Getting ready for Artweeks again

Yes, it is that time of year again - Oxford Artweeks approaches in May. I am enjoying it already. Well, everything except the awful smell of the vinyl banner sitting in my studio, it must have been fresh from the printers when I picked it up. The proprietor of our neighborhood bakery is demanding more brochures than I gave her this morning. More, we need more! I have fallen behind on my comics project, but have not forgotten it. In fact, I am working on getting my handwriting made into a font to use for the lettering. I just have to work up the nerve to fill out the form - it’s a little daunting to write characters that you’ll have to live with. At the moment I am uploading impossibly large image files to the Giclee printer (a person, not a device) in Southsea so that I have some additional unframed prints available for sale. New, better postcards are (in theory) on their way in the post. I took three prints to the framer in Headington today, and brought along one that he did last year so we could match it exactly. This to me is a sign of getting older - the willingness to take trouble over details because you have personally experienced the many different and exciting ways that things can go wrong. What seemed like unbearable fussiness when I first left school now seems like a good idea that may preserve your sanity. Even if you do find yourself carrying around a framed picture in a blanket like some flat, angular baby.

I should mention, in the Web 2.0 spirit of “what are you doing right now” - I am listening to a song by the 80’s Irish band In Tua Nua. I’m not sure why I have a lingering affection for this group - but I went to quite a bit of trouble to obtain a used copy of their CD “The Long Acre”. Those who are horrified at such retro listening habits - I can only apologize.