What led me here
Hi y'all, and hope this finds you well...today's full moon seems to be going either one way or the other for people I've spoken to. And this is a bit of a difficult posting for me, so bear with me- it's quite personal- and I can be quite guarded about that (I can just hear the raucous cackling of some of my mates as they read that!). I'll try not to ramble on, as that's how this moon is affecting me...
Since first having the idea for this project in November last year, I've run it by a few people who know me well. I was surprised that none of them asked me why- they all seemed to get it, and thought it was something worthwhile in terms of the connections it would make, both with the past and the present, and between different people, and that it would be an interesting thing to follow. They also recognised that it brought together many aspects of my life- the crafts, the languages, the writing, the connecting with people, the love of nature and slow travel. What some of them did ask was what led me to this project now, at this time in my life, so this is what I'll be writing about today.
Until a year ago, I had spent 12 years teaching at University; academic and study skills, and sometimes French language to first year, mature and international students. I was lucky enough to spend time with many wonderful people from wildly diverse backgrounds. It was rewarding to be able to help them, it was great to see the vast majority of them succeed in what they wanted to do, and I also learned an awful lot. We shared thoughts and ideas about life, the world and we always shared laughter. And recipes. I have very many fond memories, which I'm truly grateful for, and I miss those connections. However, it was insecure; feast or famine workwise; it wasn't a job to really be saving money in, but it did give me time to hone my crafting skills, and a few years ago, I did a BTEC in Theatrical Costume to get a bit more formal training. What started to become difficult and demoralising about it came from outside the classroom. Funding for useful courses started to dry up. First year students who had been at schools that didn't really expect their pupils to go to University, really benefitted from learning how to write essays, give presentations, do research...so much stuff...but funding was cut. And that became a bit of a moot point really, as tuition fees came in, and you didn't hear so many local accents around the campus, as those kind of students couldn't afford to go to Uni any more. Mature students, similarly- many lacked confidence after having a long break since they last studied, and that's what we tried to give them, but again, they don't have much access to those kind of supportive courses any more. The foreign language programme was also axed, and then international students started to become a bit of a political football, and this whole country (maybe in common with a lot of Northern Europe) started to experience that horrible change where xenophobia started to become very apparent. Fucksticks is all I have to say about that.
So all in all, it was something of a relief when they closed our department and we got made redundant. It gave me a chance to try and make a go of things with my artwork, and it's gone pretty well; I'm chuffed with what I've made over the last year- some really interesting commissions, some fabulous collaborations with other artists, some wonderful feedback and I have worked really hard and further developed my skills- that's important to me- I'm a born fidget after all. It's not the easiest path financially, making very labour intensive handmade things, as we all know...but no path is easy. If you want to see more of my work, I post most of it on Instagram, as billyblacklondon.
And so, In September I will begin my journey along the ocean in the west of Ireland. I must admit I do find the sea both comforting and awe inspiring. Of course it's the sound of the waves and the endless horizons, the natural beauty and the joy of a beach or a cliff. Maybe it's recent ancestral memory, my grandma was a Shetlander after all. But when I'm by the sea, I don't feel like I'm at the end of the earth. It makes me think about the people on the opposite shore. We forget it now with air travel, but water has historically been the easiest and fastest way to move around this planet; the sea is a place of connection much more than division. Overseas is much easier than overdeserts, overmountains, overmarshes and overmuddyfields. Overseas has come to mean 'foreign', 'other'; one of those divisive words. But the sea is a connector, and connection is what we need to remember now more than ever, when it suits the powers that be that we connect less with each other across different places. And along this Atlantic Thread coastline, people have connected with those on other shores for thousands of years. I'm off to join them.
Love and Light (if you made it this far, you are awfully patient, thank you) Billy xxxx
Since first having the idea for this project in November last year, I've run it by a few people who know me well. I was surprised that none of them asked me why- they all seemed to get it, and thought it was something worthwhile in terms of the connections it would make, both with the past and the present, and between different people, and that it would be an interesting thing to follow. They also recognised that it brought together many aspects of my life- the crafts, the languages, the writing, the connecting with people, the love of nature and slow travel. What some of them did ask was what led me to this project now, at this time in my life, so this is what I'll be writing about today.
Until a year ago, I had spent 12 years teaching at University; academic and study skills, and sometimes French language to first year, mature and international students. I was lucky enough to spend time with many wonderful people from wildly diverse backgrounds. It was rewarding to be able to help them, it was great to see the vast majority of them succeed in what they wanted to do, and I also learned an awful lot. We shared thoughts and ideas about life, the world and we always shared laughter. And recipes. I have very many fond memories, which I'm truly grateful for, and I miss those connections. However, it was insecure; feast or famine workwise; it wasn't a job to really be saving money in, but it did give me time to hone my crafting skills, and a few years ago, I did a BTEC in Theatrical Costume to get a bit more formal training. What started to become difficult and demoralising about it came from outside the classroom. Funding for useful courses started to dry up. First year students who had been at schools that didn't really expect their pupils to go to University, really benefitted from learning how to write essays, give presentations, do research...so much stuff...but funding was cut. And that became a bit of a moot point really, as tuition fees came in, and you didn't hear so many local accents around the campus, as those kind of students couldn't afford to go to Uni any more. Mature students, similarly- many lacked confidence after having a long break since they last studied, and that's what we tried to give them, but again, they don't have much access to those kind of supportive courses any more. The foreign language programme was also axed, and then international students started to become a bit of a political football, and this whole country (maybe in common with a lot of Northern Europe) started to experience that horrible change where xenophobia started to become very apparent. Fucksticks is all I have to say about that.
So all in all, it was something of a relief when they closed our department and we got made redundant. It gave me a chance to try and make a go of things with my artwork, and it's gone pretty well; I'm chuffed with what I've made over the last year- some really interesting commissions, some fabulous collaborations with other artists, some wonderful feedback and I have worked really hard and further developed my skills- that's important to me- I'm a born fidget after all. It's not the easiest path financially, making very labour intensive handmade things, as we all know...but no path is easy. If you want to see more of my work, I post most of it on Instagram, as billyblacklondon.
And so, In September I will begin my journey along the ocean in the west of Ireland. I must admit I do find the sea both comforting and awe inspiring. Of course it's the sound of the waves and the endless horizons, the natural beauty and the joy of a beach or a cliff. Maybe it's recent ancestral memory, my grandma was a Shetlander after all. But when I'm by the sea, I don't feel like I'm at the end of the earth. It makes me think about the people on the opposite shore. We forget it now with air travel, but water has historically been the easiest and fastest way to move around this planet; the sea is a place of connection much more than division. Overseas is much easier than overdeserts, overmountains, overmarshes and overmuddyfields. Overseas has come to mean 'foreign', 'other'; one of those divisive words. But the sea is a connector, and connection is what we need to remember now more than ever, when it suits the powers that be that we connect less with each other across different places. And along this Atlantic Thread coastline, people have connected with those on other shores for thousands of years. I'm off to join them.
Love and Light (if you made it this far, you are awfully patient, thank you) Billy xxxx
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