I have been dabbling in bits and bobs. Revisiting some old work but I am definitely not at disciplined as I was in drawing daily. Life just takes over, but I value the positive impact it has on my headspace.

I have been exploring these small originals painted onto recycled clothes labels. I really like them, they are only small, but I texture up the surface and work I mixed media. They are mainly reflections of buildings spotted in Lisbon, Portugal and Italy. I am hoping to sell some of these mounted. However, some I love and cannot seem to think about selling. That is the problem with creating.

I am back to school in a few weeks and this year I am reintroducing the Sketchbook Circle for staff to take part in. You may well have heard of the wider UK Sketchbook Circle which is a fantastic opportunity to share books with two other artists. Those taking part can create any type of art, there is no set theme, just a conversation between you and the book and the other artist. I have ran a circle at school for two years when we came out of the lockdown and it was really positive; it supports wellbeing, build relationships, creates opportunities for staff to interact outside of teaching – there are no negatives. This is a good time to explore new ideas and being part of a group event is the motivation needed to create. This seems to be the missing factor in my own day to day work.

I will let you know how I get on. Wishing you a restful summer where you are.

A real effort has been made this month to prioritise my want to focus on artwork – it is so hard with working full-time. But we started with promise and for the first week in January created work daily. This was exciting but not sustainable and once I returned to work I was too tired to keep it going. I was pleased in particular with these three images:

And then with the drive to work faster and with greater minimalism I took to creating the Coventry Elephant with fewer tools, stamps, stickers and some pens. This was strangely successful and I have sold a few of these (see menu on this website if interested).

Finally, I bought myself a new printer to enable me to print some of my own work at a smaller scale. This took some getting used to but I have now experimented with enough papers and card to ensure the best quality print.

Let’s see what February brings.

2024 has been a weird year, there has been no time or headspace for art, it is the first thing to push aside when time is tight. I was committed to supporting someone get through their thing this year, I was the motivator and it has been hard work, but with that now complete I feel I might be able to start painting again.

(Doesn’t every year end with such optimism for the new year?)

I want to:

• explore more textural work
• work on reflections
• dabble in collage – my first love
• complete some gouache work because I love the matter finish of the paint
• crank up the tiktok vids again – (mainly because the time lapses were motivating and for a good two months in 2023 I created every day for 30mins-1hour)

I think the plan will be to start small, sketch, paint, play – no demands – just joy. Reminiscent of this sketchbook which is a collection of work where every mark was made with love.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGdrxsB8a/

Feel free to give me a follow.

I did have a small exhibition in January in Cov. The LTB, former Litten Tree Pub now Coventry Arts Centre, were looking for artists whose worked centred around buildings of Coventry. It was great to pull a selection of new and old paintings together, quite exciting all round. Met some lovely old faces on the opening night and was proud to share exhibition space with a great varied and talented group of artists. Thanks to Sitting Rooms of Culture for thinking of me when pulling this exhibition together. There remains a small group of four pieces on display now. (Ground floor on one of the pillars).

I lost my drive this year, zapped inspiration. I didn’t matter what I tried to get going – nothing has worked. I have completed some commissions only. It is hard to establish whether it is the art that keeps me relaxed or if being relaxed is the time to tap in to my creativity. Teaching has been quite demanding of time and tiring too. I have also been in conflict about what I want to make, and whether to tap back into some more of the textural potentially textile work that I love. In Lourdes, in a small antique shop I spotted some small embroideries in a little black case. These excited me. So who knows; I have the summer holidays now to create something and find my art mojo once again. Here’s hoping.

It has been a strange year, lots of things have interrupted my focus on art and In that time I have taken a slightly new approach to things. Over Christmas 2022 my husband took very poorly with COVID and was in hospital for a few weeks. He was back home at the end of January but never returned to work for some months and really there was not much time for painting. I did manage to complete the Launderette but that was it. In May I travelled to Lourdes once again on a pilgrimage and sketchbooked my way through a wonderful week – where time allowed (and there was not much). In July we lost a lovely Grandad kind of suddenly. We also had my youngest Childs graduation and a holiday. July was exhausting. In August I bought The Artists Way, A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, I followed this for a few weeks and though I was not completely dedicated, it certainly triggered something. In November. With new energies, I decided I needed to sort a new workspace on a small desk. I recognised that I had not been painting because it is such upheaval setting things up, traipsing equipment from room to room each night. Also, my expectations had become too rigid, I had lost some of my spontaneity and freedom in my work, not everything can be a painting to such detail. I also feel that as soon as you focus on what people might want to buy, you make different decisions regarding work. I started to time myself for some 30 minute challenges and using a range of collage materials, together with some stamps, acrylic pens and markers created smaller mixed media work focusing on ghost and derelict buildings. These have been successful in that I am daily creating, excited but outcomes and enjoying things again. Its doable, good fun, engaging and new (for me) – there are no limits. I have started to post time lapses onto TikTok and picked up a small following. I have rediscovered some of the textures I once had. Here are some photos. I feel I have done a bit of rediscovery, this is still a weekends and evening activity, and it has to be fun. If you’re on tiktok feel welcome to follow.