Where’s Ma Joy?

Well, I’m looking for it. It’s in amongst some paper and paint brushes and it’s been eluding me for over 40 years!!

1982 to 1986 were wonderful, formative years. I don’t in any way regret my time at Art School but my thoughts seemed reflected in the Tutors eyes. “What on earth is she doing here? How did she get in? And should we throw her out or keep her and try to squeeze a degree out of her? They certainly came perilously close to evicting me at the end of 2nd year which was the 1st year of the Drawing and Painting course. But they liked me well enough and decided to let me stay, whilst continuing to stand and stare at me with their hands in their pockets thinking…”when is she going to start?” Lots of love and encouragement ensued from my fellow students who all appeared to have followed their dreams into Art School. I made my bestest friend of 40 years (who has continued to try and nudge me to recognise the artist in myself) and I hugely value the connections I still have to many of those wonderful people who still work at their art (or not) - some with great success. If it wasn’t for the sweetness of lecturers Will McLean who REALLY tried, and then, in our final year, the encouragement of Paul Gough fresh from art school in London, and Elaine Shemilt fresh from making installations with pigs heads, I don’t know that I would have made it across the finish line.

I googled them to see where they all are now and all continue to practice their art. I heard Paul Gough on the radio a couple of months ago when the Banksy exhibition opened in Glasgow. He is the leading expert on him and apparently there was a significant rumour on tik-tok that he IS Banksy. That’s me then. Trained by Banksy - mibbie’s aye, mibbie’s naw!

Having survived Art School I went on to have an illustrious career as a Store Detective (very good at that) a Tree Planter (not very good at that but it brought me to a whole new and wonderful culture in the Highlands,) a Teacher of English in Wuhan (which no one had ever heard of in 1988), a support worker in the East End of Glasgow where I was lucky to do a lot of therapeutic art with feisty Glaswegians, a support worker for adults with learning disabilities in their own home in the Highlands (no art) and finally a self employed cleaner who wears head phones and listens to podcasts whilst wielding a broom and a toilet brush. Which brought me to Louise Fletcher and her online course Find Your Joy. Can she do what I and everyone else has failed to do over 40 years? I have 3 months to begin the search with support and coaching. It starts today……..

This is me getting back to my inner student - eating cold leftover porridge from the pot. It helps to go for total immersion….