Professional Practice

I keep an up to date instagram account of things I am working on, these are sometimes finished pieces, sometimes works in progress and sometimes a little video of my process. I find it a great way to communicate with other artists and get inspiration. I have also started to sell pieces through instagram. It is where I have the most followers to reach a wide audience, and it is also where a lot of friends and family follow me - who I have found are the most likely to purchase work. So far I have sold my series of 3 box canvases, I had to wrap these and go to the post office to send them to an address in Leeds.

I also have a website where I include more professional photos and galleries than I do on my instagram. I also have texts about my exhibitions and an artist statement, whereas there is very little text on my instagram. 

I like to keep my blog reasonably private as it is constantly a work in progress and while it is an in depth review of my work, it does not give a professional outlook on my work. 

I saw a job advertised for a Junior Interior Designer. I have had little to no experience in this field however it is something I am really interested in doing. I decided I had nothing to lose by applying for the job. I sent my CV off with a covering letter showing all of my qualities. They asked for examples of previous Interior Design work which I obviously had none of so sent them some images of my art work. I am very proud of some of my pieces and feel they show my eye for colour and talent at designing. I was invited for an interview, however in the end I was up against people who had a lot more experience than I did. Nevertheless it was a good experience, I now have an up to date CV and I haven't had a job interview in a while so it was good practice to go through the experience again. 

Prior to applying for the interior design job I learnt how to use Autocad as this is essential for interior design. It was quite simple to learn and I have since used it to design floor plans and layouts for houses (something I enjoy doing in my spare time) and it has also actually come in really useful for designing our degree show room and my own degree show pieces. 

Over the term I have been in direct contact with suppliers and galleries when it comes to arranging things. When visiting London galleries I wanted to confirm with the venues that I would be OK to attend the private view.

I have been in contact with a local primary school regarding work experience as an art teaching assistant. This is something I am also considering post university, this work experience will be a good chance to gauge whether to pursue a teaching career or not. I shall be working unpaid 2 days a week, while also working 3 days a week as a receptionist at Norfolk Tower (my current paid employment). 

Craig mentioned a residency based in Lowestoft. I live in Norwich and can drive so commuting to Lowestoft would be easy enough. There is no accommodation (which is fine) however you get a limited supply of materials - this would be very beneficial as a new artist. I am going to apply for this when it becomes available.

Creating new business cards

When designing my business cards it was important I had a photograph of my work so people already get an idea of what my work is about. My work is very busy and bright so finding a style that would allow me to still use text was proving very difficult. I liked option 3 (below) as the white space allowed me to insert my own text, however in the end I wasn't fully satisfied so start the entire process again. I chose a business card that was a block colour, simple but professional, and I decided I was use an image of my work on the back, this would be unique and eye-catching, while the front remained sophisticated. I decided on lower case for my name as it was more visually pleasing than capitals and included my email, website and social media account for people to find and contact me.

I had to decide between the text being centred or aligned right. I felt aligned right felt more like a business-mans style, however the centred alignment presented a more artistic approach. I am really happy with how these turned out, I used the spot gloss feature to make the text on the front glossy while the pink background remained matte. This really catches your attention and adds an extra professional quality. It shows I have spent more on the cards to get them to the best quality, which reflects on my work and practice. 

I also ordered a publication, for more details and images see Reflective Journal > Publication. I thought this publication full of various images of my previous work was a perfect opportunity to advertise myself to people enquiring about my work in professional situations eg. Degree Show and future galleries. 

Both the business cards and the publication can be appreciated by specialist and non-specialist audiences. They are simple and professional while appealing to people who are both familiar and not familiar with the art industry. This benefits me and I can promote myself to a diverse range of people and increase my artist profile.

I intend to sell some work in the Uni shop. Deadline is 7th June, I am going to try to sell some of the smaller works I painted at the start of this unit which I did not already manage to sell.

I also am going to paint tote bags to sell, and make prints of my work to sell at post card size and poster size - possibly with the option of framing.

Research into becoming an artsist

8 hours a day for one week working on all 4 pieces simulatenously. 8 (hours) x 5 (days) / 4 (pieces) = 10 hours per piece

£10 per hour = £100 per piece of value

Costing:

£7.50 per square of MDF + £5 for the box frame +£10 for paint = £22.50

Price: £122.50 (rounded to £125)

£125 mirror + £10 box frame + £30 paint = £165 costing

£10 per hour x10 = £100 value

Price: £265

I work very quickly but I feel this does not reduce the value of my pieces. There is a lot of time spent, prior to creating a final piece, testing and experimenting in preparation. Therefore the value is a lot more.