50 50 50 SALE coming up
26th March 2024
50+50+50 Sale coming:
I will be having an online sale from 6th April to 12th April, 2024.
The sale is of older work and I am selling 50 works for £50 each with 50% of proceeds going to charity. My chosen charities are Women for Women UK/International and Cancer Research. I will be going live on Instagram to launch the sale. Come and join me if you want to say hi and find out more about the works that are up for sale. The work will be available to buy via Direct Messaging on Instagram or Facebook or you can purchase from my website. Everything in the sale is £50 and there may be an additional postage cost depending on the size and weight of the work and/or where you want the painting delivered to. I will contact you if there is a postage charge so you will have the option of cancelling or proceeding.
MY last exhibition was in February 2024 and I enjoyed presenting my work in the lovely Whitespace Gallery in Edinburgh. I was lucky to have lots of helpers to put up my work and it was gratifying to be able to group and arrange the works in the ways I had imagined. It is generally a good idea to work on small compositions to train the eye and keep the art making fresh. If it works small, you can then build up in increments to larger pieces. I like working small as it gives me control and the result comes fast. Working larger is more challenging and I throw my whole body into it so it takes a lot of energy. What works for me is fast and furious with lots of reflection and standing back. I had a mixture of my small graphic works based on nautical flags and my larger seascapes on display. I remember as a young artist thinking “What can I make?” and it’s taken many years to realise that I make art that I like. I paint the things that move me or are personal to me. It’s interesting that by learning to be more myself, I have been making art that connects to other people and to the idea of being a small part of a something bigger. The everyday things around us that we cannot take for granted, the power of nature and the intimacy of our inner world of imagination, memory and emotion. Thanks to those buyers who connected with my work and made space in their homes for Night Wave, Delta and Kilo. Thanks also to the many people who bought my cards and to the new owner of Yellow Chair who liked the card so enquired about the availability of the original painting. Thank you for your ongoing support.
I completed the annual free Art2life workshop in February which always comes at the right time of year. Coming out of the winter months and hibernation mode, it’s a chance to build some creative energy fuelled by the enthusiastic and professional Art2life team. It reminded me about the fundamentals of image making like design, value and colour. I’ve been making small studies focussing on being more experimental with my colours. I’m continuing with the current series based on my sea views. As well as daily observations, I’ve been looking back at some older work to find the marks and shapes I like best. I’ve been experimenting in my sketchbooks. The sketchbooks are part of my daily practice and they help me think, process, develop and curate ideas. I draw, paint, collage, print and paste in my sketchbooks. They are a place where I can express myself without judgement, a place to be alone with myself to take notes, explore and process. I have realised recently that I need more alone time than I had anticipated. It is harder to find quiet spaces these days where you can walk, sit and think in peace and quiet. This is why I feel more pushed to spend my time alone in those few quiet places that remain.
In my studio, I have been making gesso, recycling canvases, experimenting with cloth collages and making space to work by having a clear out. It is hard for us to let go of things but when that stuff gets in the way of new ventures, it has to go. So often, we end up not getting rid of clutter because we trick ourselves that we have sorted it but really, we have just moved it around. Do I really need all that cardboard? Have I actually looked at any of those art books recently? How many bags of rags have I kept? Do I really need so many painting jumpers? Can I find the things I need on a regular basis or are they hidden under piles? Even just writing about the quantity of things makes me feel stressed! I definitely need a reset button. I am imagining a clear uncluttered space with my painting materials organised and accessible where I can lay out the big and small works in progress and work more easily and efficiently. Now that makes my breathing slow down!
What does the future hold for me? I will continue to work on themes focussing on more adventurous colour work and to build a body of work. I am excited about going on an art retreat in November with ARTfuel retreats. I will always be an artist making things but being creative means to be free to diversify and I have to keep my antenna up for new opportunities and ways to develop and grow. Perhaps a gallery will approach me to show my work, maybe I will have success applying to an Open Submissions exhibition. A fellow artist might ask me to collaborate with them. I might open a little online shop just for cards and prints. Maybe print on demand is the way to go or a commission or two. Perhaps an art fair or a market? I might go travelling with my sketch book and just soak up the experience gathering ideas to develop later. I will continue to record my art process on Facebook and Instagram but I might have a go at making videos on You tube, posting my art on Pinterest or actively participating in Threads. I’ve dipped my toe in to social media and I want it to be my servant and not my boss! I will continue to support and connect with other artists. I know I am looking for space in my life and in my art and I know that I have learned to trust my process and that just continuing to make the art I like is fulfilling and worthwhile. So what about you? I’ll leave you with a couple of tips to stay creative. Find the time to be in the moment. Find your spot. Go to the spot and really look at what is in front of you. What is the same? What is different? I go to the end of the pier in the harbour and look out to sea. It sets me up for the day ahead. You can even go a bit further and commit to a 5-minute drawing a day. Just set the timer and draw what is in front of you. Don’t judge, just let it be. It’s not about making a masterpiece, it’s about giving yourself time to observe and to be in the moment. All those five minutes add up. At the end of the week, you will have 7 little sketches to look at. You can colour them in or cut them up or just let them remind you of a peaceful moment.
I will be having an online sale from 6th April to 12th April, 2024.
The sale is of older work and I am selling 50 works for £50 each with 50% of proceeds going to charity. My chosen charities are Women for Women UK/International and Cancer Research. I will be going live on Instagram to launch the sale. Come and join me if you want to say hi and find out more about the works that are up for sale. The work will be available to buy via Direct Messaging on Instagram or Facebook or you can purchase from my website. Everything in the sale is £50 and there may be an additional postage cost depending on the size and weight of the work and/or where you want the painting delivered to. I will contact you if there is a postage charge so you will have the option of cancelling or proceeding.
MY last exhibition was in February 2024 and I enjoyed presenting my work in the lovely Whitespace Gallery in Edinburgh. I was lucky to have lots of helpers to put up my work and it was gratifying to be able to group and arrange the works in the ways I had imagined. It is generally a good idea to work on small compositions to train the eye and keep the art making fresh. If it works small, you can then build up in increments to larger pieces. I like working small as it gives me control and the result comes fast. Working larger is more challenging and I throw my whole body into it so it takes a lot of energy. What works for me is fast and furious with lots of reflection and standing back. I had a mixture of my small graphic works based on nautical flags and my larger seascapes on display. I remember as a young artist thinking “What can I make?” and it’s taken many years to realise that I make art that I like. I paint the things that move me or are personal to me. It’s interesting that by learning to be more myself, I have been making art that connects to other people and to the idea of being a small part of a something bigger. The everyday things around us that we cannot take for granted, the power of nature and the intimacy of our inner world of imagination, memory and emotion. Thanks to those buyers who connected with my work and made space in their homes for Night Wave, Delta and Kilo. Thanks also to the many people who bought my cards and to the new owner of Yellow Chair who liked the card so enquired about the availability of the original painting. Thank you for your ongoing support.
I completed the annual free Art2life workshop in February which always comes at the right time of year. Coming out of the winter months and hibernation mode, it’s a chance to build some creative energy fuelled by the enthusiastic and professional Art2life team. It reminded me about the fundamentals of image making like design, value and colour. I’ve been making small studies focussing on being more experimental with my colours. I’m continuing with the current series based on my sea views. As well as daily observations, I’ve been looking back at some older work to find the marks and shapes I like best. I’ve been experimenting in my sketchbooks. The sketchbooks are part of my daily practice and they help me think, process, develop and curate ideas. I draw, paint, collage, print and paste in my sketchbooks. They are a place where I can express myself without judgement, a place to be alone with myself to take notes, explore and process. I have realised recently that I need more alone time than I had anticipated. It is harder to find quiet spaces these days where you can walk, sit and think in peace and quiet. This is why I feel more pushed to spend my time alone in those few quiet places that remain.
In my studio, I have been making gesso, recycling canvases, experimenting with cloth collages and making space to work by having a clear out. It is hard for us to let go of things but when that stuff gets in the way of new ventures, it has to go. So often, we end up not getting rid of clutter because we trick ourselves that we have sorted it but really, we have just moved it around. Do I really need all that cardboard? Have I actually looked at any of those art books recently? How many bags of rags have I kept? Do I really need so many painting jumpers? Can I find the things I need on a regular basis or are they hidden under piles? Even just writing about the quantity of things makes me feel stressed! I definitely need a reset button. I am imagining a clear uncluttered space with my painting materials organised and accessible where I can lay out the big and small works in progress and work more easily and efficiently. Now that makes my breathing slow down!
What does the future hold for me? I will continue to work on themes focussing on more adventurous colour work and to build a body of work. I am excited about going on an art retreat in November with ARTfuel retreats. I will always be an artist making things but being creative means to be free to diversify and I have to keep my antenna up for new opportunities and ways to develop and grow. Perhaps a gallery will approach me to show my work, maybe I will have success applying to an Open Submissions exhibition. A fellow artist might ask me to collaborate with them. I might open a little online shop just for cards and prints. Maybe print on demand is the way to go or a commission or two. Perhaps an art fair or a market? I might go travelling with my sketch book and just soak up the experience gathering ideas to develop later. I will continue to record my art process on Facebook and Instagram but I might have a go at making videos on You tube, posting my art on Pinterest or actively participating in Threads. I’ve dipped my toe in to social media and I want it to be my servant and not my boss! I will continue to support and connect with other artists. I know I am looking for space in my life and in my art and I know that I have learned to trust my process and that just continuing to make the art I like is fulfilling and worthwhile. So what about you? I’ll leave you with a couple of tips to stay creative. Find the time to be in the moment. Find your spot. Go to the spot and really look at what is in front of you. What is the same? What is different? I go to the end of the pier in the harbour and look out to sea. It sets me up for the day ahead. You can even go a bit further and commit to a 5-minute drawing a day. Just set the timer and draw what is in front of you. Don’t judge, just let it be. It’s not about making a masterpiece, it’s about giving yourself time to observe and to be in the moment. All those five minutes add up. At the end of the week, you will have 7 little sketches to look at. You can colour them in or cut them up or just let them remind you of a peaceful moment.