Lessons from the Chelsea Flower Show
Yesterday, I expected to learn gardening lessons from the Chelsea Flower Show as I embarked on a captivating journey through its flowers and trees. Gardening is one of my passions. Some days I’m torn: turn left to the new greenhouse, or right to my deliciously…
Testing My Handmade Paints
In 2015 I made my own watercolour paints. I do these sort of things out of sheer curiosity. I wanted to know how they were made in order to learn first hand, what makes watercolour work. Then I had to start the process of testing…
Making watercolour paint
When I started painting, I never would have imagined I would be tempted into making watercolour paint. It all started with a visit to an art shop in Venice where the enticing rainbow display of pigments in the window tempted me inside. Just look…
Why artists create
There are two ways to think about the question of why artists create: What leads someone to pick up a brush and get started? What drives someone to keep creating artwork? There are different reasons for everyone. Here’s what it is for me: Why artists…
How limits improve your painting
It may seem contradictory to say that limits improve your painting. But in my experience, it is a good learning tactic that has worked for me. Limits make you stretch in different ways. For obvious reasons, we call it thinking inside the box. With limits,…
Nine tips for an Artists websites that works
Artists websites are the cause of a lot of soul-searching and stress for many, but they don’t need to be. Here is a guide on how to work out whether you want a website and how you should use it. Should you have a website…
Creative Loosening-up Exercises
I always start my watercolour tutoring sessions with some creative loosening-up exercises. I did just that yesterday during the first workshop of the year. It was even more valuable than usual, given that we had all been without access to in-person workshops for so long….
Finding your inner artist
Have you ever thought about finding your inner artist? Last month I was honoured to guest blog for Instinctive Living. Here is the post, as Pablo Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”…
Painting Together
When can we start painting together again? Online workshops have been wonderful. There has been so much generosity from artists who have created free content that our lockdown period has certainly not been boring. But it has been a long haul. It feels like so long…
Finding Your Artistic Voice
We hear a lot about artists finding an artistic voice. For a long time, I thought that was just a distinctive style, but it’s so much more than that. Firstly, creating art is a process, not just a result. If your work stops developing, or…