April already!

I cannot believe that it is April already, Easter is over and Open Up is only 3 weekends away. Time for panic! Actually, I have accumulated a fair degree of work and there is a wood-firing on the go at the moment in which I have a good number of pieces. However, I also have several other exhibitions coming up so will need to choose carefully which pieces go where... I'm still hoping for another couple of firings before the 26th though I'm rather busy with other work too. Still have my research project to get on with, and still continuing my Creative Partnerships work though that's a bit thin on the ground this term. Am doing some schools work and a couple of workshops at the Graves which I will enjoy.

My studio is an almighty tip and a health hasard into the bargain. I have been glazing a fair amount and with my methods I always seem to get glaze everywhere! There is clay recycling on bats aplenty, bubble wrap littered about, and books and tools strewn across the counters. I also need to reclaim my plinths which were lent out for an event and did come back a little bit the worse for wear. I think this year I shall set up my studio more like an exhibition for the Open Up. My shelves are getting a bit full and my work really needs to be viewed from all angles and with space around them - which would be possible with plinths.

I also need to really really get cracking on publicity. Email out to my mailing list and, unfortunately, get new cards printed - I had lovely new ones done not so long ago and then I went and changed my email address. This is extra expense of course, and a waste of the old ones of which I still have a number left. There should be a design whereby you can slot in small changes as and when - with 3 studio changes in the last three years I keep making my cards obsolete -perhaps I could paper my walls with the old ones - they are quite attractive and would make quite a nice pattern...hmmmm....

I also need to arrange a photographer for some of my new work - though I think I'm a competent photographer I gave up taking my own photos quite some time ago as having a professional in really does make a difference - although they do have to have an affinity for the work. Ceramics can be, I think, quite difficult to photograph in a way that really captures its essence. Luckily I have found someone who seems to have the necessary sensitivity and has now acquired the portable equipment required to do a really professional job. Costly again though. But its well worth it - improved photographs have definitely opened up opportunities to exhibit.

Some time ago I read a book called "Eat that Frog." Its a self-help book which normally I would steer well clear of, but one day waiting for the train at Kings Cross station i wandered into W H Smiths and the title of this book caught my eye. It is basically a book about using lists as an organisational tool. Lists for every occasion and every eventuality and every length of time - I can see that this is what I need to do now - make lists of what needs to be done now, this week, next week, by the week after, and on the day. His hot tip (for me) is that any entry on a list is judged by the consequences of NOT doing it - if those consequences are minimal then it needs to be deleted. Eg "Ironing" - eradicated, "meet with friends" promoted.

Better go see what I can eliminate.

Take care/keep warm.

Sarah