Letter to a Young Artist
What would you say if you were to write a letter to a young artist (specifically, the younger you)? I loved this question in the interview with Mary from Wonky Wheel of Finchingfield. The article introduces the Uncontained exhibition featuring my floral paintings and Stephie…
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….
Cleaning Used Acrylic Painting Water
Cleaning used acrylic painting water is not something I had to think about much while I was predominantly using watercolour. I’ve used acrylics and oils over the years from time to time, but only to satisfy my ‘how does this work’ curiosity. That meant the…
Finding your inner artist
Painting Elements of Nature
In preparation for my workshop, Painting Elements of Nature, I’ve been going through my photographs to find some reference images. And I’ve got some fantastic pictures I want to share with you. What do I mean when I talk about painting elements of nature? There’s…
When a painting goes wrong
When a painting goes wrong, decisions have to be made. If we expect that every time we put brush to paper we will produce a masterpiece, we are going to be disappointed. The ratio of good paintings to sheets of paper used is surprisingly low. Between…
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…