I hope you find my weather prediction chart helpful

Saints Gallery mentioned in Bolton News

The exhibition I curated got a full page in the Bolton News

Which was nice. 

Dartmoor Arts Week 2012 - Forged Metal

The forge

Hot steel

Sharp hot thing

Practicing curls

Stabbers and a hook

Plans

knotted steel

The jaws

Man trap

What a superb week.

final forge count

loads of teeth for my vagina, the jaws and tongue, two Stabbers, a hook and nail and a knotted piece of steel 

I haven't finished my vagina, but am looking for a North West forge that will let me borrow their fire to do so!

July #tweetart WIP images

seemed like such a good idea at the time...

the work will be a multiple, available from Westgate studio during the Wakefield Art Walk

I only eat things with faces

I Curator

Street View celebrates urban life from the different view points of local artists. Taking us from the macro with Irina Rumyantseva’s metropolitan cityscapes; visiting its inhabitants and detritus with recycled-material portraits by Davlo and exploring the urban decay left behind through Karen Bricknell’s photographs. We are even invited to watch this process of industrial disintegration through Bricknell’s sculpture.

The show runs from 12th July - 3rd Aug at Saint's Gallery, Saint Andrew's Court, Bolton, BL1 1LF

Look what TNT did to my collage!

Looked good, didn't it?

I booked a next day courier to take Gone Wild in Vegas down to Hemmingway design, for this year's Bad Art Salon.

I did this through Parcel2go.com and thought it would be wise to pay the extra, insuring the work up to £200

 About 6 hours after the guy came to pick it up, I had an e-mail through from the Bad Art team saying it was being cancelled and moved to August. As the work needed to be in New Mills to go in an other exhibition starting on the 17th July I quickly rang TNT to see if I could stop it going down. "sorry love, it's on the van I will get them to return to sender it when it gets to Slough"

Great at least I wouldn't have to drive down to Wembley to get it, that was good. 

I tracked the parcel on its progress down to Slough and back. It really took its time and then it appeared to be at Trafford park, awaiting rescue. I finally found time to go and get it this morning (in between dropping work off for another exhibition and collecting materials for another)

I drove to Trafford Park and found myself in the reception are of TNT, gave them my reference and watched the nice lady go and find the package. 

A man returned, empty handed. "has anybody spoken to you about the package?" he says

"...no." I replied, stomach dropping

"What was it?"

"A framed piece of art"

the look he gives me is one of sympathy "well... I think... I don't know how damaged it is, but it's damaged. I think the glass is broken" 

Speechless

"Do you want me to bring it out and you can have a look at it?" he suggested

"Yes, hopefully it wont be too badly damaged"

He brought out the package, neatly wrapped, "As you can see, the packaging isn't damaged..." he shook the package, and looked up at my horrified expression "But it sounds like the glass is broken"

"Just a bit" I answered, dejectedly.

We unwrapped the package, the two layers of thick paper, outward most of these reading GLASS: FRAGILE HANDLE WITH CARE, three layers of bubble wrap, two pieces of cardboard protecting the glass and finally the cellophane which now contained thousands of shards of broken glass. 

The frame itself appears to have received significant dints and bumps to it, which I have only noticed on getting the thing home.... but let's just say it was

Fucked

The piece was fucked.

A hand cup photographic print on glossy paper does not stand up very well to people shaking broken glass around it when checking if it is, indeed, broken after they have mishandled it. 

The mount board at the bottom of the work even has a dint in it, looking as though someone has stood on, or dropped something onto it. On the outer of the packaging was a scuff mark, indicating something had hit the package with some force. 

The man we very sympathetic, and gave me a number to ring to make a claim as I'd have the forethought to pay an extra few pounds to cover the work up to a value of £200. Which is how much I'd say it cost me to make the work in total. 

Returning home, I called the number and was told by TNT that as I'd sent it through Parcels2Go I had to ring them. I rang Parcels2Go to ask about their process, and she pointed out the package was a "Framed artwork" Indeed, that's why I got extra cover. 

"Unfortunately, in the terms and conditions of the insurance that you have put onto the consignment it states that we do not cover artworks, canvases or framed works"

"Oh." Shattering internally to small pieces and wondering how I was going to have time to RE-MAKE and afford to have it framed and get it to the exhibition inbetweendoinganINTERNSHIPandCURATINGaSHOWandfinishingapieceofartFORANOTHEREXHIBITION "Ok....,"I breathed.

"I'm just telling you that now, but I will send you an e-mail with what to do, how to claim on it and you can put a claim in and we will see what we can do" she consoled me

"Ok.... Thank you, I will do that" I was miles away (Can you hear me Major Tom?)

"Ok, I'm sorry about this, is there anything else I can help you with?" the woman on the other end of the line chirped

"No, thank you, unless you can re-make the work for me....?"

"haha, no sorry, ok thank you bye"

So the moral of that story is

GOD HATES ME.