Filming, fundraising, and photography

I'm sorry I've not been blogging for a few weeks. Lots of things have been happening behind the scenes, and I've just not been telling anyone about it.

Filming workshop

On the last weekend of the Easter holidays I took a group of explorer scouts off to the YMCA in Perth to go on a filmmaking workshop.

You can spot Bill ,my husband in this picture. He is on the course because he'll be filming me in Malawi, and needs to know what he's doing too.

The workshop was delivered by Tony who was fab - really eloquent and knowledgeable, and everyone really enjoyed the session. It made me realise just how different filmmaking is from photography, and there seems to be so much more to think about than just taking photos that I almost started panic. Then I remembered that I wasn't actually making the film, and that I was only there so I could keep up with the kids. By the way, I realise that there is an awful lot to taking good photos, but I've been doing it for 25 years and it comes a lot more naturally to me.

Fundraising news

I keep dreaming about my ideal world where I got the funding I applied for from Creative Scotland and I'm taking it easy this month learning about promoting a project, and starting to etch my pictures. No such luck I'm afraid.

This month I've been manically busy trying to raise funds so I Love Scolawi happens fully. As well as the events listed I've been applying to a few Charitable Trusts as well.

There has been a lot of excitement about the Decades Disco on the 10th May, and quite a few tickets have already been sold. A big thank you to everyone who's told me they want to come.

I'm still waiting for my small lotteries license for the raffle. My tickets have arrived from the printers and I can't wait to start selling them once I'm official.

I've organised a 'guess the artist' quiz. These will be sold for £1 each, and I'm not sure where they will be stocked just yet, as I've only just written it. My friend Laura Appéré has offered to sell them at her Open Studios venue in Falkland (3rd-5th May) and I'll be selling them at every event I can.

If you'd like to sell some quizzes or raffle tickets for me to your friends and contacts I'd be extremely grateful. Email me and I'll sort you out with some copies.

My friend Violet, has offered to run a hafla in Auchtermuchty for the project. Violet is a belly dancer, and a hafla is the name for their get-togethers, as hafla is Arabic for party. I've seen some of the pictures Violet has taken and they looks awesome. people take turns to perform, and choreograph their piece to suit the fundraiser of the evening. I've never been to one, and can't wait.

I will be running a crowdfunding campaign when I get back from Malawi in June to raise funds specifically for the workshops materials and exhibition prints.
I've been trying to organise a variety of events  that will suit different people, and which means that I'm not just asking my friends to pay for this project. I'm happy that the events are sufficiently wide-ranging and interesting that other people will want to join in too. I hope so anyway.

If you have any thoughts about other ways I can raise funds then I would be delighted to hear for you.

Photography

The weather might have turned a little colder now, but we had a week of gorgeous weather and I took full advantage of it. Here's a few of my favourites.

Forth Road Bridge

Newark Castle, just outside St Monans

Dysart Harbour

Culross Palace

Picking myself back up

As some of you will have heard by now, I didn't receive the Creative Scotland grant funding I applied for. I went for two grants: one to travel to Malawi a first time to take photos and to teach etching workshops, and the other to take the exhibition back to Malawi to exhibit it there.

I first heard that I hadn't got the exhibiting grant, and I was gutted. After that, I was expecting not to get the other grant, so it didn't come as much of a disappointment when I didn't.

Creative Scotland gave me useful feedback. With the 'first trip' application,they gave me very encouraging feedback even though I didn't get the grant. They said it sounded like a wonderful project and that they believed in it and thought I'd written a great application showing that I had good public support. Unfortunately, they had a fund of £1.1 million, and were over-subscribed in applications by £2 million.

With those figures I wasn't surprised that I didn't get a grant. I have no experience of managing projects on this scale and have never received a grant from them before.

But, this left me in a financially scary position. I sat down and calculated what the absolute minimum project costs would be. It came to £8000: £3000 for each trip to Malawi, and £2000 for the community exhibition costs. I had already planned to crowdfund for the £2000, but a second self-funded trip to Malawi would cripple the family finances irrevocably so the exhibition trip would have to be scrapped.

A few friends told me to fundraise by any means possible, that they would help, and that it was a great project and that the money could be found from somewhere. I could do cake sales, raffles, dances etc. and bring money in. I felt it was unfair to ask family and friends to help me fund the project when I was already relying on their help to raise the crowdfunding total.

But I had to come round to the idea. I'm not earning any other money this year because I'm too focussed on this project and I don't like relying on the my husband's wages to fund my work. It's bad enough not bringing income into the household, without being a drain on our other resources as well.

I started to make plans...

I am a committee member for the artist's Open Studios North Fife, so I asked the participating artists if they could offer an artwork/art related gift to me to raffle off for funds. So far 20 artists have offered work, which is wonderful. I've applied for my small lotteries licence and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will have received it in time for my fundraising Decades Disco at Falkland Village Hall on 10th May.

Various people have let me know about other charitable foundations I can apply for, and I've been encouraged by Diana at FCAC to reapply for the grant to exhibit the show in Malawi, as the feedback from that application mentioned a few areas I lacked information for. and can make better.

I'd like to thank my friends and family who've refused to allow me to wallow and give up, and who have offered me so much love and support over the last few difficult weeks.

I'm now re-enthused about making I Love Scolawi happen and I'm ready to take on the world!