Waiting for scan results has me creatively blocked. In fact I don’t seem to be able to settle to much of anything at the moment – even tasks that have a hard and important deadline – like submitting accounts to Companies House! I want to be in the studio but there’s no sense of focus …
The world really doesn’t need another mediocre painting, right? Shouldn’t I just get a ‘proper’ job and not be such a financial burden on my partner? I have been asked these rather blunt, and less than kind questions, on more than one occasion. I have also asked them of myself. So why art, and why …
An intention can offer a place to begin and can help guide decisions along the way, but there usually comes a time when a painting starts to take on a life of its own, when it seems to be asking for moves that are counter to the original intention. At that point it is important …
Last week I had the privilege of watching three people fall in love. I was stewarding at a group exhibition. The walls and plinths were covered with works from more than eighty artists at different stages of their creative journeys. In the morning two women who were clearly close friends came into the gallery. They …
“Be more considered.” “Oh, just let rip!” The two competing impulses that can result in creative dithering, if not complete paralysis. Artists are often advised to create work that is recognizably theirs. Galleries love consistency – it makes the job of selling your work easier, apparently. Collectors also prefer it if you keep your work …
Read more “TO PLAN OR NOT TO PLAN… harnessing the creative impulse”
Previously, I wrote that anyone can be an artist if they want it enough. I know this to be true because, for more than a decade, I had the privilege of helping some inspirational groups of home-ed students to explore their creativity. Typically, these young people had been brought to my workshops by a parent …
Shall we start by opening that beautiful can of worms? Yes, anyone can be an artist, if they want it enough. But, will they be a good artist? Well, define good. I tend to agree with Brian Rutenberg – if an artist’s work is still being looked at, bought and sold, twenty years after its …
