Help has arrived


Getting things done as an artist means:

  1. Making art
  2. Being your own HR department
  3. Paying your taxes
  4. Keeping accounts. See point 3.
  5. Packing work
  6. Sussing out courier companies. See point 5.
  7. Plotting best routes to London/wherever via Split-Tickety/Megabus/National Express
  8. Keeping on top of opportunites
  9. Writing applications for opportunities. Obviously.
  10. Making pack lunches
  11. Going to Private Views
  12. Reading other people’s books about art
  13. Going to events related to art
  14. Finding video installations to eat sandwiches in unnoticed.

All of this his means point number 1, the most important bit, gets less and less time devoted to it as you go on.

Getting help has been incredible and means more time to make art. At the moment Maddy is helping me plan how I should best get to Galatina in the south of Italy, this December, for a residency that I am doing there. It’s a long old way and I want to do it by train because – well…climate change. Maddy is fluent in Italian and Spanish, and has been able to point out all the good stuff en-route there and back.


One response to “Help has arrived”

  1. Hear! Hear! Jessa.
    Another thing about being an artist is that, unless one is careful, it’s easy to fall into the trap of never really having a break, due to always being ‘on call’- if not working, looking for work, or waiting to hear about work. You can get worn out with almost nothing to show for it!
    It’s important to deliberately take time off. Nuture the inner artist.