May I stir your tea for you madam?

I sent off another application for a short residency the other day; as usual I don't think I'll have a hope in hell of getting a place, but you have to try don't you? What's that crass saying...'you have to be in it to win it'...

The residency is run by Bolwick Arts, near Norwich in Norfolk - just have a look at their website to see the quality and experience of previous residents. I particularly like the look of the work of Claire Morgan - especially the piece she did for the residency with the dead crows found on the site... her cv's worth a read too. How do people do it? Is it just luck of the draw that you get picked for all these wonderful sounding exhibitions that she's been in; is it who you know not what you do that counts? Does being in the back of beyond hinder your chances? I can't tell any more, but I feel that making my own opportunities is the only way forward...even so it's worth sending out the odd application now and again, because you never know what may come up.

The truth is I'd really love to get a place on this particular residency; it's set in the surroundings of a Georgian country house and I've got a great idea inspired by those wonderful 18c natural history collections. I'd love to get my teeth into it and I think it would work really well in the surroundings, but I'm not going to say too much more for fear of jinxing any minuscule chance I may actually have! I'm not at all superstitious normally, but occasionally I notice these peculiar superstitious rituals illogically springing forth from my mind. I blame my grandmother: she was incredibly superstitious: bringing white lilac into the house is bad luck, as is walking under a ladder or crossing the path of a black cat, but the one that used to tickle me pink was that I was not allowed to stir her cup of tea for fear of "stirring her troubles"! I have a sneaky suspicion someone's been stirring a lot of my tea for a very long time...

Will keep you posted on the progress of the application, but don't hold your breath!