Week Forty
There has been more rain in one week than I have witnessed over the past nine months. I find it strange that in some parts of the world, water is scarce and in others it is over abundant. I reckon one day there will be wars over water. Politics aside, Tarset does indeed seem to have its own microclimate, and July seems to be more water based than anything else. This of course makes my vigilance over my paper wall even more intense. I have established a rather odd routine of running out in my pyjamas first thing in the morning after heavy downpours; so far, to my relief I have not been noticed running through the grounds of the manor in my pink tartan jim jams! I have also taken to talking to the wall; greeting it and saying goodnight and generally have a little chitchat on the conditions of its dryness and snugness. I can truly say I have never before interacted or cared for an artwork as much as this one.
At the moment I am struggling with a suitable title for my beloved creation and would be happy to receive any guidance! So far my brain has conjured very little, options at present are: ‘ Here Today, Gone Tomorrow’, ‘Subsumption’, ‘Reading Boundaries’ and the obvious….’Wall’. So far, I am pleased to announce, the wall is still standing tall and proud…oh and dry. 
Recently I had the pleasure of meeting my replacement, Jenny Purrett, the to be, new artist in resident starting in October. I absolutely love her work (check out – www.jennypurrett.co.uk). Funnily she also lives in Bristol. We chatted for a while and I answered as best I could any questions. Jenny asked me was there anything terrible that I had experienced at Highgreen, being a sensitive soul, my eyes became tearful and with an emotional deep breath, I replied, “I’ve had the best year ever”…Jenny caught by my emotion almost cried to! It was quite a moment, however I did make note to self, must attempt being more composed when meeting new people! 
Part of me is starting to come to terms with leaving here and my residency actually finishing. As most of you know, I have become rather attached to the place, and of course the situation. Meeting Jenny was a reminder that, yep, my time here is nearly over, and although I have considered concreting my feet into my lovely Dovecote or squatting a disused barn, I have to face reality. The build up to my show is helping me understand the closure to this unique chapter. My preparations include a large list that I am juggling, and strangely, I am logically going through it. There is a vast range of items on my list, ranging from notes to finish artworks to the more mundane life necessities like dealing with the bank. So a normal item on the agenda would be for example, ‘order spray mount’, or ‘paint canvas with bitumen’. 
My favourite listed task to date is, ‘clean out handbag there is a dissolved after eight mint inside’! Anyhow I digress, list in hand, I am still on track much to my amazement; this has been aided by the astonishing amount of support from friends. Between you and me, I am feeling rather blessed by the amount of lovely talented people that I know, and the help that they have given to my projects and me. Whether it is cutting rolls of paper, sending me books, stitching rocks, printing photos or hanging keys, each and every person has been invaluable to this experience, and I am truly indebted by this. 
My latest recruit, know as ‘Top Tool’ to some, or Hela to others witnessed Highgreen at its wettest. Whilst walking in the pouring rain a local asked if we would like a lift, as I am clocking up steps for my walking project, I politely declined, which at this point, the kind gentlemen turned to Hela and said, “Well…that’s the problem knowing mad friends”. Incidentally we both really enjoyed our somewhat refreshing ambulation. Before my life at Highgreen, Hela had previously helped with a project which had involved hanging metal and paper cells that I had created, so I knew she would be brilliant at helping me hang hundreds of keys for an installation for my final show. Many of you will know, and indeed have contributed to my collection of keys; I have also gained many from the local residents in Tarset. I have to especially thank William who owns the manor, as the gigantic sack of keys given, allowed me to carry through my vision that I had intended. Not only did Hela help hang keys, she also brought a fairy tale book with her and read me a goodnight story…now how fabulous a friend is that! 
We worked really hard hanging a beautiful range of old and modern keys and they are looking considerably spectacular. A project that would have taken me ages on my own was near completion when Hela left for Bristol, at that point, over eight hundred keys hovered delicately as we drove off to the airport. I have a couple hundred still to hang and some tweaking to do. I have decided (today) that I will place a mirror beneath them. I have tested the effect and its…errrr….brilliant! Because of the installations location, not only does the mirror give the impression of hundreds of more keys, it also looks like there is square hole to another level below. I am very excited by the mirrors contribution to the overall effect.
There will also be one key amongst the others that is gold, although it will be slightly disguised, as I do not want it to be glaringly obvious. Apart from completing the hanging it will be just the title to decide….arrrrggghhhh ‘titles’, I find them so difficult at times! On occasion I am struck with a title at the very beginning of an idea and it works straight away, other times I battle and battle with a ‘naming’. Artworks like the paper wall and the key installation are indeed particularly difficult to title, there are so many possible connotations in the materials themselves plus all the potential interpretation, I also want to make sure I steer the viewer towards understanding my intention, I find it quite a head spin really. 
Even though my contracted contributions to the community are officially over I wanted to do one more project to say thank you to Tarset. There is a community orchard opening this weekend, all the trees have been bought by someone and dedicated to someone else. It is a lovely idea, where the community can quite literally reap the fruits of their collaboration! They wanted to label their trees in a unique way and asked if they could enamel the labels, so six members of the community and myself produced over sixty individual enamelled labels for the trees. They look fabulous all together. 
Apart from falling down rather badly in the dark and pouring rain in which I grazed and bruised my arm, leg and chest, this week has been a fabulous week. A constant reminder how fantastic my friends are and satisfaction that my projects are all coming together. Although I am a bit confused really which week this blooogy blog entry is (I only know when it is light or dark)….we will just say….. week Forty….done!