End of the tether....

Letting my mind wander to avoid doing anything... writing doesn't feel like real work - but is instead rather enjoyable - so it proves a nice distraction. I wonder if writers get the 'get a real job' spiel as well?

The 'End-of-Year' show ('Xmas show' sounds like '50% off Boxing Day sale!') opens in a few hours at PCP. The show only runs for a few days but I've taken the opportunity to spit a few proper images out to end the year. I hope they decide to stay on the wall this time!

These are part of a new suite of 'five' which I've tentatively subtitled 'spectacle'... they are a deliberate contrast to the ambiguity in the main body of the series and speak a bit to the human 'distraction' conundrum that I've discussed with various people in the past.

I got all the films back from my shoot last Friday and, with one or two technical exceptions, most hit the mark. They are off being scanned at the moment. The work is more in the 'spectacle' vein but there are a few sleepers in there.

In the new year I need to get my s%#$t together and finally contact two 'important' venues. Both of which will be quite an effort to do - if I'm allowed in - given that they might involve a 'watcher' whilst I work.

I also need to work on some more detail for a project I'd like to do in New Zealand at some stage. I pitched this for the Artsource Residency Fund last year and whilst not successful, going through that process proved an eye opener on many levels. It's just made me more determined to actually do the project.

No plans to show in 2010 although I might try taking 'five' somewhere... 2009 knocked me around a bit confidence-wise so I thought it better to get my head straight before committing to something I might regret.

I have a lot of new ideas but need to focus the reasoning on various aspects a bit more... at the moment they are potentially great ideas spread very thin.

On another less 'arty' note, I did a garden wander this morning and realised how many olives are coming into their own. We have 9 olive trees scattered about and the ones that get full sun out the front are getting heavy with beautifully swollen, green tear drops.

The fig trees are also proving very fruitful and we seem to be getting anything between 5-10 large figs per day from it at the moment.

The grape vines (6) are very heavy with berries (as those Vintner types like to call them) so we will likely eat what we can and make grape vinegar with the rest. Elisa did that last year and it worked very well.