5 surreal and wonderful developments of this summer

 Post 6/50

5 surreal and wonderful things have happened to me since my last article about the progress of my career change towards an art-related role.

1)   BORN Group software training and shadowing

This was my first taste of what it is like to work in a commercial art environment. I got an insight into the software used to create everything from magazines to auction house catalogues. Over just 2 days, I got a crash course in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign and took detailed notes. It has broken the mental barrier I had when it came to working with vectors and I really enjoy it now. Special thank you to Emilie, Michael, Becky, Ross, Philip and everyone who made this such a productive and inspiring experience.

2)   Art Battle Bristol Experience

I took the coach to Bristol for their most recent event and got involved with absolutely everything I could, like: setting up the venue, speedily changing all provided artist materials between rounds, the silent auction of pieces created on the day, engaging with the guests and other participants.

The words that come to mind to best describe this adventure are: non-stop, overwhelming and engaging. It was a huge party, hosted by Douglas A Karson, with a DJ, drinks, food and a live art tournament with 3 rounds and mobile voting. Artists are provided with all art materials, courtesy of sponsor Daler Rowney, and have to create a painting in just 20 minutes. Guests then vote on their mobile phones to choose which 4 artists out of 12 get through to the final round. Guests also bid on the paintings in the silent auction. The winner gets a large supply of art materials and moves on to the next competition round.

Being a part of that day made me wonder if I would be able to compete. The challenge seems exhilarating, so I applied and got accepted a little while later, which means that I get to compete on the 5th of September in the Trinity Centre in Bristol!

Click here for event details and tickets. I would love to see you there.

3)   I now have a part-time job as an artist’s assistant

As part of my project, I speak to people who work in art-related roles and have learned a lot through conversations with artists about the challenges of the industry and the ways in which they get commissions. However, in one particular conversation at the end of July, I saw an opportunity I just couldn’t miss. I met for a coffee with the artist Walera Martynchik, who I was introduced to by a mutual friend many years ago. He said that he has a large commission from Canada and would need several people to help complete it in time, but only has one helper at present. At this point I had to ask if he would consider hiring me for a day or 2 per week. He asked me some questions, I showed him my work and I did a trial shift.

For the past month I have been working 1 and sometimes 2 days a week in the studio, mounting canvases, transferring paintings, creating lighting sculptures and using my new Adobe Illustrator and InDesign skills to start creating a new catalogue for Walera’s art. Once again, I really need to thank everyone at Born Group and also my dear friend Richard Clarke for giving me these skills.ustustra

4)   I am going back to university

This is where my journey takes an unexpected turn...

A little bit of background: in 2010, fresh out of college, I went to St Andrew’s University in Scotland to study French, German and International Relations. After 1 year, due to my family finances I had to drop out and as a Russian Citizen I am not entitled to a student loan. Fast-forwarding to 2016, I transferred my credits to Birkbeck, the evening university in London. I funded my second year, with help from a friend and my bank and finished on 71% grade average. (I wouldn’t say “On paper”) I am on a break from my studies and can get a BA degree in French and German if I study full time for 1 year.

After a networking meeting with a journalist friend and mentor figure, I called Birkbeck to ask if I could perhaps change my degree direction towards a BA in History of Art.

The answer was no. Furthermore, I was told that if I don’t return to Uni this October, they would penalise me and take away half a year of my course off my record (I am summarising without going in to details of university credits).

So, after giving it a great deal of consideration, I feel it would be nice to graduate. Consequently, I’m going to look in to the payment options available to me, go back to evening study in October and simultaneously continue working towards gaining work experience with art-related businesses.

5)   Someone found me and reached out to me through my LinkedIn Pulse Posts

Recently, I received an e-mail from the founder of ViewVo, Lucy Standing, who found me through my LinkedIn posts. Just writing that seems surreal.

The e-mail read:

“Dear Alice, I saw your post on Linkedin and wanted to connect as I run a job shadowing service and as an active career changer, I’d love to get you to trial and be a guinea pig on the site. The site (we’re changing names soon to ‘Bravestarts’) but for now, I’d like to test the new email/inbox feature and need someone keen to help. I have a couple of opportunities to shadow jewellery makers, art gallery owners and many others[…]”

Short answer; I’m in. I had a call and further correspondence via e-mail with Lucy to see how I can help their business and which experiences I could trial for them that would be most relevant to my project, and we are doing this. More updates to follow.

It’s a little hard to predict the exact direction the next couple of months will go in considering these developments. However, I am determined to persevere with this and keep an open mind about where my journey will take me.

If you work with or run an art-related organisation in the UK and can offer a taster day, shadowing or work experience, please contact me on [email protected] or connect with me on here. 

It would be truly amazing to hear from you.