The Blog

I started writing this blog mostly because I wanted to catalog my experiences at Studio Kura. I'm a pondering sort of a person (years of therapy will do that to you) and will analyze pretty much everything to the bones. Sometimes, an interesting insight might also happen, so I thought writing my thoughts down might be a good idea. So far I have discovered:

- Talking only in English for four days makes you forget Finnish words
- Listening to other people talk in French accents for four days makes you think in a French accent
- Talking with people who have foreign accents will somehow make you want to mimic their accents
- In a foreign country, it's not only very difficult to tell if you're being rude to others but also if others are being rude to you on purpose or just having a different way of behaving and accidentally insulting you without meaning to
- If you think you can change your bad habits in a new place, you're kidding yourself. A new environment will make you cling on to your routines even tighter because those will be the only familiar things you know

Well, I must have forgotten my other insights.

The problem with blogging is, I'm not that good with following through with it. I've had various blogs during the years and slowly most of them have just dwindled into something I'm ashamed is on the internet for everybody to see. I also have a tolerable photo blog, but I simply haven't had the time to update it and it feels kind of pointless now.

And don't even get me started on the coding. I know nothing about HTML or CSS and no matter how easy templates should be, they're not. If the template creators think I can customize the template, they're wrong. I don't know what a widget is! Don't leave weird empty boxes for me to customize! I know nothing! Why can't the template just be exactly what I want it to be without me having to go through any trouble?

I probably don't have time to update this one properly either, or I shouldn't put time on this, because my time at the residency is very short. But I sort of want to? I want to be a blogger. Because it's totally glamorous! Or not.

Anyway, my time at Studio Kura is only 30 days. I will have an exhibition here on 24th and 25th of this months (you're invited!) and I have to get my work ready by that time. Plus I have to somehow get prints of my photos and maybe mount them so I basically have only until maybe to the 20th of September to get my shit together. That's like under two weeks. I'm sort of stiff with fear. It might sound like a long time, but it feels like there's so much to do and see here that it's hard to focus on being just an artist. Also, my process can be very slow sometimes. I usually have an idea of what I'm doing and what I need to do to get there, but it has to sort of mature in my head before I can get it out, even if I'd know it's there.

Many other artists at the residency are actually here for two months and I feel really bad now I didn't book two months, or couldn't afford two months. I could have used it. Now I'm just working on a project instead of soaking in the experience and letting it inspire me. But, can't crap out money, can I? And I don't know if I could have been away for two months, what with work stuff and family stuff.

Edited to add: No, I don't know why the preview pics look like they're really crappy quality. Somebody help me please!