This piece is inspired by life as an artist.

I’m 44 and trying to embark on a new career which is both exciting but terribly confusing. There’s conflicting advice on pricing, social media, competitions, grants, mentorship, contacting people, not contacting people, selling yourself not selling yourself, branding and marketing. So here it is a portrait of myself looking slightly bemused with badges representing all my problems. But most of all I’m sick of my own moaning.  

To start the project, I cross stitched some rug / tapestry canvas using wool so I could shape it into a crown using colourful gaffer tape like a homemade party hat. 

Now for the badges. A birthday badge for my age, a tired fed-up emoji, a thumb down, a word search with the words fed up, question marks, a tear, a ghost to representing ghosting and other symbols to mark my frustration in being an artist, a woman and middle age.