I Moved to London

Post date: Oct 7, 2014 10:17:47 PM

This is no excuse for being really bad at blogging, but it is the one I am using, that and the simple fact that I am really bad at commitment. I'm working on it, as my sister says (in a totally different area) 'the aim is progress, not perfection'. In my defence I have been getting better at finishing what I start, I moved to London, got a job, I finished Hungry Dress, I don't have any current sewing projects, and I just finished the first draft of my first novel. That is quite a lot to have done since last November. I have also been keeping busy in London, doing everything that takes my fancy, Young Adult Literature Conference (YALC), London Film & Comic Con, Jean Paul Gaultier at the Barbican, Stephen Fry at the Royal Festival Hall, an academic Conference on Race in UCL, The Wedding Dress exhibition in the V&A, among a hundred other things.

So yes that whole blog about my shed/studio does seem a little bit redundant now, but that is where I gave birth to the Hungry Dress, finally. I miss it, I miss having my own studio, my own tools handy, all of the little things I have saved over the years, waiting for that perfect project, bolts, varnishes, carving tools, wire, metal paint, dozens of fabrics, red spray paint, glass bottles and white spirit. I miss Dublin, a place I knew like the back of my hand, but which still kept throwing me surprises. I miss my favourite tea and cake spot, favourite bookshops, favourite alley ways, favourite walks. I miss my family and friends.

London has been a gift though, lots to learn and not much time to fit it all in. I arrived on March 23rd 2014, and I got a full time job in a shop at an arts venue in the city centre two months later, so I have been juggling full time retail hours with everything else, and so far I have been busy but not stretched. Phew, it could have all gone horribly wrong. My sister is to be thanked, she has lived here for three years so when the opportunity came to move in with her that is what I did, and she has helped shave off London's rough edges. My medium term goal is to get making again soon, now my novel is in the editing stages I should be able to invest some creative juices back into my sculpture, so cross your fingers for me.