What I've done and learnt so far on my first weekend off since October.

Yesterday I went to the Tate Britain on my own and it was amazing. The new stairs are beaut, and i'd never looked at the Henry Moore room which was also amazing.
Then I went to see the Painting Now exhibition, as i've been getting really interested in painting for a while, but it scares me because I don't understand it (or maybe I do, but the contemporary painting world exudes some sort of air of importance that makes me feel like I don't and can't understand it).

Anyway, while I was looking at Lucy McKenzie's work, which is really nice, I had so many good ideas for my own work - resolutions to ideas that i've been keeping tucked away in notebooks for a month or two and didn't know how to continue.
But now I know - so today I shall set to work.

But I also realised that the way I take inspiration from other artists isn't really all that much about their artwork, it's just being in the company of other artwork and feeling the time, thought and energy that went into their art and it transferring to you, or something.
And sometimes it's just the descriptions (For example '...free standing enclosure that could be entered at one corner') of art displays (in exhibition catalogues or whatever) that have some sort of promise in them which makes you excited and inspired. Also the initial impact that the form and space within some 3D artworks has on me is enticing. It's the promised (but as of yet undiscovered/undisected) potential of others' artworks to be able to relate to you and what you're doing.

You can mould your mind into other peoples' artwork, and with your own ideas racing around all the time anyway, there's more possibility to feel like you can slot into place with it. Actually - I think you're making it slot into place with you - Aspects of the form and space and matter can be instinctively applicable, or examined and extracted, and reworked for your own meaning, maybe to help in producing your own art.

It's a very frenzied and intuitive experience, and sometimes I have to go and sit and think and analyse the ideas I just had (depending on whether I want to make a distinctly communicative art/design work, or something more atmospheric and open and suggestive).
It is a bit annoying when you've had this super exciting and inspired period of revelation and resolution, and then the next day you've lost your hold on it a bit and it seems silly. But I need to learn not to question it again but rely on my instinct, because that's the way that I react to other art, so it's obviously very powerful. And if people need to take time to think about my art after their instinctive response, then good - they should be putting in the effort; if they're looking for a message or clarity rather than just enjoyment then they need to put in effort for it to be rewarding.

Anyway here is some Lucy McKenzie, and some notes I took about it:

Loos House 2013

Quodlibets (Fascism)

...ideologies that are intrinsically linked to aestheticism
...so the paintings appear as moodboards - styles to select for expression and moulding in the home (like my tattoo)
- Is identity merely an assemblage of appropriated parts that can be tried on at whim?
- Craft being a main concern can be misconstrued as Conservative

And my brilliant jumper

which looks nice with my hand towel yes?

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It is now Sunday night and I have not only had spaghetti bolognese masterfully cooked for me by Dom, but I have done the following things:

1 - developed my new idea for a piece based on the virtues of watching Soap Operas

2 - finished another Swagman dress with amazing elbow deep pockets (photo coming soon)

3 - remembered something I wrote in Bosnia which I will make into a piece soon

4 - planned a painting of a sketch I made in a graveyard in Bratislava

5 - finally scanned my mock-up booklet about co-operation which I will hand make

And this is how this idea began about 6 months ago, so different!

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And this is mock-up of a pocket-sized booklet (or 3 booklets with belly-binding) about co-operation; the concept, why we need to improve it, and how. and also how it's tempting to veer into Tribalism instead, but we shouldn't.

It might be hard to follow but the same book appears in the same place in each scan, but turned over a page each time - so if you commit to a bit of mouse scrolling you can read it all.