Threads

I often visualise creative enquiry as following a thread, or a few threads. I take a subject, like painting, and I follow the thread. It leads me to other threads; history, painting materials, techniques, processes, and applications, etc. At the end of my creative adventure, if all has gone well, I have woven a small rope. I could continue with this rope, or I could split the threads again and follow them somewhere else, or I could put it down and pick up another thread entirely.

Bread and Butter

This is the basis of what you do on an art diploma or degree, you experiment with a number of ideas and concepts and then focus on one main theme in your final year. In 2013, I finished my Photography degree with a thick rope in hand. 

Like many Cornish graduates, I had to settle for available work to keep the wolves from the door; pulling pints & making sandwiches. Long, unsociable hours provided me with such little income that I barely made ends meet. I had a lot of space in my flat, though I had no heating and very little hot water, leaving me with depleted motivation for creativity and job hunting. 

Whilst I didn't have the time or energy to continue with the creative investigations started on my degree, I did work on my drawing style and learn the basics of Ableton.

My Sanctuary

Cat Mandala

Vocals recorded using headphones

I lacked the required experience but continuously sent out applications to many places including Truro Museum, The Eden Project, The Hall for Cornwall, Falmouth University and the local schools. Those of you who are familiar with Cornwall will know that due to the lack of jobs, there's a huge amount of competition. Many of the positions I coveted had also been filled with Apprenticeships, which due to my degree, I was not entitled to funding for. 

Sliding into debt, I found it increasingly difficult to keep trying. I continued applying for jobs but became increasingly depressed with the lack of progress. Over the 4 years following my graduation; my laptop broke, my external hard drive broke, I'd forgotten a lot of what I was working on, mildew grew in my camera and my threads were looking a bit like this:

In 2017, I landed a job at an embedded software company in Redruth. My personal time is still limited due to the full-time hours, but I am grateful for the rewarding work, flexible hours and handsome wages. In the 3 years I have been there, I have progressed to Senior Tester. This is a role I never imagined I'd have in an industry I never expected to work in. Recently, I have also started to spend up to half of my time assisting the Operations Director.

For a year and a half, I lived in a shared house on a smallholding. The majority of my spare time was spent cutting down trees, putting up fences and caring for the chickens, goats and ducks. 

My favourite goat, 'Rex'

At the beginning of this year, I moved into a small house near my work and have time to focus on my creative endeavours. I now have a working computer and recently I managed to get my broken hard drive working, giving me access to photographs and project work. I feel it's time to untangle where I was and either carry on with the ropes I had been making or start on new ones. I feel a good place to start is with an overview of my interests. 

In the next article, I'll be talking about Event Photography.