FESTIVE GREETINGS BLOG

After writing seventy blogs to commemorate my seventh birthday I said that I would never write another one. Yet here I am putting pen to paper or more accurately fingering a keyboard!!! Thought the time of year appropriate for me to send as many people as possible well wishes. Whatever and however even if never you recognise the end of the year that wouldn’t stop me sending you love vibes.

2023 has been a kind year for me so I am a little jaded that I can’t summon the energy to react to various traumas that others often quote when talking about their year. I hear about struggles and how people look forward to the next year consoling themselves that at least next year can’t be as bad as this year. I can’t use the defence and so I appear to face a barren land of opportunity. Thankfully I don’t need negativity to react to with positivity as my heart and soul is thumbing most of the time.

This year started with a special award to me from Heritage Crafts sponsored by Marsh Charitable Trust and this recognised me as “Volunteer of the Year”. I am in excellent company as everyone I meet these days is volunteering for something. Is being an artist the ultimate volunteer? An award I am especially proud of is the “People’s Choice” which came about at the Annual Exhibition of the Scottish Glass Society in Glasgow. Visitors voted for all exhibits and judged mine the most fun! That’s important to me, stuff that poncy arty farty double talk and lets just get down and groove to the beat of the creative cult!!

The time in between those two awards saw me sell a little and break a lot. A lot of glass I make is rubbish, but thankfully more is better. Success is so subjective I wonder if it’s even worth discussing. I was at a sale in the Pentland Hotel by North Coast Artists and asked one of the artists there which artist in the room did she think was the most successful. I will call the artist Julie since that’s her name. She answered that it depends on what I mean by describing someone is successful. Of course, this is an excellent answer, didn’t answer the question though but then I know that with Julie I always get a straight answer. She is being a folk artist may have told me to folk off in I pursued the subject. I aim to be successful where I can do what I like (legally!), when I like, and no explanation is need. Hey, I could be in the Royal Family!

My experience this year with organising several art exhibitions has led me to realise that not everyone likes art. Less appreciate the skills that are involved in producing any form of artwork. So, what does an aspiring artist do? I have no idea as I am an old man. Yet I have been asked to mentor a few youngsters on such matters. 2024 sees me working at the International Festival of Glass at Stourbridge in August leading a master class. I had a recent heated conversation with a person wanting to know why was it called a “Masterclass”? It’s true the term seems a bit gender specific and dated but for the lack of a better description most people would accept without question the title. I would rather be a “Master” than a “Mistress”.

If they allow me then I am planning a trip in June to USA for a bit of glass demoing which should be fun (as all art making should be). This will be my fifth trip and I always say my last trip is exactly that. My last, but of course I always go back! Funny that the flight to Philadelphia from Heathrow is quicker that taking the bus from Thurso to Glasgow. These comparisons are useless since it’s like say climbing the stairs of my home (on three floors) takes longer than opening my wallet when off course the last time I tried to open said wallet three Prime Ministers came in and out of Office!

So here we are again and I feeling the stress of last-minute shopping for Christmas. My wife Jance and I agree to spend a maximum of £10 on each other which is great fun. I am tempted to give £9.99 to charity then but a 1p chew for Janice but that would be too easy. At moment I am £3 adrift and need urgently to maximise the effect of spending as little as possible to create the greatest effect.

So, there we have my Festive Blog, last one of 2023, that could be the 71st this year but who’s counting? I didn’t realise that I could make things easier for me by splitting a blog into parts so that I wouldn’t have to actually write seventy blogs but could instead write say thirty-five blogs and for each blog sectioned it into part one and part two. I could even just write one blog and divide into seventy parts numbered from part one to part seventy but that would be silly.

We are besotted by numbers and link this useless fact to some conclusion. Success is for some about selling and making loads of money. Success for gallery owners is measured by the number of visitors and works sold. For many successes is the unknown only to be discovered a second before you die and in an endless moment reflecting on one’s life. That’s why I like clear glass. Don’t look back just look through and you will see what you want. Even with your eyes closed!