Grow Your Own Art

I've a whole new program of workshops planned for 2015, the first of which is on Saturday 27th June  and is called 'Grow Your Own Art'. It is the first of a year of workshops connected to the seasons. My work is inspired by the seasons and I feel a strong connection to the seasons. Last year I became disconnected. I suffered a period of creative block. As I gained success with selling my work I had less time for the areas of life that connect me to my soul, for gardening, for walking in nature. There was a lot of doing and not a lot of being. The journey back to myself has seen me falling in love with all those activities that I had forgotten about, or prevented myself from pursuing in the busyness of life. So I have fallen in love again with yoga, with pursuing my spirituality. I have taken the time to reconnect with nature, to embrace it, seek out the abundance of life. And oh, that nourishment has been good for me! As I have filled up on inspiration there has been a gentle sing song from within as new ideas sing forth. I'm currently translating that creative song into new work to show later in the year.

I have discovered that creativity cannot be lived in a 9-5 format. It can't be a 'job' with a clock in and out time. It is a calling from the soul. And answering your soul when you are juggling life can be hard.  In my new workshops I want to share my process for connecting to yourself and your creativity. I want to share my techniques and help you nurture your own visual language and confidence on your creative journey.

The first of these workshops will be inspired by growth. 'Grow Your Own Art' is about growing your creative confidence and expressing that in a collage that is an affirmation of life. You'll create a collaged artwork inspired by summer and the fervent energy of nature.

This workshop is held in Long Eaton, just off junction 25 of the M1. Easily accessible by train or bus. More information on my workshop programme for 2015 is here.

Creative nourishment - May

I treated myself to two days in London so I could find nourishment for the ideas in my head. As spring has advanced, the murmurings of my winter mind are starting to find a voice. At the forefront of these ideas are a wish to embrace colour. With that is a return to a love of folk art and a symbolic expression of the soul. My soul.

I have found my way back in to nature, planting my garden and meandering in the woods. My work has often included trees and it is to trees I am returning for inspiration. At the weekend I was fortunate to visit the Weleda gardens. It was a beautiful fresh spring day and I could feel the sap rising in the trees there, and in myself. It is that connection between us and the trees, the 'tree of life' that is a symbol of many cultures, that I am exploring in my new work.

So, with those ideas in my mind I headed to the Victoria & Albert Museum to explore their collection. I've been visiting the museum since childhood and there is magic in those rooms of beautifully crafted artefacts.

I spent hours drawing from the collections, recording decorative details and symbols of trees and growth and shared a connection with those makers who had drawn from our shared symbolic language. 

Whilst there I had the opportunity to attend the Alexander McQueen retrospective. Not usually drawn to fashion couture, this exhibition blew me away. The creation of the exquisite and the totality of McQueens creative vision was hugely inspiring. It was beautifully curated, sensory exhibition. What I take from the exhibition is to honour the urge to create and to nurture my creativity and creative voice.

So back in the studio this week, I'm working on vision boards and bringing together the threads of ideas so I can start some new work.

If you would like to share a day with me creating with symbols to represent the universal themes of growth and life, I'm running a 'Grow your own art' workshop on Saturday 27th June in Long Eaton near Nottingham. It will be about finding ways to move forward on your creative journey and you will create your own work of art that symbolises growth. I'm taking bookings now.