Hopes, Fears and Opportunities - Part 3

I hope I'll never have to work for anyone ever again. And I fear that I might have to.

If you've looked at the previous two posts in this series, you'll have seen my gradual change of career direction over time. In the first post I was thinking I might possibly end up working in a studio, albeit in some other capacity than that of Mac-monkey; already I knew that was not for me. By the second post I had decided, after sage advice from Vicky and Chris at Textbook Studio (and later confirmation from Peter Holden), that graphic design was out of the question. I was only interested in the image - the words were someone else's problem. And the images I liked making were prints.

The days that most changed my direction came in first year. The first was when I volunteered to help Kiran with the screenprinting of the tablecloth to be used at recruitment fairs. I had no idea what screenprinting was, but I found the process fascinating and rewarding.

The second came when Lucy trooped us along to Jacqui Darlington's domain to sample the delights of printing. At that time I knew so little that I was surprised to find that Linocut actually involved lino, like you used to find on bathroom floors. Bu the prospect of cutting into something appealed to me, so I gave it a go; and from the first cut I was hooked. I am enraged to think that, thanks to the college's penny-pinching (except when it comes to management salaries), both these departments have been gutted and new students won't get the levels of inspiration and support that I did.

I've never liked dancing to someone else's tune. Especially if that someone else is an idiot. So the prospect of life as an independent artist/printmaker is very appealing. The act of creating something of my own choosing is deeply satisfying, and recent history tells me that people like what I produce. After that it's a matter of marketing and selling the resultant prints, which is admittedly a bit more like 'work'; but overall a lot more attractive than staring at a computer all day, worrying over whether I've chosen the right font.

Of course, I realise that it may not be that simple, and that I may have to get a job. But I'll aim for something relevant to my field and skills, such as screenprinting, rather than just take any old nonsense. God knows I made enough bad career and life choices over the last forty years - well, until I signed up at the college and my life changed - and I'm damned if I'm going to make any more.

The path is clear from now on.

Make prints. Sell prints. Repeat.