CM/LP

Thank you for your career and personal resumes.I have also been following your postings to Instagram. It is clear, beyond any doubt, that you have a prodigious visual talent, combined with a strong organisational sense.

Ideas I send are entirely your province. I will shape projects for you and there is no obligation to follow anything I say. If anything I write strikes a chord, then I will be delighted, and have no ego problems about ideas you reject.

GENERALLY. Passing time. I have been an Arts Staff Tutor at the Open University and taught postmen and grandmothers, returning to education. I have taught art students with no academic qualifications. I have taught undergraduates with a proportion of 30% mature students. The MA Sequential Course at Brighton was predominantly mature students and working professionals seeking the space to make their own projects. My PhD candidates ( 15 from UK, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, USA) were all ages, and one, Brian Love, professor of Illustration at Kingston University was older than me. None of the students believed that age, intervening events such as families, new jobs etc had meant they had to catch up to some fictional career path. You are where you are in your life and every day offers a fresh possibility.

SHORT TERM - LONG TERM

1. In the short term, it would ideal to make an archive of ALL your work. Start with a radial plan on a sheet of A4 paper with “LANA” at the centre. Main projects are in circles around , Erotica, Textiles, Pattern Making, Landscape whatever. Each of the main headings will then have subsidiary circles off them Maybe a main circle will be just “Attitudes” Don’t rush this. Pin it up and wait to see if more comes to mind as you pass it. Consult others. Only when you feel it is complete, write it into a list.

2. This archive could be the basis of your website. In doing so it helps to consolidate your idea of your own work. This happened recently with a very old pal and ex student Jac Batey who was finding the blend of academic work and making books difficult. She made that list and put it on a website and felt liberated.http://dampflat.blogspot.com

3. In the long term I am suggesting you devise a project of some ambition, perhaps a collaboration with two other artists, and seek funding and support from the Welsh Arts Council (see beneath)

In the short term, commit yourself to keeping regular notes of your thoughts and their development. It is so easy to have ideas that get forgotten in the excitement. Ideally a sketchbook diary usually helps where text and image can be combined. As I send responses to your ideas, it may be an idea for me to keep them on my server with access through my website. I am happy to make you a shell where you can keep digital information we can both look at. This would also allow you to maintain a website until you can get your own going.

LONG TERM. It is not too fanciful to have a project always in your mind which is what other artists and prospective funding agencies recognise you by. In talking with others it will be possible to say, “but what I’d really like to do is have an exhibition / installation /artsits’ book.” Your very presence in the UK gives you a particular perception of the place and the people. There is an organisation called Insiders/Outsiders dedicated to exploring the artistic and conceptual life of the Émigré. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUpgH8wI9DO0nxxMY3t_RoA is their Youtube Channel. The website is designed by Rachael Adams, an ex MA student who is undertaking projects about Newhaven with Arts Council support. I sent you her website.

In your resume you were lyrical about your upbringing and subsequent art education and textile business. In the Long Term, I suggest you think about a project that reflects your experiences before the UK. Reflection on Ukriane may be too painful to contemplate. But a body such as the Welsh Arts Council might well support a project proposed by an Exile, or group of exiles reflecting the culture/landscape/ethos of Ukraine. Equally there might be a show that allows a group of artists to each respond to a concept such as the Beauty of the Human Body, with contributions from anatomists, surgeons, fashion designers, with a strong educational component where you organise workshops for children in secondary schools. You will, no doubt, have ideas of your own what that major project could be. It is Long Term, and musn’t be allowed to oppress you. It is YOUR project and you will take your time. The Arts Council can provide starter funds to get the whole idea going. Similarly the Arts Council offers grants for applicants to develop new skills they had not acquired before. Rachael got £10,000 to develop sound recording for film. Jac learnt animation software to animate material from her books.