My impatience

 I'm so impatient. I've left the painting outside for longer than I expected to, and unfortunately there has been little change in it's appearance. You may be able to see that the ink has been bleached significantly, and there is also some dirt on the surface from when it rained. Unfortunately there isn't much more development than that, and I certainly want more.

 Over the past few days I have debated taking matters into my own hands and using various methods to weather the canvas myself. Hopefully if I try this natural approach again when we're further into winter there will be better, and faster results. However, doing that feels kind of deceptive to me, and feels like I'm compromising my original concept. I feel like I need to put up with feeling frustrated and just let this happen naturally.

At least I have other work to do in the meantime. Today I started working on the first of the two portraits I've recently had commissioned. They are both of children, which is something new for me, so I'm doing a lot of preparatory sketches. These pieces also will not include text or embroidery, just a straightforward portrait, so it'll be a change. That's the plan for today, and hopefully I can start painting the figure in the next few days.

Rain

I was thinking earlier that I've left the painting outside for another week, with no extreme weather and no results whatsoever. I was getting frustrated, and suddenly it started raining!
It's going quite hard, and for the past week the canvas has been placed flat on the ground rather than propped against the wall, so that rain collects rather than drains off, and sunlight should shine directly on the surface.
This must be the first time I've ever hoped for rain and bad weather, and now I'm very pleased. Really looking forward to seeing the results of this, and hopefully it'll be raining all night!

Update/Evaluation

As promised, I can now say what I've been doing with the piece I'm currently working on!

I decided to leave it outside for a week to become weathered and affected by the elements. For example, being battered by wind, bleached by strong sunlight, or saturated by rain. My rationale was that the majority of people are born perfect, with no scars or bruises, physically and mentally. As you go through life your experiences affect you and you end up with all manner of scars and bruises. When I paint, I strive to create something perfect, so allowing it to become weathered and damaged over a period of time was an analogy to going through life and being affected by your experiences.

I intended to leave it for a week, and then use embroidery as normal, possibly as a means of repair. Unfortunately, there has been no extreme weather at all during the past week, so doing this seems to have had no effect on the painting. One day I came home to find it had been knocked over and slightly soaked during an afternoon of wind and rain, but this didn't really alter the piece permanently. I think this is one of the only times I've ever wished for bad weather.
Because of this, I'm going to leave the work out for longer. Unfortunately I cannot say how long I will need to do this for as I'm entirely dependent on the weather. I think I just need to be patient and hope that there's a storm soon.
In the meantime I've got a few other things to work on, including two new commissions. Hopefully I'll see some results with this piece soon. Today I will also be sending off my residency application to Titanik gallery in Turku!

Work in Progress

 I started a new piece on Monday, and I have to say I'm insanely excited about it. The basic layers have now been completed, but I'm now trying something new with it, and I'm really looking forward to seeig the new idea develop, and to see the end result.

 At this stage I don't want to reveal what I'm actually doing with it, but it will become clear eventually. I'm expecting that the end result is going to be really interesting, and if this new concept is successful I'll be working with it again.

 The new element that I'm introducing into my work is symbolic of life experience and change. I think the analogy works really well, so I'm hoping that the actual effect works out too. It's going to take a week to complete the next part of the piece, but I'm excited to see what happens. Once this has been completed I will likely be using embroidery, as usual, to bring the painted portrait back through the layers.

This is all quite mysterious sounding, but it will all become clear eventually. I'm really optimistic that some exciting effects will be produced, and I'm looking forward to the end result very much. In a weeks time I'll be able to reveal what I've been doing, and my rationale behind it. Can't wait to see how it goes!

An experience with an agency, and its effects

I was scouted by an agency this week, and had a meeting with them yesterday. It was kind of doomed from the start, due to their need for fees of £95 per week. That's all well and good if you have that kind of money, and frankly I doubt that many emerging artists do. They seem to provide a fair amount for the money, however much of this goes on during office hours, which would have a knock-on effect of me taking time off from my day job, thereby earning less. I'm not sure I can spare £95 now, let alone if I was earning less.
I went along to this interview anyway, in the hopes that negotiation would be possible, but expecting that this would not be the case. Of course, it wasn't, on the grounds that all of their artists should be treated equally, and I can't really argue with that. As usual, art boils down to money and self-promotion. Even the person I met yesterday said this, but that's not something I don't already know. He had obviously already made his money and had his success, as he told me £95 per week can easily be borrowed. I cannot imagine who on earth would lend me that amount on a weekly basis.
The whole experience was a bit strange. I arrived on time, but had to wait for half an hour in the gallery, whilst the show was being changed over. I felt and was treated like I was in the way a bit, and I personally felt it was a bit unprofessional to be doing this on a day when they knew people were coming in for meetings.
The actual interview was nothing too special. I received an email this morning telling me what they had found impressive about me, and I have to say that is a confidence boost. However, I have decided not to complete the application process for this, on the basis of some negative comments I've heard about this organisation, the financial issue, and also the impression I got that I would be very much controlled if I became involved. Requiring approval for everything would kind of kill one of the main reasons I became involved with art in the first place - complete freedom.
Despite this, spending time in this kind of environment again has really reminded me of what I really want to be doing in life, and that I do not want to be stuck in an office job for the rest of my life. As a result of this, I've spend some time today looking into opportunities such as residencies, exhibition call for entries etc and making a few applications, and I feel a new sense of motivation. Having a day job and being tired can easily make you lazy, and I feel that has happened to me recently. I'm pleased that I've at least gained some momentum as a result of this experience. I'm still applying for a residency opportunity in Finland, and working on an exhibition with two others, but finding additional options is always good, and makes me feel like I actually am doing worthwhile things. I don't want my art career to fall by the wayside. Hopefully something more will come from what I've been doing this afternoon.

Small changes

It's amazing the difference that one small change can make. I've just been working on a new portrait, and I'm so excited about it! Everything is the same as usual, except that I've downsized the portrait in relation to the canvas. This was initially an error, but as I carried on I found that it really worked for me. Possibly because my style of painting is not overly detailed, so a smaller scale doesn't take anything away. I'm still in the early stages, and there's much more to do, but I'm loving how it looks right now. I love it when I can get really excited about the work I'm doing, and I can't wait for this layer of paint to dry so I can carry on with it!
We've had a minor setback in terms of planning our upcoming show, but we're looking into some new options. One way or another we'll get it going, and I can definitely see this piece having a place in the exhibition. I'm really looking forward to carrying on with this and seeing how it turns out!

Recent work now for sale

Now that the exhibition in Brick Lane is over, I have listed some pieces from that show for sale on Etsy. To see what's available have a look here,
It's sad that the show is over now, but I've got lots more things coming up so I'll still be busy, and I'm excited about the work I'm doing now!