The year has started well, with something of a pile up of creative projects, which is nothing to whine about, but does present some ‘what the hell should I do first?’ scheduling issues. I got interested in time management and efficiency a while ago, and wasted countless happy hours reading about spreadsheets, productivity cycles and cognitive patterns. It was a great hobby while it lasted, but I can’t actually say I walked away from the phase with anything concrete other than ‘always do the fun thing first’, which is actually diametrically opposed to lots of this kind of advice.
Next week I start a commission to write the 25 year history of Hunter Valley Grammar School. I’ve never written a local history before, so I’m looking forward to some happy hours in the library, and hanging out with archivists. I’m thinking I really should start wearing my hair in a bun…
I’ve also got to finish the perennial PhD, as my scholarship is running out at the end of next month, and what was a delightful hobby has suddenly become an urgent matter. It turns out that the University really likes their PhD candidates to finish more or less on time, and has suddenly pulled out a dazzling array of sticks and carrots. One of the best carrots, by the way, was some great workshops run by Thinkwell. (It was actually Thinkwell that got me interested in time management, and also wondering why procrastination ever acquired such a bad name).
The PhD started off in Fine Arts, and for a variety of reasons recently jumped across into the English and Writing program, specifically the Creative Writing strand. This means I’ve got to write a novel length work of fiction, then turn around and analyse it in another longish document. I always imagine that this is a bit like an 18th century surgeon operating on himself at sea: you get to see how your guts work in a stressful environment. I’ve got to admit to being perfectly happy with the creative side of the project, no issues there, but the actual analysis and contextualisation of what I’ve written causes some psychic discomfort.
The good news is that the creative bit, a novel that was provisionally titled Scheherazade’s Sister, and is now more likely to be called Catharine: a reverse fairy tale, is nearly finished. Of course when I say nearly finished, I’m lying: this is just in case my supervisor reads this. I have nearly completed the first draft, but for me this is the hard bit, where all the structure, action and themes are worked out. The subsequent drafts are more in the nature of having fun fiddling with language and seeing how things can be improved.
Catharine is a character who haunted me so strongly that I had a phase of imagining her walking around the house in a pair of clunky high heels. She insisted on having her name written in a particular way. It was all rather Six Characters in Search of an Author for a while. It wasn’t until I started writing her down that her (entirely imaginary) restless presence started to fade. But I’ll write more about this in the future.
Meanwhile, far away in another part of town, Caelli and I are continuing to pull the various strands of the Year of the Bird exhibition together, including finishing our own work. The exhibition is due to open, to the funky sounds of Kahibah Funky Brass band, at Maitland Regional Art Gallery at 3pm on Saturday 23rd February. I’m hoping that we get lots of people at the opening and that everyone wears bird masks and dances.
Helen Hopcroft: an artist's life 
Hi Helen great to read up on things that matter and things that need to be done. The creative thesis is a cursed blessing I’ve found. The focus on the creative work is a blessing and expanded by the research but the academic aspect of the writing, I find more of a challenge. I’m meant to finish mid year and need to get the words on to paper. Send me more details on your Maitland Gallery opening and you never know, may just be able to pop up. George
Hi George,
Good to hear from you! Yep, admit to being conflicted by the whole exegesis/artefact thing, but enjoying the creative side enough to hopefully get me through the other. Mind you, my scholarship is about to run out, which is going to put a bit of dent in my optimism.
I’m sorry I didn’t reply sooner. The Maitland show opens tomorrow at 3pm, we’ve been flat out organising the works and helping with the install. However it’s up until the 7th April, so plenty of time to see it if you’re up this way, just let me know.
Best wishes,
Helen