Welcome to my first official blog post - ever - and to what will be quarterly recaps into the goings on of the studio. You meet me at a great point of beginnings, in contrast to the season of Autumn, where things start to feel as though they are slowing down a little, my activity, with my work at least, seems to be speeding up.
This Spring saw my three year term as Visual Arts Scotland President come to an end and so my summer was occupied with transitioning into new spaces, physically and mentally. I moved into my new studio space at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, which marks the beginning of some exciting constancy - something that has felt lacking for some time. I’ve already built myself an audio-visual station, acquainted myself with a few workshop spaces and joined a Council Meeting- all very joyous. I’m so pleased and relieved to have a studio at ESW for the next three years and after years of uncertainty around space, am still pinching myself that this is home for the foreseeable.
This summer also saw a flurry of freelance jobs occur, from working through a commission with Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival to redesign their audience navigation within St Bride’s Centre, Edinburgh, to Co-Curating | APPLIED | Makers Offerings, the Applied Arts Scotland membership exhibition at Custom Lane.
Now as we sit firmly in Autumn, I am gearing up production of new works for upcoming exhibitions set over the next 6 months, working on the launch of my studio Studio Sumlacs, and consequent projects and other paths to support the Studio. I’m also applying for funding for various projects and keeping a beady eye on freelance gigs! I was very fortunate to work with Janine Matheson and Stacey Hunter for the Creative Informatics Innovation Showcase a few weeks ago, which was super inspiring, as well as Korero Studio’s Kanopy event at Thomas Morton Hall. I also helped assist Jill Martin Boualaxai with some work for Colony of Artists, and Mella Shaw for her work that was shortlisted, shown and has consequently won the British Ceramic Biennial 2023. Looking forward to undertaking more projects and letting you know more about the new work I’m building.
This September I joined a group of budding printmakers at Leith School of Art for their 10 month course, getting into the in depth processes of printing with a variety of techniques. You can join this learning journey via my Instagram @studio.sumlacs as well as via my mailing list where you’ll also be the first to get exclusive access to upcoming Patreon perks, hear more about Studio Sumlacs and the projects we’ll be undertaking when it’s launched soon. I’m also planning to lead a course with Look & Draw this Winter, so do watch out for updates about this. My mailing list subscribers will be the first to know, so do sign up!
See you next season,
Sumlacs
