All posts tagged: abstract

Divergent | Art is a process of discovery

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I called this piece Divergent, because the meaning of the word resonated with how I felt when I created it: ‘tending to be different or develop in different directions.‘ This piece was different for me, because as a lover of bright and bold colours, I literally had to restrain my hand from reaching for MORE COLOURS DAMMIT I LOVE THEM ALL!! My initial thoughts were that this was more of an exercise in self control than the creation of something I’d be proud of. I’m pleased to say I surprised myself. I’m not usually one for a subtle colour pallet, instead opting for colours that are bright and ‘happy’. However this piece has taught me that sometimes less is more! I’m actually very pleased with the tranquillity and calm of this painting, which in turn makes me feel happy to look at, and I hope you feel the same. I learn something new with every painting. Art really is a never ending journey of self discovery, and I want to keep on skipping, running, ambling, …

Control the unicorn inside your head

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Finding your flow as an artist is an ever evolving journey. It’s like chasing sunbeams dancing off walls. You can touch them, watch the light reflect off your skin, magical and illuminating. It’s inspiring, distracting, frustrating and like drowning in oxygen all at the same time. There’s a whole wealth of things to create, and your heart wants to express them in so many ways. The trick to being a successful artist and developing your ‘style’ is learning to control the distracted child, entranced by shiny things, trying to play with them all. It’s something I’m still learning, evolving and trying to control. After several years of battling I’m starting to feel like I have a bit more of a grip on the reigns, to lead this frigging art unicorn inside my mind to the place it needs to go. I’m working on a new collection, inspired by and building on a recent 30 day painting challenge I completed. 🦄🎨❤️ You can watch this here: 30 Day Painting Challenge – YouTube

Find your direction

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I’ve literally struggled for YEARS to find a consistent theme to keep in my work. I know I like bright colours and that my work leans towards contemporary impressionism, but to be honest that is about it. The rest of the time I was like a child in a sweet shop running around with glee and distraction by all the bloody beautiful things to paint. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only artist to wrestle with this struggle. Don’t get me wrong, I still sell my work, take commissions, and have solo exhibitions and I’m very happy with the journey I’m on. But I’m even happier to say I think that finally I’m not just skipping along a path I want to follow anymore, but running with purpose. I think this piece is a turning point for me, I’ve never enjoyed painting a piece more and felt so much enthusiasm to create more. I’ve named it Briony, after my sister a she continues to inspire me with her strength and resilience of character after a …

Just breathe

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Sometimes you just need to step back from a painting for a while, and come back to it with a fresh wave of inspiration.  I picked this painting back up after a few months and it added a new lease of life ☺ It’s a playful and slightly nutty exploration of my love of dogs. They make me very happy!

Why Art Is Like Magic

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There is nothing quite like the joy of learning to paint and finding out all the little ‘tricks’ that improve your artwork.  As a self taught artist, who first really began painting just over a year ago, I am still in the process of discovering effective techniques- and I really do mean DISCOVERING.  There is an absolute wealth of information available in books, magazines, and on-line for anyone who wants to learn a thing or two about the ‘proper way’ of painting.  I could have spent hours and hours reading some of these sources of information in great detail before I embarked on my journey of discovering how to paint, but I didn’t.  I found that the more I read, the more I became overwhelmed with information and afraid that I would do it wrong.  As a general rule,  I just don’t believe that something done for enjoyment should be tainted by any sort of anxiety or fear of failure-where is the joy in that?  So I threw caution to the wind and started to paint, and despite having NO idea what I was doing, …