Merman

Putting a hand on
Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Teachers are on strike today so I have to be half mum half artist :)  I'll consider it practise for the summer holidays which start shortly.  I'm making a rock for the Merman today and will hopefully have the sculptural work finished by the end of the day (bar the finishing touches of course).

I have decided to stop pushing for funding for an MSc in Physical Oceanography since I do not feel I am in the right place to make it happen.  I shall take up training as a teacher so that I can work primarily as an artist and supplement my income by working as a teacher.  It would be good to specialise in helping adults with learning differences - I am dyspraxic with a specific learning difficulty in Mathematics but I gained a 2:1 joint honours degree in Mathematics and Physical Oceanography.  That was due to a determination and enthusiasm I would like to pass on to others.

For now, roll on the art . . .  and the beach, lego, homework!?!

Merman

Really enjoying the challenge of making a beautifully seductive man. I want people to want him, which is wrong because he is not human and he is asleep and vulnerable. But oh! Soo handsome :) ta for reading.

Studio love . . .

I'm liking the way this shelf is looking :)
Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Over 100 a month!!

Thank you to all visitors, especially the regular ones :))  We have clocked over 100 visitors a month for the last two which is ace.  I had been thinking it was time to monetize(put up advertising space) but I'd like to know what you think, please leave a comment or tag me on fb if you have an opinion.  Thank you for reading :))

Keeping the vibe whilst trying to achieve an illustrative perfection.

Merman

Testing, testing :)
Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Hoorah!  Back on the mobile, tales from the studio begin again,  I have been finding it difficult to work on sculpture recently and have spent only an hour or so on this bit so far.  It is hollow but now I am honing the shape by adding, His arm will go on once the body is nearly right, more soon :)

Petition

So glad to be taking the Ai Wei Wei petition down from my page :)  Wishing him health and freedom...

Interview

An article written by my friend and blogger ChrissieB http://chrissiebee.com/blackcutwitch-christina-phillips-artist-sculptor-scientist-mum-in-a-moment/
...and ... a photograph of my work back up in the studio ready for some visitors to come and view....

If you would also like to come and visit the Blackcutwitch Designs studio in the beautiful surroundings of Snowdonia please contact me on the email address under my profile.  We have beautiful walks from the door, a beautiful designer garden with features, and some great cafes and pub's in the village, there's even an old mill B&B, if you fancy staying :)  Just get in touch for full details and look on google maps for blackcutwitch designs. Thank you for visiting.

Posting...

is going to be a bit different from now on.  I can't post from my phone so the short pithy tales directly from the studio as I make I won't be able to do any more.  From now on it will be posts every few days of what I have been up to artistically plus a few thoughts.

Last week was dreadful; I found out some distressing facts which have caused me to send my agent my notice today.  I also found out that the funding which I had been told I would 'almost certainly get' for my MSc in Applied Physical Oceanography has been oversubscribed and I have fallen off the bottom of the list.  I love my art but it pays rarely even when one works really hard, I had hoped to specialise in modelling the dynamics of renewable technologies in the ocean environment.  It seems to me that we, as humans, have screwed up so often because of a lack of forethought that surely people who specialise in predictive systems in new industries are something we need?  Maybe I just chose the wrong place to try to do it?

By the end of the week I felt like giving it all up and trying for a job at Tesco, though they would probably tell me I was overqualified!!  However, I am an incredibly lucky person and cannot forget this, the first of the pictures above is the view from my walk home from dropping my son off at school, the second is from our garden last night.  I also have an understanding, loving partner and a lovely son, and my studio is in my front garden with beautiful views of Snowdonia.  How could I be unhappy or feel hard done by, that would be ungrateful in the extreme when so many people in this World have so much less.

So!!  I picked myself up and started working again :)  The first pic is of the mask which I made for a fancy dress party; 'dark bride' was the theme I chose.  If you would like something like this or a more complex papier mache piece please ask, you'll be chuffed at how affordable it is and it's something you can use to decorate your house for always as mine does.  The second pic is me back at work getting the clay out :) The box like structure is a base for my Merman; a beautiful male, half fish, half human creature asleep on a man made plinth his head on a soft pillow, his tale shimmering.  How did he get there?  Will he wake and see us watching him?  Watch this space for more updates and thank you for following and for reading, it is partly my ever increasing site traffic that keeps me going and that, is you :)x

Exhibition

To all those who have gone to Westbourne Grove in the last couple of days to see the exhibition I am sorry.  The group exhibition was closed early due to mismanagement.  Yesterday I had to drive down to London and back in one day to get all my pieces, it took 16 hours in all and £80 in petrol.  I was not impressed!  If you made the effort to go thank you and if you got to see nothing or couldn't go I hope to put up a gallery on here soon.  I shall put up a post next week detailing everything that went wrong and what the final outcome was, suffice to say too many people just out for their own interests.  I hope it will serve as a salutatory story to which other artists can refer when deciding on how to approach exhibitions, agents and galleries.  In the meantime artistic content coming soon and I hope you all have a good weekend, thank you for reading :)

p.s.check this out it is soooo cool  :)   http://socialvisuals.com/?id=blackcutwitch

A different pic of Earth Womb

Getting very frustrated.....

.....at not being able to mobile blog, it seems google have changed the settings for those outside the USA without deeming to inform us.  Thank's google, NOT!!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/SensationModern

Exhibition

I feel I must add to the previous post about the exhibition because the guys at the gallery, although unprofessional, were probably not meaning to be bad.  On opening night there were no name tags on the pieces or any prices or invitations to buy.  There were no introductions made to people of the artists or even the artists to each other.  Probably worst of all no advertising had been done locally and there was no press coverage which, with artists like Bob Allen and Anthony John Gray on board should have been easy to get.

So in summary; the gallery will be great after this because they will learn from the experience and hopefully spend a bit more time and cash on the premises.  The exhibition is amazing but Sophie really just put the art together, bought some amazing artists together and had a great concept i.e. this art in this gallery.  It was the artists, the gallery staff and her daughter that made the gallery look so good and who have made the best of a bad job.  Please go if you are in the area, it is well worth seeing while it is there; London West Bank Gallery, 133 - 137 Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill, London W11.

To Tom and the team, thank you for the experience I think it was a big learning curve for all of us.

Photographs from The Sensation Modern Group Exhibition, 133 - 137 Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill, London

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150217462640889.316332.657120888

Environmental considerations

This is not something I usually shout about but I have had considerable interest recently because of it, so I thought I should blog about my personal nod to environmental considerations;

I almost always work in natural materials, the most 'unnatural' being concrete. I try to buy a lot of materials at once hence saving petrol. I almost always fire once only with the glaze put onto greenware hence saving a considerable amount of electricity. All of my glazes are totally non-toxic. My studio is powered by solar panels (not my kiln or heating).

I think it is important for each one of us to try to consider how what we do affects the environment and affects other souls. I am by no means perfect but I strive to do my best. Thank you for reading :)

Does it have to be big?

It is a commonly held belief that a mature artist will work large, why is this? A few years ago before I had discovered a sculptural talent I had an urge to make full figures and large objects. I started doing garden design and this urge waned. Once I started sculpting my urge was to work in many different sizes depending upon the task in hand. I hope I can get some recognition without feeling forced to work large. It is something I would like to do but only as appropriate and not in all circumstances. In fact recently I have wanted to go small. Personally I think it is a bit of a male thing, and it shows you have a large studio and enough money to pay for a lot of materials. It can also be a lot less environmentally friendly unless it is in a sympathetic garden context I will only do it when it fits.

The Exhibition

I don't usually write very much on here but I have to put down my experience last week because it was so odd and has left me feeling sad and deflated;

I arrived on Tuesday after a 6 hour drive having navigated my way across London using google maps on my phone, the sat nav refused to work. After ringing the bell at the gallery for twenty minutes I eventually got lucky as someone was leaving and was able to deliver my pieces to the gallery. I then had a long and difficult journey to Enfield to drop off my car, then it was public transport to my friends house in Camden. I got to the gallery on Wednesday for 11am and tried to get started but much of the previous exhibition was still up, my agent still hadn't arrived and the gallery guys were putting a boxing ring up upstairs... Boxing and fine art?? Downstairs the toilets were scruffy and leaking and the director was painting the walls. I gave up and went for lunch. Found a gorgeous skirt in Mary's Living and Giving Shop http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/1134_9818.htm, which has just turned one year old, a high point.

When I got back Sophie Dare, founder of Sensation Modern, and some of the other artists and helpers from http://www.sensationmodern.com/artists.php had arrived and the friction was beginning. We were all trying to put work up but the gallery walls had no exhibition boards or hanging systems so this was not easy and required a power drill, plugs and screws for each painting or sculpture. For the big artists the boys jumped but for the ones they did not know or who weren't so BIG (literally larger size gets more attention) they couldn't give a hoot. The staff complained they weren't given enough time to put away the previous exhibition, the SM one was starting the next evening. The director complained the walls would be 'like cheese' because there were 'too many paintings'. The SM team complained that the basement was still full of work, when they had been told they would have all three floors at their disposal, and that the walls had wet paint on them.


OMG, 'I want to run away' I thought while my sculptures still sat carefully packed in their boxes. One of the co-owners of the gallery kicked one of my boxes out of the way (the one containing four masks and 'Concentric Dreams') and had to dodge a death threat from me!! Thank goodness I was there. The same guy had earlier been remarking on Anthony John Gray's work; 'this has done the rounds hasn't it, you just wonder who is going to buy this stuff'. I headed back to my friends @ 9.30 very worried and exhausted.

The next day I turned up for 12.30 to help out, I wanted to get my pieces up but Sophie told me she would decide where to put them after all of the canvasses were up. That didn't make me too happy but I thought it was probably wise since mine were some of the smallest pieces but very colourful. I spent the afternoon drilling holes and putting up canvasses then changing them as needs be till it all looked right, the gallery director had gotten sore arms after doing the same for most of the day. We found spaces for my stuff which looked great and after getting a terse word from the gallery director, who seemed very stressed, we went to get changed. I had a lovely relaxing drink before the opening with the artists, Jessica Suarez http://www.jessicasuarez.co.uk/ and Julius Lewandowski, discussing life the universe and everything in between.

Opening night was a private viewing attended by some very interesting people but it was not crowded, Jess Suarez got some great pictures. The first thing one of the gallery guys said to me was 'not many people here'. Negative I thought. I had a great chat with a really smart lady called Juliet who runs Juice pr consultancy http://www.juicepr.co.uk/blog/ and a lovely Indian chap who is a financier advising and buying for investment portfolios. I also got to talk with the great Anthony John Gray for a bit and felt a real connection with him about art.


The music did not materialise but the filming was happening and there were hosts and hostesses and us artists were schmoozing for all we were worth. Unfortunately the film guy, Gido Karow, forgot to interview me. I went home unhappy after hearing lots of negative comments about Sophie suggesting she didn't have enough backing, someone even suggested I should have a solo exhibition. Under normal circumstances this would have been flattering but by now I felt my agent was being undermined in the extreme by the very people who should have been trying to make it all work. One of the gallery people also said he was a bit worried about my smaller pieces because they were unprotected and that someone could pinch one easily, I found this alarming, 'don't they have insurance, aren't there going to be people up there watching it?' I thought.  Note on 15/6/11, the agency had not insured there would be staff there and have not manned it themselves.

On Friday I had a day off and went to see the Miro exhibition at Tate Modern which was marvellous.

On Saturday I went to the gallery with my friend and writer ChrissieBee, who had travelled from North Wales for the event to film me doing a live sculpture. This was to be influenced by the place and the people and was scheduled for 2.30pm. We arrived late @3.30pm not worried since no advertising had been done. When we got there the gallery was closed and Jess was outside, puzzled and worried, we phoned Sophie, she said she was coming. One of the gallery guys turned up after about an hour and opened the doors, he said they had demanded the hire fee for the first week up front on Thursday evening (opening night) and had closed the gallery until they received it in cash. Is this normal? Apparently the contract had said nothing of the kind and the gallery had been closed for a day and a half.  Note on 15/6/11; the fee was reasonably expected and it was in the contract, putting up the artwork and manning the gallery was not in the contract.  It was too late to do the live sculpture so I went home to change for the evening, we had made masks that morning for the evenings 'Gay Party' event.

We all looked great, me, ChrissieBee, my friend and designer Lilli and her boyfriend and dj Ben had all made an effort to dress fancy but when we got there nobody else had. This was OK though because we got lots of attention, had our photographs taken loads and I won the Julius Lewandowski painting for the best fancy dress (photo's coming soon). The event's publicist said he had received a phone call the night before saying the event was cancelled, so no music, no party but some very interested people and some amazing art on show with artists to take you through it. My friends loved it, Lilli even said she thought it was better than The Tate because the artwork was so varied and beautiful and because the people showing it were taking you through it all.

I told the gallery director I was worried about my stuff getting pinched and he told me that he had been so impressed by what nice people us artists were that he was going to do his best to sell our stuff. I wasn't sure what to make of that and it wasn't what I had asked about.  Note on 15/6/11: I have since realised that Tommy has done his very best by us under the circumstances.

I cannot paint these guys all black without saying that by Wed 8^th June the names and prices are still not on the pieces. There is a tendency to expect peoples trust without showing them why they should trust and this is not good practice. Us artists are now trying not to be sceptical but waiting for sales to prove worth which puts the pressure on, perhaps more than it had to be. SM does however have a list of collectors and an amazing selection of art plus a collection of its own.  Note on 15/6/11:  none of these have materialised as yet.

On Sunday I had to leave, it took every ounce of strength I have not to panic and go and fetch all of my work from the gallery. When I got home (after a seven hour journey)and walked past my studio I nearly cried at the thought of my babies down there and me so far away.

Having spoken with Sophie recently I believe things have been resolved and all will pan out OK. The exhibition is on till 16^th June and is well worth a visit. It will be manned occasionally by two amazing artists; Jess Suarez and Julius Lewandowski and Sophie will be holding some private viewings if you are particularly interested in any of the artists, email: sophie@sensationmodern.com.

For all that I have said the building itself is a fantastic location and a wonderfully kooky setting for such stunning art. After a year of hard selection the first Sensation Modern Group Exhibition is up and running, albeit with a shaky start. Thank you for visiting and for reading :)

Unable to blog from my phone :(

Apologies to all who have visited this week and had nothing new to see. Unfortunately my phone decided to stop allowing me to blog a couple of days before I had to leave for London to attend the Sensation Modern Group Exhibition at London West Bank Gallery in Notting Hill. http://www.youtube.com/user/SensationModern