And so arrives the professional photographer....

As I'm sure I mentioned earlier, I've done some photography for the Parrot Famshop. 

So voila.....

Lovely leaflets...

...bloody great big sign....

....and up inside the shop!

To say I'm chuffed is a MEGATRONIC understatement. I actually cried when I saw the leaflet (yes..I can be a massive girl sometimes). Yes the family who own it are my friends...but they didn't have to us my photos. And they've used them everywhere!!! This is probably the highlight of my year....so thank you Gotto family.

A hive of activity....

So the start of November means that the Sculpture Garden becomes a hive of activity. This is when we have three manic days where we ask most of the artists to come in and collect their work - either because it hasn't sold, it needs a bit of TLC over the winter, or they have another show.


This year, 90% decided to all come on one day, which meant that our gardener, our handyman, a local artist who helps us out, Hannah's housekeeper and myself were rushing about like loons trying to wrap stuff and organise a swarm of artists who had descended on our sleepy gallery.


The most...well I guess stressful would be the appropriate word...part was the fact that we were waiting for a lorry from France to collect a tonne (or two) of massive bronze trees. Thankfully we could dismantle these massive brutes (being 4 metres tall....) but they were still bloody heavy! But Lorraine (housekeeper) and I got the rest bubble wrapped (having wrapped the first lot precariously balanced on the top of a wobbly ladder). As it happened, this bloody lorry didn't turn up till half 4, so we proceeded to load in the pitch black with 2 Frenchmen who barely spoke a word of English. God knows what I signed when a sheet of paper was thrust in front of me.

 Tony Heywood's assistant 

The rest of my day consisted of wading about in the most vile smelling pond to help retreive some floating pieces, overseeing the manhandling off a beautiful marble torso, panicking watching 3/4 of a tonne's worth of oak being craned onto a lorry, and generally rushing about in my usual frantic manner.

The artist - Paul Vanstone standing on the left, with our helpers.

Most of the time, Paul uses a portable crane-frame, but this time he decided to be lazy! But surprisingly it worked very well.

Moving Walter Bailey's charred oak piece

But alas, excitement over till Spring (when we get a whole host of new pieces). Now I get to spend the winter twiddling my thumbs....

Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, my room is now a beautiful light greeny-blue...but I will be without furniture for a whole week! Bloody Ikea screwed up the delivery, so I am living off what ever I can find rooting about in the spare room/dining room.

I want to lick it.....

As you may or may not know...I am in the process of trying to decorate my bedroom. I say trying, because I have spent hour upon hour trawling through wallpaper samples, paint colours....gahhh I just don't know what to pick! I'm rather concerned that I'll pick something, and will hate it this time next year. 

(Incidentally, I'm decorating because there is no way in hell I can afford to move out for a good few years...I mean I could, but I still want to live round here and, lets face it, the Surrey Hills aren't exactly cheap....)

Saying that, I've lived with a lilac room for 10 years, and I barely see that colour anymore. And I Had a bright red room at uni (ah how I miss that room...)

BUT one thing I have decided on is that I want a funky feature wall (yes I've watched too many decorating programmes).


And I found this beauty:


Cupcake Wallpaper

Please Mummy....can I haves this one?

Yumyumyumyumyumyumyumyumyumyum......

Oink

A fairly crap pig.

I like pigs. They're cool.

Health and safety....what a load of crock.....

Earlier this week I was excited to see that the new Unilever Series in the Turbine Hall exhibition had been opened - 100 million handmade porcelain sunflower seeds, each one unique and made by a factory team in China - that took 2 years to make them all. (Ai Waiwai's 'Sunflower Seeds') The whole point of this amazing installation, as with the best installations in the Turbine Hall, is the audience interaction. The piece was designed with the idea that the viewer would walk over the millions of seeds, feeling them shift beneath one's feet and able to bend down and feel them in one's hands - inspecting the craftsmanship of the seeds.


But no. This stupid nanny state that we live in has declared it a possible health risk. Apparently the dust might be harmful. Oh MAN UP!! So now, the seeds have been raked far away from where anyone could get within a "dangerous" distance, and instead a small sample are in a bowl for the viewer to touch.


The Telegraph - Tate Modern Turbine Hall Health and Safety


Seriously, what is the matter with people? I was chuckling at this Telegraph article..this isn't the first time health and safety have had issues with the Turbine Hall. Several people fell into the "crack" ('Shibboleth' by Doris Salcedo) (HA) and someone was injured walking into Miroslaw Balka's 'How It Is'....I mean seriously people, if you're stupid enough to fall into a MASSIVE crack which happens to be the core focus in a vast hall then you're probably too stupid to understand the artwork and shouldn't be there in the first place!


And this in the same week that Lord Young and David Cameron called to reform 'Health and Safety' - so that (in laymen's terms) it's not so bloody pathetic!!


Bloody ridiculous. End rant.

Just another day in the office...

The better part of my job involves speaking to various artists...with some degree of (fake) authority I might add. Today I had the pleasure of talking to Peter Randall-Page, who is pretty famous in the sculpture world. Call as follows:
"Good afternoon, the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden?"
"Hello, is that Vikki?"
"Hello, yes it is indeed"
"Hi there, its Peter Randall-Page"
*squeak* *breath* "oooooooh hello"
yes...ever the professional.
He's very nice.

Oh, and I printed some rather dodgy business cards. I think there's a reason why even the most artistic people order them online....

Studio Space

Am being proactive and trying to find a studio space....

Does anyone know of any available in the East Surrey/West Sussex area? Don't really want to drive further than about 20 mins, which limits me rather...

HELP!

Moo......

Moo.

That is all.

"Work"

Now those of you who know me well will know that I moan about being bored at work (at the gallery). Well this morning has been the highlight of my week (which is a little tragic)

Trotted into work this morning, a beautiful Autumn day, in my new black boots n a cream jumper dress. Next thing I know, I'm wrestling with a lump of sculpture to get it onto a tractor trailer. I then had to straddle the sculpture to hold it in place whilst the driver tried to get the tractor up a verrrry steep path. The entire morning's visitors were treated to the sight of me being driven through the entire garden with legs akimbo, grim determination on my face as I struggle to keep the damn thing from toppling off...well, I did give the odd cheery wave too.
So yes, being assistant curator is not quite as glamorous as one might expect!

So some actual pictures....

Soooo I gave up with the app. Which is really rather irritating as it would've been awesome to blog where ever I fancied (and the fact that I had to pay for the damn thing). But the photos looked shit so it's back to the ol'lappytoppy.

So here's what I've done in the last couple of days. Nothing amazing but, like I said before, I haven't drawn anything in nearly 18 months. Scary shizzle.

So here goes....

As you can see, I've just been doodling my jewellery. But it's something.

And apologies for the CRAP photos...iPhone does not like black and white drawings.

Possibilities...

Now, in my local area there are various arts n crafts societies/fairs/events...I'm thinking that what I'm doing at the moment is rather commercial and might be quite sellable....soooo I think I'm gonna get some little canvases n do some studies on them!

Hmmmmmmm

Oohhh...

How depressing...those photos look crap. All distorted an everything.

That's what trying to be smart and do it on the iPhone does....

Heyho, they are much better in real life. In fact, they are rather good in general.

The First of Many....

So this is what I've been up to...just a start but I'm quite pleased with them as I haven't really drawn ANYTHING in nearly 18 months...

Brainwave!

Having visited an artyfarty friend over the weekend, I've suddenly come over all artyfarty again! I have to say, I wasn't sure it would ever happen again.

But here I am! I've been keeping a journal for quite a while (partly inspired by a fashion blogger I know) and on Saturday I picked up a pen n started scribbling. Photos to come....

Lastly, have finally linked all three of my websites up, so people can have a fully rounded view of myself. Scary,huh?

Oh, and I now have a blog app on my shiney (ok,not so shiney) iPhone, so expect to see lots of random little blogs popping up. Much more interesting....

Watch this space!

What now?

What now indeed.

I come come to the realisation that I am not happy. Now, I know that seems like the kind of thing that should be blatantly obvious, but funnily enough, its taken me a good few weeks to realise that its not just a mood swing...that I genuinely am not a happy chappy. I can still be when I need to be - at work and so on, but under it all I just want to cry. And sleep.

I have no idea what I want to do with my life! I haven't been enjoying either of my jobs recently....the Parrot seems to have lost some of its atmosphere (other staff have noticed this too), and quite frankly I haven't had a pleasant shift there in weeks. Saying that, last night I was left in charge of the wedding, and it was an excellent night. I was told that it had been noticed that I enjoy doing the weddings, so I'm considering asking Lucinda for a more active role in the functions. For a few years I've considered the idea of events management - specifically weddings and the like. So perhaps that's where I should focus.

Here at the garden, life is rather dull. I fully appreciate everything Hannah has done for me - I truly feel like the past year has been an extension of my degree. But, as I said in my previous post, it really isn't where my heart lies. And I get so bloody bored. Even though I like vegging out at home, I hate not being proactive at work. Which, I think, is why I've stuck at the pub for so long - there's always something to do or someone to talk to. I can go for hours with out saying a single word here, and for a chatterbox like me its practically painful!

So, attempting to be proactive, I have written a to do list. Everything from chose a new colour for my bedroom to chose a direction for my life! I have a short list;

• Do an MA (but of course I need to decide what in)
• Do a cookery course (intermediate to advanced, possibly in Italy)
• Event management
• Voluntary work abroad (possibly in the jungle in Borneo)
• Photography
• Modelling (I know....but people have said I aught to send off my photoshoot photos)

Of course, there's always writing my book...although recent events have been more funny-tragic than funny-haha. But perhaps that's just my current state of mind. One thing is for sure though, nothing ever happens as one might expect.

And yes, that was a very equivocal last statement......

A Year On.....

Over a year has passed since my last entry, which is fairly disgraceful really. And what a year it has been. Ok, so I say that like my world has drastically changed, that I'm suddenly living in New York managing some uber funky gallery with the art world falling at my feet. Sadly not. I'm still living in the depths of the Surrey countryside, still at the same two jobs.

BUT....but things have progressed. I should be proud of myself really (I go through phases of being so....they come and go). I am still the 'Assistant Curator' at The Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden, and that has provided me with so many opportunities. She (Hannah Peschar) really is an amazing lady - as you'd imagine an art dealer to be; slightly eccentric, ruthless and full of stories. But she's also a real sweetie (she buys us ice creams and little treats). I'm pretty much her PA as well as having gallery duties, but I do also get to have fun. Lots of my photographs and writing have been used on our website, and I have been published in a number of magazines (English Country Garden, Artists and Illustrators, Surrey Life.....) I have sold a few pieces, dealt with new (and old) artists, TV and film crews, music and TV stars....well, when I look at it all, it does seem pretty impressive for a new graduate. But.....well, it's not what I want to do with my life. I have no passion for it. Yes, I like going to galleries, and I love it when I find a new piece, but I cannot be fussed with the PRETENSION of it all. Seriously, it's just like you'd imagine.

As a side line, which started with doing the photography at the garden, and a discussion with a friend of mine, I'm trying to get into food photography. That's where my passions really lie...in food and photography, so why not combine them? Luckily enough, this friend happens to run the farmshop in his family's pub, so suggested to his mother that I could do the photos for the new websites! So, having no real idea of what was expected of me, I produced hundreds of photos of the animals on their farm, grub from the farmshop...and a few dodgy shots of the pub. It was a lot of fun to do, and having no clue at the start of the process, I feel I learnt a hell of a lot.

I'm also (again, its all about connections) the photographer for the Walliswood Village Events....such as Village Day and Carols at Christmas. So more of my photos up on the web!

It has been the most hectic year, especially the past few months...it feels like the world was tipped upside down and smushed together. I don't really know what I want to do with my life (I'm realistic enough to know that I'm not going to get anywhere with photography). I know I'm only 23 so it doesn't matter, but I would like a plan. It doesn't help that I recently spit up with the guy that at one stage I thought I'd marry.....but that's not the point.

A couple of girlie friends of mine suggested that I started writing a book, or at least a blog telling the (edited version) of the COMEDY that has been my life for the past year. I won't go into details here, but a couple of girlies used to LOVE hearing the latest updates ("Vikki....seriously you could make a romcom...its hilarious!") so maybe I'll do that.

And if someone has actually read this...please send your ideas on the back of a postcard.........