It’s 1st September, which means it’s time for a ArtStudioCB blog post! I’ve been busy in my stall/studio at Aberdare Market. After being there a few months, I’m starting to settle into a rhythm of working. I’ve been making the most of my materials including scraps that I have, and creating something of value out of them. I get a great deal of joy out of transforming some seemingly useless scrap of fabric into a craft item.
I have several projects on the go that are starting to come together. The theme that’s emerging is that Creativity is Resistance.
I work with a lot of ideas and I sometimes find it difficult to understand why they’re forming in the way that they do. It takes some investigation to figure out. We are facing the rise of fascism in the Western world again and I, like many others, often feel overwhelmed. The genocide taking place in Gaza is unbearable to witness and the Palestinian people, who are losing their lives, need help. With all the advancements in society and technology available to us, it seems that the powers that be are unable or don’t want to stop what is happening. This wave of brutality is enough to cause despair. What I’m finding is that creativity provides the resistance needed to battle this despair and empower against the forces at play.
Making your own clothes, growing your own food, finding your voice, self-expression, and making protest art- are all examples of how to positively work towards an independent future that is the antithesis to fascism. Finding ways to express your views that oppose fascism removes oxygen from hateful rhetoric. It’s important to maintain a sense of safety.
With this is mind I need to apologise that the online video course is not ready, as I’m having ongoing technical issues that I hope to resolve a soon as possible. However I am posting one of the video workshops in collage here in this blog post. It’s available to view for free at present, as a thank you for your patience.
I have also placed a password on my projects pages, which can accessed by signing up to the newsletter. With artists and creatives under threat from copyright violations and A.I. laws being written here in the UK, I feel that I need to add a kind of turn key to my work. I can’t avoid my work being stolen entirely, but adding a layer of security does help. My social media accounts are also being made private, and you would need to follow my profile to gain access.
Finally, I’ve had a change of heart. After making the statement that I intended to destroy artworks that had not sold in October, I’ve decided to put them up for sale at auction on Ebay. My reasons for this is that destroying the artwork does serve a purpose, but I feel that there may still be others who would enjoy and benefit from the artwork at an auction price. The thought that I would destroy something that another person may want or enjoy changes the argument.
It’s not sustainable for me to keep every artwork that I make, so they do have to be let go of in some respect. There are a few pieces for sale at auction on Ebay at present, and I will be adding many more throughout September. They are available for collection only from the ArtStudioCB stall in Aberdare Market. If you have any queries please email: toartstudiocb@protonmail.com.
Thank you for reading, and I’l be posting again 1st October!