In many ways the creation of the “Monumental Environmental Artwork” has been on a par with the writing of this book, simply because of the enormity of the project. Originally my intention was to write three small volumes about insights into the creative process and business strategies, as well as intertwining it all with my own experience of being an environmental artist. Having self published and produced the first volume which was called “Art Insights Volume 1”, I was advised by my regional director of the ‘Northern Rivers Writer’s Centre’, to consider the idea of blending the three volumes into one and making a really substantial manuscript which I could then take to a publisher.
I decided to take this advice and spent the next couple of months working feverishly to create this expanded manuscript. Many times during the creation of this work I was daunted by the detail that I needed to go into, also I was often completely overwhelmed by the project. I had to keep remembering to simply stay with the task at hand, knowing that in order to peel and onion so to speak, you have to go layer-by-layer, step-by-step and stay focused on the process.
One thing that I have learnt over the years is the value of consulting professionals in the field of whatever endeavour you are involved in. This was another such case. After I had finished creating this very sick manuscript, I booked them to see a professional editor, who then went on to advise me, having read through my synopsis and a short example of what was contained in my book, to separate the book into two books. This completely took by surprise, although I could see her wisdom in advising me to do this.
What I have actually created during the months that I’ve been working on my manuscript was firstly a book on my own experiences as an environmental artist, which covered a period of approximately 25 years and secondly a book about artists career and business strategies. Clearly they were two quite different subjects. Once again I was faced with an enormous task, which I tackled by leaving the next step of this creation for a number of months. This was probably the wisest thing I could have done at the time, because I was able to drop by inner insistence that it all come to a conclusion fairly fast.
Having a good break from being involved in this manuscript was really refreshing. It gave me a chance to be really focused on a project I was involved with in China and also gave me the freedom to work on my monumental environmental artwork, which I spoke about in the previous chapter. So when I returned to the manuscript I was very refreshed and felt very capable of infusing the work with the extra necessary care and attention that I felt was lacking before.
In the original manuscript I had to do a great amount of in-depth research to develop my responses to the most pressing questions that artists and people in the arts have, in particularly about how to achieve a successful professional career. In many ways the months of research that I was involved in left the text a bit dry and without a lot or I should say enough of my own personal anecdotes and experiences. Having the break really helped me to fill in these gaps simply because I had so much more enthusiasm.
It’s not that everybody to write a book or books that I believe that if you do have the capacity to share your experience and knowledge, then it’s a really good idea to do it. I’m pleased that I have. I’m also pleased that I’m a visual artist and that I have been able to include hundreds of colour plates of my own artwork into these books, it adds a whole different dimension to the information that I’m sharing, to be able to back up many of my statements with images that relate to them.
