I'm Back And Hurting, Oh, And SMILING!!!!!

It has been a hard week, in fact 10 days since I last posted. I decided to stay at Canterbury longer, I was meant to go home Saturday 2nd but stayed till Monday4th as everything had to be done by 12pm Monday (a likely story, it was actually 2pm like last year!) I can't believe I experienced all that panic again over getting it all done in time. At one stage I thought all was lost. I was running around helping everyone, well, everyone who needed my help. I twisted my ankle, bruised my knees (one is still swollen), got blisters on my fingers through painting the floor, hurt my back and cut my finger open with a stanley knife - all the injuries I should have given myself last year but I was so high on Red Bull it didn't happen. On the last painting day (Sunday) I gave in to 5 cans of Red Bull - I was that tired - and coffee just gave me a headache.
There was a major panic on Sunday as Laury ran out of grey paint for her floor (by the way, Tucker and all fellow KIADians, Laury is in your space T and Bochao's too, so imanging painting that grey, it took four of us and luckily we had a mastermind to mix the paint, a MA student form this year called Hatem (think that's how you spell his name) so all was ok in the end.

I didn't witness many arguments or tempers boiling, only those directed to Richard and Ali (Head of MA and tutor) who as always through their weight around, telling people to change things in the last minute. But evereyone on the whole remained cool and it looks good. We all went for a drink at the Two Sawyers at the end on the Monday, sitting outside in the Indian Summer. I felt shattered and my usual Emily reaction shifted into gear thinking I'm really not part of this, I'll sit on the side lines. But I don't think anyone really realised what I was thinking then and there, even though I told some. Last year at KIAD was an amazing year for me, I really came into my own and for once my work and myself were remembered (that NEVER happened after Winchester) and I sat there feeling shell shocked. It was an end of an era last year and now I've witnessed an end of an era this year too, as I already knew a few part time MA's and one MFA (Laury) from their first year last year. It was an odd feeling, if I had been alone I would have burst out crying, crying for my friends to come back, crying for the year previous to be repeated, crying to not feel to be such an outsider. The feeling past as I drank more wine and I began to come round again and join in with the festivities and the chatter.

It's taken me a few days to get over KIAD and now I'm off there again tomorrow to do the bar at the Private View tomorrow night. I've already worked out what to wear and have packed my stuff. And Devon feels SO long ago!!!!!

Ok, now for the good and unexpected good news. Laury dropped me back home on Monday and she stayed the night because the poor thing was shattered. She already had plans for me, we had talked long and hard about my work and how they would sell and where to start that she had even given me numbers for galleries to call and sent people emails about me. She even hitched a plan in her head that she and I would drive around the South West from Cornmall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire - even Wales (Cardiff) with a boot full of my work and she could guarantee she would get me selling my work in one gallery per county. Sounds great, but is this just talk? On Tuesday morning I was so tired, yet Laury was up and jumping up and down and before I could even blink she was on the phone to a gallery in Barnes talking about me. She gave me the phone and I arranged to see the gallery owner today between 10pm-5 with my portfoilo and a few canvases so he could see the quality. Oh my God, I really thought of cancelling, it was TOO soon, I wasn't ready, wasn't prepared! So ALL yesterday I spent preparing, printing out all my stuff (as most of the originals are in Devon) and chosing which paintings to take. Barnes is a long way, right the way through SW London, through places such as Clapham, Wandsworth, Putney . . . On and on and on and SO much traffic. Well, to cut a long story short, he was interested. He wants to sell my work. Hurugh! Or is it Huragh?! And Barnes has a A LOT of money floating around. He asked me how much I wanted to sell them for, I said £250? No, (he said), how about £350? WOW, I said. £350 each and one day (he said) possibly £1000. Good God I thought, while pinching myself. So this is good and all thanks to Laury and now I know how to show my work to gallery owners I'm going to do this more often!

Plus, I'm having a small solo exhibition at a friend's house on 16th September. Shirley (my friend) has emailed 100 people to bring their cash. So another thing to look forward too. Am hanging the pictures this coming Sunday. I've done 12 especially for her and a few prints and postcards. Will let you know.

And now the photographs:




The Cedar at KIAD is still looking splendid and she (yes, SHE!) is still producing some lovely cones! Lots of people still use her as part of their work but there has been a move to protect her from that as things have been glued on to her or stuck on and it's not good for the tree.

The house I stayed there. True, in the middle of no-where but in a public park so you get a lot of strangers with their dogs walking past. Security is not so good, they've been broken into 4 times and once someone took their whole roof off to get into the property (mmmm. . . Strange) I really wouldn't want to be there by myself in the dark. But the owners have dogs so it does make sense to live 'on' a park!

The back - the reason the pictures are so bad was because I was SO tired when I took these that I could hardly see plus it was dusk too.

This was above them on the hill - which must have been the major house on the estate. On Saturday night I heard a lot of people going past, smashing bottles and shouting and the gate being forced. Then a bassline of music all night. Thing is I was SO tired that I didn't put 2 and 2 together until the morning when the music was still going on. It was an illegal rave, so Laury phoned the police. They were there as we were leaving, we left them to it and when we came back the rave had stopped. When the owners came back on Sunday night they weren't surprised as it had happened before.

The owner's dog, Max, I could have taken him home, but I couldn't fit him in my suitcase!

Laury and her Sculptures with Esin who came to stay (Another MA I knew from last year)

The man on the roof, a piece of work left over from the BA show in June

A closer look

Laury's MA show work, one of three of her Monumental sculptures, pretty impressive, made out of clay and resin and towering above you

Their eyes follow you around the room and when you look back they stop looking at you!!!!

Another guy (my friend!)



How they are made inside

Barnes by the River Thames today

Looking the other way

The London Wetlands Centre - a mini Oasis in the centre of London, packed and brimming with flora and fauna you wouldn't expect to see in the city

And planes coming at you overhead to Heathrow - a little too close for comfort!

Signets at the Wetlands Centre

Pretty tame ( though I wouldn't stroke it, I DO want to keep my fingers!)









The horses of the duck world!

Bobbies on the beat (I couldn't stop laughing!)

Lots of love and see you all on Sunday,

Emy xxx