Little Blue Blog - Liz Knowles
Liz Knowles
Little Blue Hut Resident Artist from 26 May to 1 July 2009
22 June 2009
This is my last week at the LBH, and I'm sad to say the time has flown by! I could never have wished for a better first month following leaving my job and taking the leap I have in changing my career - I haven't stopped, and it's been a very affirming time.
To be completely honest, however, I wasn't expecting to become this busy so quickly - I had expected to be able to use the hut with much more of a focus on my own artwork rather than for workshop based commissions.
The LBH has been a gem of a space for me to use while acclimatising to my new career, and the complete change of lifestyle that has come with it. Above all it has been a thinking space for me and those I've been working alongside - a chance to buffer our thoughts along without our usual everyday lives and distractions imposing.
21 June 2009
A quiet week for the LBH as I've been running from one school to another and fitting in more training around that, but I've managed to steal away to it for the odd ½ hour, if only just to catch a breather and a chance to come back down to earth for 5 minutes! Hopefully there will be more time next week.
12 June 2009
Another full on week as my intensive training continues and schools projects begin to properly get underway! Down at the LBH I have been continuing my investigations into using books in my work. I've been rather sidetracked by Breakfast at Tiffany's - an old favourite - and now it is cut up into lots of business card sized rectangles ready to be made into, well, business card sized artworks that people can carry with them. The text is the decoration on one side of the card, now I just need to find some images for the other.
I have previously made similar cards using prints of William Morris fabric and definitions of words cut from a dictionary published in 1900. Those cards went down very well, and so it's time to stock up and make more, but to push the idea forward too.
7 June 2009
Well there has been little time for worrying whether I've made the right decision in opting for my career change! Again the LBH has been a haven his week; I started a new part time youth work role alongside having to dedicate a fair amount of time to planning more schools projects.
Therefore this week the hut for me has become a sort of 'time out' zone, as the training for my new job is full on - there is a lot to take on board. So although there's been little spare time for me it's been a blessing to be able to pop down to the hut to wind down after days when I feel I may be reaching the point of information overload.
The perfect contrast to sitting opposite someone, listening to the and processing what they are saying has to be sitting opposite a vast, open seascape and letting your mind drift freely with the breeze.
Some highly productive time has also been spent this week in the company of others this week. Friends, fellow artists and teachers I am working with on current projects have popped in at various times. The ideas have been flowing steadily and I'm in no doubt as to the integral role the LBH and its beautiful setting have played in this.
31 May 2009
My first week in the LBH has certainly fulfilled my expectations! I've had a very productive planning day for a creative project involving a local secondary school - it's great to take your work out of your usual space once in a while to see what ideas come flooding in!
The weather's been blustery but the LBH has been a bubble of calm activity. It's been a joy to be able to leaf through books and cut out sections for my work, effectively whilst on the beach, but without having to worry that the pages will get blown away! Truly a unique location!
I'm currently wading through all sorts of weird and wonderful books that I picked up last weekend at the Hay-On-Wye Literary Festival. My favourite so far is called 'A Word in Your Ear', written a good few years ago now. It gives the history of a smattering of words that it's author has taken a fancy to..so far the brief history of the word 'margarine' stands out, 'Yes, margarine, with the 'g' hard, is a beautiful word and much the same as Margaret, for both come out of Greece and mean pearl or pearly', it begins...
25 May 2009
My hope for my time at the LBH is that it's a very relaxing one! I've just left a job that I'd been doing for 2 ½ years- working for a prison arts charity. It was work that I absolutely loved, but I'd been seeking the right circumstances to arise to allow me to leave this desk (not to mention London) based job, with a view to returning to community arts and my own practise.
So, the LBH has come along just at the right time! I'm hoping it will be an ideal space in which to gather my thoughts, plan for the future and get myself back into the swing of making, drawing and writing.
Being that I am now predominantly a community artist, I'm also hoping to involve others in using the LBH to inspire their creative sides. I'll be inviting friends and those I'm working with on projects to share time, materials, and the gorgeous view!
Disclaimer: please note that views and opinions expressed in artists' blogs are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those held by Canterbury City Council.
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