Mark Scott-Wood

I’m only here because I’m too lazy to go anywhere else.

So today I thought I would share a few words and pictures with you of my all too recent studio move. I have been promising myself a change of scenery for a while now and always with the intention of getting away from the distractions of the city and to give myself a few months in the countryside to concentrate on just plain old unadulterated making and creating. I also feel I need to regain some confidence in my working practise and rebuild my limited faith in the art world after having such a terrible experience with Debut Contemporary last year. Fortunately, since my brief dealings with that scheme, I have been invited to take part in some fantastic showsincluding Collectible, the inaugrual show with ZeitgeistArtsProjects. I have also managed to start selling a few bits of work here and there so it seems even more appropriate that I put myself in a position where I am able to dedicate the majority of my time to being in the studio. My big fat mess of a studio. Here's a link to an article about my studio on Creative Boom which will give you some idea of what I was dealing with.

A mobile phone tour of studio before 'Operation Pack' commenced.

After 4 glourious years of being there, I sadly handed in my notice at the Streatham Hill studio just before Christmas. I was not convinced it was totally the best plan I have ever had. I returned after the festive break only to find that the local vermin had taken up residence in my studio and they were all having a jolly plump time at the expense of my poor old masks with the bagel eyes - they were all munched to varying degrees of blindness with only the exception of the bagels I had made myself! So with this in mind, I decided I had probably made the right decision and decided to crack on with packing.

Rodent capers -

A mouse damaged Witch Man Tree Daemon mask.

Even the other witches and aliens weren't safe from the furry plague.

The fuzzy buggers even ate my Aloe Vera plant, roots and all.

With their busy little teeth never tiring, nothing was safe from the vermin rampage.

A witch, blinded by greed. Incidentally, I took her nose off to use on another mask.

The mice had no need for it.

And for dessert, they were quite partial to my value biscuits, the rotters.

Splat the rat!

No word of a lie, it has taken my literally weeks to achieve this move. Partly because I loathe moving so much and was prone to much procrastination and partly because I have so much stuff to sort through (I say partly, it was mostly due to all the stuff I have hoarded). I often got side tracked. This would be because, for example, I had just found some old sketchbooks that needed looking through, or perhaps a small bit of unfinished work that needed finishing immediately - you get the idea.