The house I grew up in was always messy. So much so that my standard, default greeting when inviting people in was, ‘Sorry about the mess’, and one friend even called it ‘The Messy House’ (though to be fair the house he lived in was the other end of the tidy spectrum). This was the …
The answer is a resounding yes- with a few adjustments. We’re fast coming upon the 6 week summer holidays in the UK, when family time and childcare will take up much more of my time. Although I love not having the pressure to do much, I also really enjoy making artwork and don’t want to …
Can I Still Make Art When I’m Caring for Others (Or Myself)? Read More »
Recently, a second visit to Jim Ede’s house in Cambridge, ‘Kettle’s Yard’, got me thinking about how we live with art and it’s place in our everyday worlds. Kettle Yard is Jim’s masterpiece. A curator, collector, lecturer and author, Jim Ede knew he would never make great art. But he did know how to put …
My weekend at Printfest (the annual print fair in Ulverston, Cumbria) got me thinking about how and why people buy art. Many of my sales during the weekend came from repeat buyers and those who had saved up to come to Printfest as a highlight in their year. I also met lots of Instagram followers …
Even a week after my artistic retreat, I didn’t feel the need or want to speak as much. I felt quiet. It was a good feeling. And retreat is certainly the word- I backed away from people. Didn’t talk. No need to explain anything. I didn’t need other people to feel good, justified in my …
I’ve been on a short ‘artistic retreat’- that’s what I’m calling it anyway- in Skye. I’ve always been attracted to the edge places, and though the Hebrideans and Orkadians would scoff, Skye seemed pretty far flung to me. And yes, I suppose I was searching for something ‘spiritual’, ‘divine’. Out of the ordinary. Something deeper …
There is a song by Karine Polwart, the Scottish folk singer songwriter, about Thrift, the little pink flower that clings to the edges of our land. One of the lyrics goes, ‘Thrift’s gift is, Thrift’s grace is, to thrive in harsh places, And show us hardship is a limit not a failing’ I had the good luck …
I always remember the first time someone bought one of my pieces and said ‘that will look great on my gallery wall’. It’s not a new idea- one of my favourite things about going to my grandmothers house was the slow walk down the stairs, stopping frequently to look at her collection of prints, drawings …
This month I’ve watched two beautiful documentary films about artists – ‘Tish’, about the late Tish Murtha, documentary photographer, and ‘Amselm’, Wim Wenders film on Anselm Kiefer (who needs no introduction!). Both films were wildly different and about wildly different people, but interestingly one thread wove it’s way through them both: which was the artists …
I’ve always thought of artist’s studios as places of magic- safe and sacred. The way I often think of churches and some kitchens. I always remember going to an exhibition in the Pompidou Centre in Paris in the late ’90s where Brancusi’s studio had been meticulously recreated in the gallery and it thrilled me. Likewise …