arts practice
Two overprinted cyanotype images of Moonah trees, still not quite ‘perfect’.
How do you connect with your creative self? Sometimes it can feel like you’re always chasing elusive butterflies, trying to make works that you love and that resonate. Spending time regularly with your materials means ideas are more likely to suggest themselves. But it might take stubborn doggedness to keep going.
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Daily collages made during a trip to New York in 2013. Pennsylvania Love and Imagine MoMA, October 2013.
Creative minds often get bored doing the same thing repetitively. Yet there is comfort in repetition, where tasks are so ingrained they become almost automatic. I’ve discovered that art and exercise are good companions; both can build skills and confidence through incremental, repetitive action taking.
Read MoreWhen you are so busy trying to prove yourself to the world at large (or maybe yourself) you can feel like you have to keep pushing yourself, striving all the time to reach more and more milestones. It’s exhausting. That’s where pretending can lead to practising. It’s all in the framing.
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Balancing Act (detail) digital collage 2023
When creativity is flowing you feel alive and vital. But there are fallow periods in any artist’s life, and that is when you need to nurture yourself and build a scaffolding to support you as you revitalise your artistic practice.
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Other People’s Letters. Paper collage 10 x 10cm 2022
I am attracted to text as art. Graffiti, asemic writing, Cyrillic script, Asian calligraphy and Pitmans shorthand. A hidden language that whispers of poetry and love. Success in art takes time and a whole lot of practice. It is the only thing that stands between you and your success.
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A detail of one of my January 2022 10 x 10 cm map collages
I’ve written many blogposts about having a daily practice, for experimentation, documentation and accountability. What I now realise is that it is also an important tool for reviewing your own artistic development.
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Rembrandt van Rijn, The Night Watch 1642
How do you promote your art? Tell a story. When the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam was reopening after 10 years of renovations, a flashmob were hired to stage a recreation of the museum’s famous painting, Rembrandt’s The Night Watch. Connect stories to your art and you will never be lost for what to say or how to explain what you do and why you do it.
Read MoreWhen the world went into lockdown and my travel plans were cancelled, I brought the world to me. The view outside my window became a portal into the chaotic world outside and my daily lives on social media helped inspire others to keep creating through crisis. I learnt that home can be the best source of inspiration.
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How a collection of rocks inspired a 5 year arts project and my friend became a writer…
How a collection of rocks became a 5 year arts project and a painter found her way to write her family’s immigrant story by exploring the rock, Granite. Sometimes stories and artworks need a long time to ferment before they are ready to emerge into the world.
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The Bound Heart (detail of artist book) 2013
As artists and creatives, it is very easy to get dis-couraged.. We need courage to tackle the big (and small) issues which face us daily and the heart to keep going despite the obstacles we encounter.
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