7. Todmorden Open Studios 2018

Artists taking part in this year's Open Studios event have been asked to answer some questions about their work for the Tod Open Studios Facebook page. Here are my answers : What is a typical day/session like when you’re creating? The paintings in Todmorden Open Studios 2018 are inspired by a dream I had when...

6. Inspecting the hydrogen bomb

On 3rd September 2017 North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. Hydrogen bombs are considered much deadlier and more devastating compared to a standard nuclear bomb. If launched on any western city, thousands would die. This painting depicts North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspecting a hydrogen bomb and was inspired by the...

5. Accompany.

I have continued to work with the themes of thresholds and transition. Several feelings come up for me when I think about transition such as uncertainty, unknowableness, chaos and fear, but I also get a feeling of openness to something new and unexpected. Abstract art seems very suited as a medium for giving creative expression to...

4. Some meanings from the artist walk.

The proximity of life and death exist here in this drab, industrial, end of the world place with it’s ferry port to the Unknown, the nuclear power stations and stone-carved graves dating back to the 8th or 9th century. The impressions that came to me after the artist walk have had time to sink in...

3. An Artist Walk to the prehistoric stone-carved graves.

An Artist Walk is a development of the shamanic medicine walk described in post 1. Ways of Working, and it involves opening up awareness whist walking, allowing sensations to arise, and following intuition (roaming and drifting), whilst holding an intention. Another way of putting it could be Purposeful Meandering. It is similar to the practice of...

2. Jen Altman’s path-working journey to the Land Between.

I’ve met my crone friend on a couple more journeys since; she has each time urged me to slow down, take my time, let things unfold and on one occasion she said ‘Do only what gives you joy’ – which I’ve been working on ever since. Today she was a large dark grey rather formless...

1. Ways of working – how ideas gain momentum.

In these first posts I am going to describe the creative process leading to the production of artworks for “Accompany”, an exhibition scheduled for May and June 2017 at Creative with Nature Workshop and Gallery. The idea for this exhibition began with a semi-abstract painting called “To be Met” completed in January 2017. I made...