I'm slowly, very slowly getting the new house set up. There are some things that have to take priority - like the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. So long as there is somewhere to sleep, wash and brush teeth, and make a sandwich, and particularly a cup of tea, then the basics are there!!!! After that, the other stuff slowly gets set up - the services of water, electricity and gas, the council tax. And then the house and the stuff in life that makes life more livable.......so I've got to go and buy a washing machine, a front door mat, and some book shelves, some art storage cupboards, and some form of workspace for my new studio.
But, I have the basics. I have a kithcen table to paint from, and a small cupboard to put things in.
I have a lot of stuff in boxes still, though. And I am attending a workshop on Saturday - one that sounds like its going to be a lot of fun - its investigating effects in inks - both permenant and semi-permenant inks. That's great. I have inks already - permanent acrylic inks in various shades, black ink, and Indian ink which is about as permanent as you can get. I have watercolours too, and brushes, and paper, and a workboard.
I have all of those things.
................ Somewhere......
In boxes. Yep, definately in boxes.
Different boxes. But all in the same room, so that helps!
But, which boxes?
I'm not sure.... I'll have to find out though, before the weekend. And I think it may take me a while to find them.......
Showing posts with label moving house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moving house. Show all posts
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Monday, 13 September 2010
Sunday, 5 September 2010
Friday, 20 August 2010
When your legal advice says....
Because of this legal soap opera that I currently find myself in, it's been decided to change to a better solicitor than the current one. Not that there's anything wrong with the current one, its just that the new one specialises in conveyancing problems. They are used to dealing with the sort of problem that I currently have - where the Land Registry says that various parcels of land within the boundary of my garden, don't belong in my name. But it did when I bought it, twenty years ago, so why doesn't it NOWWWWW???!!!
This is what we're trying to sort out. This is what is holding up me buying the house I want. The house, where I can be an artist, properly.
So, today I went to see the new solicitor in his offices up in South Yorkshire.
They're noted for being blunt in Yorkshire.
I don't mind blunt.
But, I must admit to being greatly amused by his comments that included the phrases "cock up" "balls up" and "The Land Registry are being anal" - because that is exactly how I think of it! A fucking mess!!!!
The meeting started at 3pm and went on til almost 5. It was a good meeting, a long one, but we got a lot done. We looked at maps. aerial photos, and discussed boundaries of the land and how established they were. We all felt that we were on the same wave length and talked of how long it would take to sort it out. A few weeks, hopefully.
Then I can buy the house I want. All being well.
But, just to add to the legal soap opera ..... I was informed this evening, that all the solicitors were in place this afternoon to exchange contracts on the properties in the chain.
All of them. Except one.
He was in a meeting.
In his offices, in South Yorkshire. Between 3 and 5. And he couldn't be contacted.
So the contracts weren't exchanged.........
And guess who he was with............................................
Whoops......................
This is what we're trying to sort out. This is what is holding up me buying the house I want. The house, where I can be an artist, properly.
So, today I went to see the new solicitor in his offices up in South Yorkshire.
They're noted for being blunt in Yorkshire.
I don't mind blunt.
But, I must admit to being greatly amused by his comments that included the phrases "cock up" "balls up" and "The Land Registry are being anal" - because that is exactly how I think of it! A fucking mess!!!!
The meeting started at 3pm and went on til almost 5. It was a good meeting, a long one, but we got a lot done. We looked at maps. aerial photos, and discussed boundaries of the land and how established they were. We all felt that we were on the same wave length and talked of how long it would take to sort it out. A few weeks, hopefully.
Then I can buy the house I want. All being well.
But, just to add to the legal soap opera ..... I was informed this evening, that all the solicitors were in place this afternoon to exchange contracts on the properties in the chain.
All of them. Except one.
He was in a meeting.
In his offices, in South Yorkshire. Between 3 and 5. And he couldn't be contacted.
So the contracts weren't exchanged.........
And guess who he was with............................................
Whoops......................
Friday, 30 July 2010
Do what you do best
It's been another frustating week. The house sale has been pushed back another couple of weeks. I stand the chance of losing the house I'm after and am having to placate vendors, purchasers, solicitors, estate agents and concerned friends and aquaintances. Whilst trying to carry on with my life whilst half of my posessions are packed away in boxes, and half are where they usually live, but collecting dust whilst the legal wrangling continues, and the (currently FIVE!) solicitors are knocking up their bills.
So, when a concerned friend, trying to be helpful, practical and positive, suggests by email:
"Perhaps you should use your art to take your mind off things?? Organise a couple of tutoring sessions, somewhere? It would give you an idea of the popularity any future regular courses would be and also what kind of revenue it would generate. More importantly, it would take your mind off everything else for a few hours and give you something positive to work on."
I knew he was being helpful, and supportive. But my immediate response was - How on EARTH can I do THAT, when everything is so mixed up in my life, I'm stressed with legal wrangling, half my stuff is poised ready to be sent to the new house, I've not painted for weeks, I've not prepared anything for tutoring, I haven't got a venue to work from, I don't even know where I'd find pupils from, and I'm certainly not calm and relaxed, which would make for a far better teaching atmosphere for all concerned!!!!
So, I took a deep breath, and told him my thoughts. About why I couldn't do what he suggested. And then went off to have another lenghtly phone call with the pushy estate agent, and the concerned vendor, and spent the night feeling despondent about my lack of action and ability to do anything much at the moment. Very very fustrating!!!!
But something must have sunk in. Something started off the seed of an idea......
And by the following morning, I'd made a decision.
Ok, I'm stuck with the situation I'm in. I am working on the best way to get out of it. And it will take time. Professionals are working on their part - the estate agents, solicitors (all of em!), Land Registry, the vendors and purchases all down the chain of properties are all doing their BEST to keep the sale. And until it gets to my turn, there is nothing else I can do. Except stay positive. And do whatever I can do, in the meantime. So, what makes me FEEL positive? What makes me FEEL good? What can I DO to help my self?
I can create. I can listen to upbeat music. I can talk in positive ways to the people I need to speak to. I can paint. I can make a piece of art.
And then today I got this email today from my concerned friend, he said
"Sounds like you need to take your mind off things a little though.....
It's surprising how you can feel better about eveything if just one small thing goes your way. Everyday something good will have happened - you may have to look hard for it but it will be there. Just know that it is there if you search for it. Your whole day will be brighter when you find it.
So, the tutoring may be a bad idea - but you forgot everything else whilst you were thinking about it - even for just a few moments. Now you know that you are not ready to make that step so thats a positive decision - something good has come out of the day. See? It's quite easy to build yourself up again if you look for it !!!!"
And he's right. But he told me that AFTER I'd made my decision. What he said just added to the importance of it, and of acting on it.
So, this weekend, I shall be painting. A picture. One I actually started 10 months ago. It's been sitting in my studio, leaning up against the wall, in all that time. I look at it daily. And it's been at the back of my mind to finish it for a long time. So this weekend, I'll continue work on it. Its a landscape, of a woodland scene, a place near to where I live. The late summer sunlight falls through the overhead canopy of leaves, falling golden on the dry soil below. There is a small stream, with eddies and brown depths, the sky reflected in its glassy surface as it goes along its way. But, just to make the picture "mine" I've hidden a couple within the picture. An erotic couple, embracing. They are within the bark of the trunk of a tree. The picture is in acrylics on canvas. It seemed the right medium at the time to paint it in. But, I've been thinking. I think the painting will be better in oils on the canvas. Oils are by far a better medium, they create a far softer atmosphere, and I love their buttery feel, their soft pungent smell, and the feel of the brush in my hands. I don't need to start a picture, I don't need to look for inspiration. It is before me. I just need to add to it. To build on it. To create. And the acrylics below will show me the way to use the oils on the surface.
That's what I need, at the moment. To get lost in a painting......................
So, when a concerned friend, trying to be helpful, practical and positive, suggests by email:
"Perhaps you should use your art to take your mind off things?? Organise a couple of tutoring sessions, somewhere? It would give you an idea of the popularity any future regular courses would be and also what kind of revenue it would generate. More importantly, it would take your mind off everything else for a few hours and give you something positive to work on."
I knew he was being helpful, and supportive. But my immediate response was - How on EARTH can I do THAT, when everything is so mixed up in my life, I'm stressed with legal wrangling, half my stuff is poised ready to be sent to the new house, I've not painted for weeks, I've not prepared anything for tutoring, I haven't got a venue to work from, I don't even know where I'd find pupils from, and I'm certainly not calm and relaxed, which would make for a far better teaching atmosphere for all concerned!!!!
So, I took a deep breath, and told him my thoughts. About why I couldn't do what he suggested. And then went off to have another lenghtly phone call with the pushy estate agent, and the concerned vendor, and spent the night feeling despondent about my lack of action and ability to do anything much at the moment. Very very fustrating!!!!
But something must have sunk in. Something started off the seed of an idea......
And by the following morning, I'd made a decision.
Ok, I'm stuck with the situation I'm in. I am working on the best way to get out of it. And it will take time. Professionals are working on their part - the estate agents, solicitors (all of em!), Land Registry, the vendors and purchases all down the chain of properties are all doing their BEST to keep the sale. And until it gets to my turn, there is nothing else I can do. Except stay positive. And do whatever I can do, in the meantime. So, what makes me FEEL positive? What makes me FEEL good? What can I DO to help my self?
I can create. I can listen to upbeat music. I can talk in positive ways to the people I need to speak to. I can paint. I can make a piece of art.
And then today I got this email today from my concerned friend, he said
"Sounds like you need to take your mind off things a little though.....
It's surprising how you can feel better about eveything if just one small thing goes your way. Everyday something good will have happened - you may have to look hard for it but it will be there. Just know that it is there if you search for it. Your whole day will be brighter when you find it.
So, the tutoring may be a bad idea - but you forgot everything else whilst you were thinking about it - even for just a few moments. Now you know that you are not ready to make that step so thats a positive decision - something good has come out of the day. See? It's quite easy to build yourself up again if you look for it !!!!"
And he's right. But he told me that AFTER I'd made my decision. What he said just added to the importance of it, and of acting on it.
So, this weekend, I shall be painting. A picture. One I actually started 10 months ago. It's been sitting in my studio, leaning up against the wall, in all that time. I look at it daily. And it's been at the back of my mind to finish it for a long time. So this weekend, I'll continue work on it. Its a landscape, of a woodland scene, a place near to where I live. The late summer sunlight falls through the overhead canopy of leaves, falling golden on the dry soil below. There is a small stream, with eddies and brown depths, the sky reflected in its glassy surface as it goes along its way. But, just to make the picture "mine" I've hidden a couple within the picture. An erotic couple, embracing. They are within the bark of the trunk of a tree. The picture is in acrylics on canvas. It seemed the right medium at the time to paint it in. But, I've been thinking. I think the painting will be better in oils on the canvas. Oils are by far a better medium, they create a far softer atmosphere, and I love their buttery feel, their soft pungent smell, and the feel of the brush in my hands. I don't need to start a picture, I don't need to look for inspiration. It is before me. I just need to add to it. To build on it. To create. And the acrylics below will show me the way to use the oils on the surface.
That's what I need, at the moment. To get lost in a painting......................
Thursday, 22 July 2010
But Where will you be?
I know they say moving house is stressful.
I'm aware of it.
And I've tried to deal with the daily problems in a sensible and realistic way, keeping communications open.
But, I'm doubly aware of the stress, no quadrupably, aware of it THIS week!
Without going into the boring legal stuff of describing the minute details of solictors phone calls, helpful solicitors secretaries, panicky estate agents, laid back vendors, confident purchasers, over officious mortgage lenders, cock-ups with Land Registry, late night searches for old deeds going back to the 1800s, boundary queries regarding red lines, and removal van logistical problems..............!
So, when I know I have to fill out a couple of forms this week for exhibitions in the near future, and they ask difficult questions like "address" and "phone number" - I'm not sure what to put! Hopefully, I won't be at my current address. But, if the sale is delayed, I might not be at my new address. I can hardly put "Care of whoever will put me up that night" can I !!!!!?!
As well as that I've had to decide which pictures will be in the exhibitions a month before I need to take them to be hung. And they want to know "size" of each one. Bearing in mind that I've had to clambour over packing boxes to find them in various places around the house, measure them, and fill out the details. It's a big enough job without the extra aggro of house upheaval! Aand I've also got to bear in mind that at the other end, they need to be found easily rather than labelled under a generic "art" tag! Perhaps I need to make a label that says "Don't put this in a far corner, keep it near to the door, as you're going to need it soon after you move in" label.
Life's not boring, at the moment.
(Understatement of the week!!!)
I'm aware of it.
And I've tried to deal with the daily problems in a sensible and realistic way, keeping communications open.
But, I'm doubly aware of the stress, no quadrupably, aware of it THIS week!
Without going into the boring legal stuff of describing the minute details of solictors phone calls, helpful solicitors secretaries, panicky estate agents, laid back vendors, confident purchasers, over officious mortgage lenders, cock-ups with Land Registry, late night searches for old deeds going back to the 1800s, boundary queries regarding red lines, and removal van logistical problems..............!
So, when I know I have to fill out a couple of forms this week for exhibitions in the near future, and they ask difficult questions like "address" and "phone number" - I'm not sure what to put! Hopefully, I won't be at my current address. But, if the sale is delayed, I might not be at my new address. I can hardly put "Care of whoever will put me up that night" can I !!!!!?!
As well as that I've had to decide which pictures will be in the exhibitions a month before I need to take them to be hung. And they want to know "size" of each one. Bearing in mind that I've had to clambour over packing boxes to find them in various places around the house, measure them, and fill out the details. It's a big enough job without the extra aggro of house upheaval! Aand I've also got to bear in mind that at the other end, they need to be found easily rather than labelled under a generic "art" tag! Perhaps I need to make a label that says "Don't put this in a far corner, keep it near to the door, as you're going to need it soon after you move in" label.
Life's not boring, at the moment.
(Understatement of the week!!!)
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Somethings got to give
Well somethings gotta give and unfortunately its got to be the art.
Short term, anyway.
I rang the librarian I've been dealing with at Burton Library to say that I was REALLY looking forward to this exhibition next week and was doing the best I could for getting ready for it. BUT, and it is a BIG but........ I am without a car at the moment until I get a courtesy car sorted out after my car accident last week. That's not a huge problem, just a minor annoyance and I can work around that.
But on top of that, I am sorting out my life and that is as ok as it can be, in the circumstances.
And just to add to the problems, I've found a house I really like, and have made an offer on it. Which has been accepted. So that means that what should have been quality time for sorting out the things I need for the exhibition have been taken up with endless phone calls and questions.
She kindly listened to all I said and helpfully suggested "Why don't you cancel it, and leave it until next year when you're more settled?"
"No" I replied, "I don't want to do that, although I may well exhibit there again next year when things have quietened down and I've got my life on track again. But I don't want to cancel, I want to do it, even though it won't be as good as I was hoping, it will be the best I can do, in the time I have".
Because, this is for the art.
All of it.
Short term, anyway.
I rang the librarian I've been dealing with at Burton Library to say that I was REALLY looking forward to this exhibition next week and was doing the best I could for getting ready for it. BUT, and it is a BIG but........ I am without a car at the moment until I get a courtesy car sorted out after my car accident last week. That's not a huge problem, just a minor annoyance and I can work around that.
But on top of that, I am sorting out my life and that is as ok as it can be, in the circumstances.
And just to add to the problems, I've found a house I really like, and have made an offer on it. Which has been accepted. So that means that what should have been quality time for sorting out the things I need for the exhibition have been taken up with endless phone calls and questions.
She kindly listened to all I said and helpfully suggested "Why don't you cancel it, and leave it until next year when you're more settled?"
"No" I replied, "I don't want to do that, although I may well exhibit there again next year when things have quietened down and I've got my life on track again. But I don't want to cancel, I want to do it, even though it won't be as good as I was hoping, it will be the best I can do, in the time I have".
Because, this is for the art.
All of it.
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