Over a year has passed since my last post on here…and now its time to make a comeback. A lot has happened since and still have much going on now; some good, some bad, some ugly lol but here goes a summary of key moments in the last year.
May ’14
The last month before handing in my university work, I had everything prepped and ready for our degree show aswell. Around mid-May I received a call from my sister who sounded very upset. Unfortunately she delivered the news that my Grandad who had been living in Dominica had died. Obviously it had come as a big shock, as we were all actually thinking to visit him as he was approaching his 80th Birthday-the circumstances surrounding his death were even more shocking (I won’t go into too much detail, but someone caused him harm which led to his death)
Emotions were high, as we had lost my Aunt to cancer approx 6 months before, and my Mum was in hospital for an op around that time. We were all hit hard. 2 days after finding out about my Grandad, my Mum’s cousin had passed away…May ended up being a torrid month.
June ’14
With the support of my friends and my partner, I was able to continue focus on my show. My mother and sisters came to Southampton to attend and we had a nice evening, but we had to travel back to London the same night in order to get our plane to Dominica the next day.
The last time I went to Dominica before that was to bury my Nan about 8 years prior. It was a hard time trying to arrange the funeral, burial, paperwork and so on. Not to mention the person being investigated was still roaming free in the village. Even tried to attend the funeral? She got told where to go.
We were away for 2 weeks from mid june, I had to move out of my flat pretty much when I got back from Dominica. Before we left however my parents hired a van to take most of my stuff down. My 3 years in Southampton were officially done. Now it was time to head out into the real world, and await results and graduation.
July – August ’14
I arranged to do an internship as a Gallery Assistant at the Brick Lane Gallery and was also looking for part time work. Luckily for me I landed a job quikcly as a waitress that was planning to open its first restaurant in London. My internship at Brick Lane lasted for 3 months in which I was involved in doing a variety of things such as assisting with the set up, hanging and taking down of bi-weekly exhibitions at the space along with helping at the private launches. It was a good experience and I was able to liase with a variety of artists- and it gave me an insight to the operations of a small gallery (ponders…). I was also balancing this with my training for the new job at Ippudo (name of restaurant, famous for Ramen and Japanese cuisine). Passed two interview stages beforehand and then we trained in classrooms in Central London while they were still dealing with the new building. Learning Japanese, “Issatsu”, carrying empty Ramen bowls, taken pretend orders….lol it was a pretty surreal experience before we even got to the place.
Oct ’14
Grand Opening of the restaurant.All of us were putting in early hours, double shifts, exhausted. I arranged another gallery internship and was put on “trial” for a week. Unfortunately due some unforseen circumstances I chose not to continue. Also that same week my Uncle had passed away from failing health.
Nov ’14
My uncle’s funeral. My graduation. I also attempted to launch a Kickstarter project in order to get funding for a solo exhibition that I had planned. I didn’t reach my target, but I put myself out there and have put the project on hold (for now) for more information about what I had planned, click the link just here. Blossom Kickstarter
I had also started doing work experience with a fashion brand called Binghi’s Boutique-did a speculative application and they took me on. Initially I started to do custom designs for customers, which actually helped improve my knowledge and use of Adobe Illustrator…the owners were great, and we were a small team that gelled pretty well.
Jan-Feb ’15
New year. Hoping that things would be much better than the last. Myself along with about 4 other people had taken up our roles as Head Waiters/Head Waitresses. Tbh, it was really stressful, we were left with disorganisation, things were messy. We were tired. Communication was a bit off. There was a week I was working everyday to cover 2 of the heads who were away on holiday and it was draining. Got paid enough, and luckily I was off to Antigua with my partner for 10 days beginning of Feb. Much needed break, and it was an amazing holiday (even though many of the locals were talking about us getting married? lol)
April-May ’15
I took part in a group exhibition called Roots Culture Identity which showcased the works of young black and ethinc artists working in London. This took place in collaboration with the TUC workers conference on Great Russell Street. It was nice to network with up and coming artists and see the talent around me. My brother’s partner is a really talented face painter and mural artist from Italy. She asked if I was interested in doing a painting job with her and her friend she works with. We drove to a stop off point in Milton Keynes and painted a flower mural in a Starbucks. We finished quicker than expected and even got a nice bit of pay for the work.
June ’15
Me, my sister and parents decided to take a first real family holiday to Dominica. It was nice to actually go there and see some sights, and chill. We visited my Grandad’s grave, relaxed in a hot spring, visited Mero beach, also visited a relative on my Dad’s side who celebrated her 100th birthday :).
July -September ’15
I had a stall in South Kilburn Festival to promote and sell my art. I receieved really good comments from passers by and even had a few people buy some of my t-shirt designs (these can be viewed in my shop, details below). I had also ended my work experience with Binghi’s, but I left on a high. The Roots Culture Identity exhibition was up and running again in PCS house in Clapham, and had another painting job in Starbucks; this time in Bournemouth and it was a 2 day job so we stayed overnight.
Now I’m just trying to work on my portfolio, up my design game up and get on with projects that have been put on hold 🙂 Hopefully I’ll land that full time designer job soon
As I said earlier I will be making more regular posts on here, but feel free to follow me on my other social media
Instagram: cami_san28
Twitter: @MicaCamilla
MicasArtWorld 