoyed this chapter of my life.' But then the What Next sets in. It is the question on every to be graduates lips, and what we constantly ask each other warily '...so what are you doing next year?' and the panic of not quite knowing what to reply. All my plans are a little up in the air at the moment, with a very last minute PGCE interview for Birmingham next month and the possibility of living at home or in Leeds, and it would be very easy to fall into panic mode.

To combat 'the fear' I've been trying to come up with strategies to keep calm and keep focus on the future, when finishing a chapter of my life.

1. Start a new job. I recently left my awful bar job for another not so awful bar job. The people are lovely and it leaves me with something to come back to in September if I choose to be in Leeds.

2. Start a new project. Or a blog! My use of resin in my work has meant that i've become really interested in resin jewellery, so I am making plans to create some resin pieces. Not only this but I've also started a collaboration with a singer/songwriter to create a drawing everyday to one of his song titles, let's hope I can keep up!

3. Plan all of the things. Book some gigs, buy festival tickets. Plan a date night with your partner, or a meal with family or friends. Go traveling! Keep your calendar busy and you'll start to fill the empty gaps that were usually jammed full of the chapter you've finished. Plan a holiday, you probably deserve/need one.

4. Don't set your expectations of yourself too high. If like me you've just finished Uni, it's really easy to feel like you desperately need to be on the path to your career now and if you're not you're a failure. WRONG you've just finished something major, you can allow for a month, six months, a year or even longer. If you've not sorted out your ideal job yet, stick with a part time one and if you can, get some experience in you're prospective field.

I feel like the biggest hypocrite ever for writing this, let's hope I can take my own advice!

Close-up of my piece 'Lists' 

 A much more exciting countdown.

Guilt Free Bubble Wrap

Measuring the childlike nature of adults. Using audience participation to create a final aesthetic based on the idea of compulsion. The urge to pop and play with bubblewrap prevails even through age, and ignites a childlike response to a mundane material.

'Measured' from Alex Fellows on Vimeo.

My week in Instagram.

So as of late I have been very busy, what with a fundraiser to put on, two interviews for an art PGCE and a boyfriend coming home, alongside trying to create work for my degree show.

I'm nearing the end of my third and final year at Uni. And I've never been more terrified.

So. I best give you a very quick run down about what is going on here..

Insight into the Studio

It's only recently that I've learnt how important having being in the studio is to my productivity. It's a really important part of the 'creative process' (cringe) to be involved in and around other people who you can bounce ideas off as well as having a space of your own to reflect and organise your thoughts. 

As a request from the ever brilliant Emma of Fin De L'Histoire (a life/art/study abroad blog) I am going to give you a sneaky peek at what is going on in my little section of the studio. Not because the work is particularly secretive, but because I'm not about to bore you with a full on post on my practice.

Panic Posting

So in lieu of coming back to Leeds I kinda went into panic mode. And by panic mode I mean thoughts like-

 'What if I can't do any work in the studio?'

 'Everyone hates the work I make anyway' 

and such madness as 

'What if I leave the house and I am attacked by a giant groups of yobs!?' 

(I don't particularly live in the nicest part of Leeds, some have referred to it as 'The Ghetto of Hyde Park')

and other such excuses ('But it's reeeeally cold!). Apparently I had suddenly become and elderly lady with a phobia of youths today and the outside world. I'm quite an anxious person actually and if I let these black holes envelope me I just become mega counter productive. So today I decided to finally break it and actually leave the house today.