Name: Elizabeth Kearney

Year of Birth: 1975
Lives: Liverpool
Nationality: British

Period of Employment: 26th June – 24th July 2006

Employment Undertaken:
Self-employment as a regular stall holder at “Warrington’s Favourite Carboot Sale” (www.yourcarbootsale.co.uk)

Job Seeking Undertaken:

• Visits to local Job Centres, searching websites and local press.
• Application to Craft Central. (www.trimcraft.co.uk)
• Job seeking on behalf of Liz by Prime including replies to ‘work from home’ adverts and positions in the textile industry.

Liz on the Union

It is my experience that artist projects are notoriously difficult to manage. Even with the best of intentions, the negotiation of ideas is never an easy process. It can require a delicate balancing act to achieve a level of satisfaction in both ‘employer’ and ‘employee’.

My art practice is not just a job, it is a way of life. It is what I want to do and I feel strongly about how I work. Practical considerations such as pay and conditions can be complicated to negotiate largely due to how artists and their work is perceived by others in society. The creative industries are unregulated which leaves plenty of room for poor pay and conditions and abuse of artists rights, and yet it is within this system that artists choose to work.

For me, the Union represents a way for artists to support each other practically, emotionally and academically.

Liz on Prime

Part-Time has made me question my own ideas about what work is and what I want from my own practice. It has been a process of self-reflection and learning, where looking at my family history and the decisions I have made during my own working life, has strengthened my conviction and determination to continue fighting for my place in society as a self-employed artist.