I left art school thinking I would find a paid job in a gallery. 5 days a week that covered the rent and bills, and enabled me to buy materials to create art. As well as affording to rent a studio space. Nothing is less true.
My first position out of St Martin’s was an (unpaid) internship at SHOWstudio SHOP. The experience was amazing for getting an insight into the art world and how a gallery worked. I had no income though, so had to take out a loan to pay for bills, rent and food. There was no money or time left to make art or have studio space. It started to dawn on me that someday I would need to pay back the money that I was spending. I would need to find a paid job very soon.
I was not thinking about creating art or having a studio space at all anymore. It was something I missed and wanted to have, but I was focused on finding paid work. At this stage, I was 3 months out of college and cared very much about what type of job I did. I felt it had to be relevant to my practice and somehow related to the arts. Although I didn’t mind what gallery I worked for, I knew that at that time I couldn’t have started working in a pub. My pride was a bit too big to do that yet.
Getting the LIFE BOAT residency made me feel suddenly very responsible and purposeful. Someone was ‘investing’ money in my practice. I could not believe it! I had a studio space for free!
Because it wasn’t financially viable for me to continue, I decided to stop my internship at SHOWstudio SHOP and started work in ‘field marketing’. All I needed now was to earn enough money to pay for my rent and bills. The work involved handing out promotional materials for various big name brands. Though the work was very sporadic the pay was alright. It meant I could go to my studio and make small works whilst being able to pay the rent with the money I was earning. Also I thought a bit of marketing experience on the side could be very beneficial in the future.
To live on this income though, I had to save money wherever I could. I would go to Sainsbury’s late to buy all the reduced products which can provide a very random diet. To save even further I started to work on glass rather than Steel and Aluminium. Where possible I would try to find free materials from skips and similar. I would ask glaziers for spare bits of glass. Socially, I would only go out when I knew it would be free. All the money that I had left over each payday would go straight back into making work.
I started a very detailed budget list to see how much money was coming in and how much was going out. I could see how much I was able to spend a day or a week, and was always finding ways of saving that extra bit of cash.
This worked well for a short while but after getting in to a few more exhibitions I felt the need to have a second job. One that was more secure and regular so that I could plan my days better to have more efficient time in the studio.
I got a job through one of my friends who works for a Biscuit factory. The pay was minimal, but I could do 4 flexible shifts a week, which was roughly an extra £150 after tax.
This did leave me less studio time, but I could afford better materials. Knowing how precious my studio time is mades me work more efficiently when there. Working towards exhibitions kept me focused and progressed my practice.
Soon, I got selected to show new work at a gallery in the Netherlands. Because of my financial and work commitments I wasn’t able to travel to meet the gallerists. Initially they were none too happy about this. I openly explained my situation. It wasn’t just a question of the travel costs, but also missing unpaid days at work as well as the cost of making the work. They did understand in the end, and were even kind enough to offer me a commission free exhibition.
With these developments, I got the confidence back in to my work that I lost after coming out of uni. Although it could still be hard ‘keeping afloat’. I sometimes needed to borrow money to pay a bills which I found embarrassing. Despite this the interest in my work from friends, artist, galleries and collectors is keeping me going and outweighed the worries.
This work has a