America and Award Ceremonies
I’ve had a good few weeks recently, having completed a commission to create a piece of art to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of modern America, which sounds like quite a mammoth task!
It was great to work on actually; everything about it was my ideal job. It was commissioned by Ipswich Borough Council and Persimmon Homes and I pitched for it against 48 other artists so winning it was a great result. I’ve had a lot of fun working on the sculpture itself; I looked into local history and the stories behind the first settlers in America to get inspiration for the work and turned up the story of Suffolk-born Bartholomew Gosnold, who travelled to what become Virginia to establish the first English-speaking settlement. The work includes scenes from the settlers struggle for survival in a harsh, insect-infested, Native Indian inhabited climate, and both the commissioners and myself are delighted with it. You can read more about it here.
It’s an interesting thing, pitching. I’ve never really been taught how to do it and have learnt on the job, although if I was just starting out I think it would be worth attending some training. If you get to the interview then you can assume the clients recognise your artistic abilities, so you need to display your professional side and show you can also handle the project management side of the work. I always try and come across as extremely business-like and capable, and I seem to do relatively well when pitching for work.
The other exciting piece of news has been my winning the 2007 Pearsons Prize in the category of ‘best use of glass in architectural application’ for the Eldon Square sculptures. My wife and I went down to Cardiff last Thursday for the awards ceremony and stayed in the 5* Hilton Hotel which was very nice for a night. It is great when a piece of work is recognised in this way and I’m so please I got the chance to work on the project in the first place. You can read more about this as well by clicking here.
