Urban Dweller (detail) 2024. Collage of a digital print of a collage.
Collage has always been my default artistic practice. Yet last year I abandoned it as if I had ‘grown out of it’. I had quite forgotten the joy of tearing up paper and collaging pieces together. Now I have discovered a new inspiration: collaging collages.
Read MoreThere are so many things you could make, it can be hard to know where to start. I’ve been making blank notebooks using up old prints that I folded to become the little book covers. Creating these notebooks has put me back into ‘maker mode’. What will go inside them? The possibilities are endless.
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Lifting black clouds - WIP. Red paper pulp, old etching, black ink & white conti pencil
No inspiration, lots of procrastination. Endless scrolling on social media. It can feel like the black cloud of creative depression will never lift. Waiting for that day to come is an act of faith.
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Walking through Okunoin, the cemetery in Koyasan, Japan.
Writing for divine guidance is what author Julia Cameron describes as the fourth essential artists’ tool. Yet I needed to travel to Japan to fully appreciate why going on an Artist Date (the third essential artists’ tool) is so important and why I’ll also be scheduling in dates with angels as part of my artistic practice.
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Trying to turn the Rokkaku-Kyozo wheel at Kongobuji Head Temple, Koyasan, Japan
How do you pull yourself out of artistic depression? I knew I had to take myself away. To burn off all resistance and confront my fear. Two weeks in Japan. Yet every morning I’d wake up and wonder why I was putting myself through this test. Was it worth it?
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How do you make visible the invisible? On the ‘art island’ of Naoshima in Japan, artists have found inspiring ways to reframe the way you perceive time and its passing. It inspires me to slow down as well.
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What happens when you bury paper in the snow? It’s probably going to fall apart. But an ancient practice of burying the raw material fibres of washi paper in the snow renders the paper it makes beautifully white. It’s called snow bleaching.
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Your artistic children do not belong to you. They are life’s longing for self expression. Letting go of your art creations is important if they are to find new homes. Yet you can be full of anxiety - will they be loved by others as you love them yourself?
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My artwork Stitched Up on the front of the Paper: All Stitched Up catalogue
I have a collection of sewing and knitting patterns inherited from my mother, grandmother and great aunts. Their stories needed to be told. using the tools and materials of their time, I chose to stitch a narrative of resilience and adaption, pulling the threads of the past into our present time of climate upheaval.
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Invitation to my upcoming exhibition
What makes a successful art exhibition? Gallerists can provide a special bridge between an artist’s work and its audience, advocating for the artwork on the artist’s behalf. They handle the installation, marketing and selling of the art, leaving the artist free to talk to their audience and enjoy the ‘buzz’ of the exhibition opening.
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