2 ton truck

I drove a truck today. It was a 2 ton truck, i dunno if thats how heavy it is or how much it can carry, but its no worries all i cared about was that it had a lift on the back & it did. It turned out to be manual so i had to remember how to drive manual again. I was Ok once i realised that reverse was where 1st should be & i didn't need to even use 1st at all anyway. The magic point, which is where the gear lever returns to, they always "spring" to some point don't they, was in between 2nd & 3rd, & so thats what made me realise 1st was probably an acquired taste. !st was for heavy loads on a hill or something, starting in 2nd was perfect. I really enjoyed driving it, though its hard to remember you have such a big wide bus behind you. Reversing is very difficult u can't see a thing & guessing how long you are, well i had no idea so i tried not to reverse much. Was good tho, i got 2 mates help in the morning & we put 98% of the studio in the truck & yes its been a terrible tiring day. I'm pretty well finished for about a week i imagine & the only reason i can sit here & type at all is that i had a wee nap & pizza for tea. Early night i hope.

It appears to have come as a surprise to the studio owner that i moved out, even tho we been discussing it & i asked her if she was ok with it & she was, but then she's been preoccupied with family disasters lately. She has billed me for the next month but hopefully we can come to some agreement. If i knew i was still paying for it i would have left a table & chair there at bloody least.

The Open Studio went well, considering i started the day with a bastard headache & it all went from there. Lots of people came, & all my friends seemed to buy stuff off the printmakers & so my mates spent about a grand on their stuff while they drank my cider & sucked my chocolate eyeballs, basically. Was a good day.

I did get a dude come put a deposit on a sculpture, & tho he was gona do that anyway, it was very nice way to do it cos the studio all looked so pro when he turned up. All "showy" n that. Noice.

Poured James out at the train station & puddled off home with a boatload of sculptures. Just a start on the next day's move-out.

The good thing about an open studio is you can do whatever the hell you like. I been tied up with the poo strings of gallery owners too bloody long, so whatever i choose to do, it all feels like FREEDOM. I wrote out my sheet of listing adding a line about each one, a little description of each or a little joke. And i put out loads of NFS ones, maquettes & practice heads cast in plaster. Its only an open studio, it ain't a show. But i like this freedom business. A bit more polished it could be a goer.