When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide

I once got some very good advice: if something happens that you can't control, don't make excuses. Acknowledge it, state the facts, take ownership of it, move on.

During last years Exeter Open Studios my maternal grandmother went into hospital in Sweden. Her heart stopped while she was out, luckily people saw her and called an ambulance. She was in the hospital for about 2 weeks before passing away. In that time she never woke up. Due to my workload and the logistics of the situation I wasn't able to see her in the hospital or attend the funeral.

I don't think there's any way that you can, or indeed should, keep things like that from impacting on your life, even less so when you work in the creative field and when you work for yourself by yourself you do all the work, all the time, regardless of what else is happening. The body of work that I was working on related to my family, Arvsynden (Original Sin), I had to stop working on as it was too much for me to work with in relation to what else was happening. I'm hoping to go back to it soon but for the time being I'm putting it aside. I have 2 part finished pieces and one finished.

Arvsynden Del 1 - Tronarvingen (Original Sin Part 1 - The heir to the throne)

The image is of my maternal grandfather, Karl-Gustav Linnros, in his youth.

I decided to go back to working on a project I'd started during the summer, Walk of the Monoliths. These are a collection of abstract sculptures relating to the idea of something static with the potential to move, while also relating to people that I know, that are a part of my life, that have dealt with difficulty in their lives and how that may have changed them in different ways. I've only included a few images here as I will be posting all of the Monoliths made to date on my website.

"Walk of the Monoliths - Feeling attached"

"Walk of the Monoliths - Fluidity of soul"
So although I dropped off the radar for a while I'm still very much working, making (and selling!) new things, revisiting old work and planning for the future. I'm no longer part of the organizing team for The Craft Hub, but I'm continuing to be an active member and aim to support and help promote the Hub as it continues to grow.

I'm looking forward to taking on 2011 as a New Year with everything it brings and has to offer.