Triangle Multiples

Today is the THIRD day IN A ROW that I’ve been in my beautiful studio. It feels great! I’ve made more time for it, and a free weekend has been a lovely way to ease myself into making more time for studio and creating. I have made some things I really like, and which were fun to make. Working with multiples, thinking about an exhibition / arts trail event, where I show all the ‘multiple’ work I’ve been creating. Mostly centred around the Poppy pieces, but also on other multiples, things I have collected, like these metal triangles, which were in an old frame, keeping the back on and in place. Some of them are rusting, they are very sharp, and I used some extra strong and thin double sided tape to attach them on. It seems to fix most things, although some of the objects I have created are 3D and I’m playing with a glue gun today, to test the fix of that.

 

I have started a shopping list, what do I need to make what I want to make, and have on-hand in the studio instead of being out and up and down Gloucester road shopping for big rolls of paper. Also I’m measuring up my old frames to find big paper for, or glass to fill the frames with, if it’s been smashed or used for something else.

 

Two lovely things seen today

1. A 4-ish year old boy, holding onto the lead of his sheepdog. Mum 10 steps away and urging the dog to walk- dog is wondering why the little boy is walking him, not the mum, and is stood still. Mum plays game where she walks a bit (boy wines a bit) then turns around and slaps her thighs, tells the dog to come, in high-pitched dog voice. Dog gallops on (boy hysterically laughing) and repeat. Little kids look so cute taking care of their pets, and the dog was so puzzled. Mum was laughing hard. I told her it was cutr, she commented on the dog i was walking, we smiled and parted. Heart warming!

2. The mum’s daughter is walking another 10 steps ahead! Both hands lazily above her head, pointing roughly at the pelican crossing’s flashing light, nodding her head and bringing her arms down slightly each time the light blinks. Nearly walks into a
Grown man whilst doing this, and doesn’t notice; she is in a daze. The man laughs and smiles at me laughing.

Both these sights and interactions spoke strongly to me today. I couldn’t stop grinning. Talk more and smile more to people on the street! it makes you feel good.

Lucy Barfoot Interview

 

What is your greatest fear?
Spiders crawling over my face
Earliest memory?
Vaguely, something involving a paddling pool?
Trait you most deplore in yourself
I find it so hard to speak my mind if something has upset me
Favourite smell
Lovehearts, sweet factories, perfume squirted on paper and kept in pockets, and garlic
What keeps you awake at night?
Tea.
Who are your friends
My family, and the people I am close to and laugh with. I also think that Bristol is becoming a good friend of mine.
Best thing you’ve ever won
A years supply of condoms.
Favourite word?
Egg. Words with three letters are always quite nice, and egg is such a silly word!
How old do you feel?
I imagine that I will eternally feel youthful, about 20. But I am terribly grown up in most respects, especially with organisation.
What is your greatest extravagance
I don’t think there is anything I’m extravagant about .
On what occasion do you lie?
To my boyfriend, about how much garlic I have eaten.
What is your current state of mind?
Focussed and fun.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would change my procrastination capacity. I’d so love to get everything done as soon as it occurs, instead of adding it to a list, only to complete It a week later.
If you were to die and come back as a person/thing, what would it b?
Definitely a cat. A big bruiser of a tom-cat with lion-paws and a ridiculously furry body.
Where would you like to live?
In a different place every two years: A vineyard in France, by the beach in Greece, In New Zealand with my sister, in Bournemouth with my family, in Bristol.
What is your most marked characteristic?
My ability to see the good in everything, everyone. I have lots of love for people.
The quality you most love in people?
Authentic people, who aren’t trying to please anyone, they are just being themselves.
What is it that you most dislike?
I am sometimes guilty of this myself, but shyness is such a restrictive personality trait.
How do you want to die?
I always liked the idea of my next-door neighbour dying at 70 whilst having a tennis game with his new 20-something year old squeeze. But for me now, it would be something quick, with no blood, with no one watching, I would be old and it would be no ones fault.
What’s your motto?
This is it.
What three things would you bring to a desert island with you?
A pen, a lighter, the biggest and thickest note/sketch book you’ve ever seen.

Interviews and Questionnaires

Blimey, I’m on fire with my blogging today! I received an email asking me to complete an artist’s questionnaire online, which is funny because I am collaborating with my lovely friend Samuel Rogers in an interview. Coming soon!

So this website is: Whohub and I have started answering questions, you can see my own little page here: Lucy Barfoot at Whohub. How I love free publicity! It’s interesting reading other peoples answers too

Also, I came across Authentic Happiness which has lots of tests to “Develop insights into yourself and the world around you through these scientifically tested questionnaires, surveys, and scales.” There are so many to do. You have to create an account to take part, but this allows you to keep a lot of the results, to easily look back on.

Tests which measure: Overall Happiness, Depression Symptoms, Current Happiness, 24 Character Strengths, Appreciation about the Past, Character Strength of Perseverence, Optimism About the Future, Forgiveness. It’s so interesting to know these things, from a scientific point of view. Here are my results for the character strengths. I’m flattered!

Top Strength: Perspective (wisdom): Although you may not think of yourself as wise, your friends hold this view of you. They value your perspective on matters and turn to you for advice. You have a way of looking at the world that makes sense to others and to yourself.

Appreciation of beauty and excellence: You notice and appreciate beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in all domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

Capacity to love and be loved: You value close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated. The people to whom you feel most close are the same people who feel most close to you.

Humor and playfulness: You like to laugh and tease. Bringing smiles to other people is important to you. You try to see the light side of all situations.

Kindness and generosity: You are kind and generous to others, and you are never too busy to do a favor. You enjoy doing good deeds for others, even if you do not know them well.

My Birthday Polaroids

I miss my birthday, I had such a lovely time, the best ever birthday!

Polaroid websites:
Fifty Rooms: Mostly naked polaroids (Adults only)
Polanoid: We are building the biggest Polaroid-picture-collection of the planet to celebrate the magic of instant photography
Polapremium: the best place to buy Polaroid and other film

A List for today

Some things on my mind:

• I miss Sex and The City
• I would like a dog
• When am I going to go to New Zealand again?
• My favorite word is egg
• I can’t wait for the sun to come out properly and to stop wearing tights
• I want some tights from Tabio
• Want to write some haiku’s
• I think I need a better scalpel
• James Joyce’s love letters
• I like really big oranges, but not small ones which have lots of ‘pith’
• Pith is a silly silly word

So not much then!

 

Mono printing

I have been working pretty hard on my ‘Text Project’ and needed some escape from that. I’ve chosen it to be mundane and repetitive, and I love that, but sometimes I do need to release some more creativity within some other format. And yesterday, this came through mono printing. I used my little roller, and a piece of acetate to ink up, it’s so easy and mess-free. I used some sequins too, and got involved with drawing a lot of small squares, again – very repetitive, I can’t get away from it! The little pictures are not hanging on a washing-line type of structure in my studio – I have always wanted a studio with things hanging from washing lines, and now I have it. I’m so lucky.

George Bernard Shaw quote

“This is the true joy in life: Being used for a purpose recognised by yourself as a mighty one, being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”

A warning to Arts Graduates: The Creative Times

After my London Free Range degree show, I recieved an email from ‘Bird River Love God’ who goes by the email editor@thecreativetimes.co.uk and the website http://www.thecreativetimes.co.uk/

He told me how much he loved my work, and that he wanted me to feature in his magazine, The Creative Times. I stupidly handed over £200 after speaking to him on the phone, and deciding I could trust him. BAD IDEA. There is talk of Bird having done this before, taken about 20 young artist’s £200 and giving them nothing in return.

He approached me in July, it’s now May, this magazine was due to be produced at the end of 2008, distributed to all the arts galleries in London, sent to major art dealers, it sounded great!

“I now envision more of a collective effort. Not least reason being that I don’t particularly like being responsible for everything. Once the mag is printed, I’m going to be asking you guys to distribute it.”

So let this be a warning to everyone, I hope if he contacts people, they will have the sense to at least google his name, (like I did – but nothing was found when I was searching) DO NOT give him your money. I have given up hope with this Creative Times, what was once so exciting and flattering to me, is becoming more and more of a scam. I wonder if i will ever see a magazine, and if it’ll be any good at all.

Vic and Bob

I have been watching ‘Bang Bang. It’s Reeves and Mortimer’. This was especially strange:

http://www.youtube.com/v/7eOYqR_Lz9w&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f&border=1

And 2 things which pop up in my mind quite often:

http://www.youtube.com/v/k_CAs3q7G48&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f&border=1

The second, I can’t find online, but it’s from Dirty Dancing, when there’s an old lady, who also looks like a little girl, and she’s singing by the piano and she’s bouncing up and down in her chair.

Artists Statement and Deviantart

My Artist’s statement on my website:

“Hello I am Lucy Barfoot, I have a degree in Fine Art and it feels good. I live in Bristol and have done since graduating in 2008 with a Fine Art degree from the University of Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey

I create a large variety of work, but my love is within sculpture-installation. I enjoy making stuff from ready-made stuff; apples, syrup, lists, petals. I like to make tiny sculptures, sew little lines onto paper, make ink + PVA molds, and blind draw.

The word ‘quirky’ is often used to describe my art – I’m not sure if I like that or not, but it fits. I combine process-led, repetitive actions with a satisfying, sensual aesthetic. I’m greatly attracted to objects, I feel a compulsion for things, and I listen to my intuition – this is my starting point.

My work is mostly ephemeral and I like to mix the natural with the man-made.”

I used to spend a lot of time on DeviantART, an online community for artists which provides a place for any artist to exhibit and discuss works. I used to upload all my art to there, since i was young till the first year of uni, and my gallery has culminated over 13,000 page-views. I’m heavily mentioning my website on there, so that the followers of my work can have a look, because for 13,000 people to see my current work would be really exciting. Anyway, My deviantart thingy is HERE if you want to have a look.

Eggies

http://www.eatock.com/project/manifesto/ I want to do a manifesto

Here are some eggs

My website is nearly done!

Make It

My studio is homely now, shelves to be put up this week (made by Nigel)

Making:
- Reciept mountain with Lucy
- Text pieces: ‘Persevere’ particularly
- A mess
- Tidying that up