Freelance Reflections #137

Aside from the usual, this last week has been consumed with the end of year exhibition at Goldsmiths. I finished my film piece on the Saturday and completed my accompanying painting between Sunday and Monday, with the exhibition build and installation on the Tuesday. The painting is a process piece, so I made it using different coloured paints for each four parts of the Sevillianas, adding a pair of shoes with butterflies, which has been a significant symbol for me throughout my training so far.

What’s most challenging on this course at the moment is balancing everything else, and having enough time for art making. I was mostly happy with the outcome, but it was a bit more rushed that I would have liked, so I feel like I should have tweaked the film a bit more.

So, I carved some time out to spend with my partner, and although we ended up doing things like going welly shopping, I relaxed more than usual. I’m hoping I can fit in half a duvet day at least before I go through a really intense work period for four weeks, working some nine hour days, and doing a six-day week.

For now, I’ve been a social butterfly, pub quizzing with pals (including fellow poets Lateisha Davine Lovelace-Hanson and Kes Gill-Martin), hosting She Grrrowls, and then ending the exhibition private view dancing at Peckham’s Carpet Shop. After invigilating the exhibition today, I’m meeting another poet – ibizo lami – for some kind of milkshake or smoothie or juice, depending on what tickles the tastebuds.

I’m back down to literally £0 in my tuition fees savings, and have lost a couple of clients recently, so I’m hoping I can make this up over the summer AND get enough work for September. I’ve made a start working through my ACE appraisal to also apply for funding for a new project for the third time. Wish me luck!