April 4, 2017

MA day. 9.00 am: At the School: Tutorial no. 1. 10.30 am: At the Old College:

Tutorial no. 2.

If it works … it works! Throw caution, theory, and precedent to the wall. Odd numbers, like 5 and 7. To write a hundred words describing your work, it’s better to write a thousand, and then to condense the text. An even number of hung works divides at the space between them; an odd number, divides upon the central work. Which is to be preferred? You live too close to your heart to know. A tutor has a privileged distance from your work. They see in from without, whereas you see out from within. Where the work began and where it’s now are two very different places connected by a journey.  ‘A man from a different film crossed my path’. ‘How noisy it all is, today!’ ‘I’m skidding across the surface of things!’ Claude glass. Day for night photography. Truth, authenticity, scope. The best artists go through dry and barren creative patches; but it’s the manner in which they traverse the difficulty that, in part, makes them the best artists. Quietness and stillness: What is the distinction? You see the symbols, but not their significance (MA Fine Art tutorials, from ‘The Black Notebook’ (April 4, 2017) 245).

Bluebird:

Back at the School. 11.45 am: A late running third year painting tutorial. I’m trying to fit in as many of these as possible before my time away at the close of the week and beginning of the Easter vacation. I feel so tired! 12.30 pm: Tutorial no. 3.

2.00 pm: Following lunch, Tutorial no. 4. Brigitte’s studio:

The difference between exercising a facility and exercising a gift is the same as that between walking and flying. Establish the tone of your blog: between conversation and formality. ‘What has been the most significant influence on your work in past few months?’ Discussing your work with other students is like journeying with a travelling companion. They notice things that you do not. Rhythm and drumming/dancing and drawing. When a way of working isn’t enough for you, what is the ’nuff’ that’s missing? ‘When I found the mark?’ ’47’ (another odd number). Odd numbers of works leave the sequence open. A great many colours and a great many parts are hard to resolve in a painting. Try, instead, composing with a few colours and great many parts, and vice versa (MA Fine Art tutorials, from ‘The Black Notebook’ (April 4, 2017) 246).

2.30 pm: I held an illuminating and potentially exciting MA Fine Art application interview. (Music in the air.) 3.00 am: An advisory session for an earnest, final year painter. Lil’s lights:

3.45 pm: I ended where I began, at the Old College. Tutorial no. 5. 5.00 pm: Outward and homeward:

6.30 pm: Practise session 1. 7.30 pm: Various administrations:

  • Student catalogue statement reviews, revises, and re-revises;
  • Teaching appointment confirmations;
  • Diary update;
  • Research training module marking.
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