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The Turner Prize & the Case for Curiosity
Nnena Kalu wins Turner Prize 2025 This year's Turner Prize has been awarded to Glasgow-born, London-based Nnena Kalu . The following day during a radio discussion one of the interviewees dismissed Kalu's skill and artworks. I was rather prickled by this response and how casually Kali's achievement and art was flattened. Seascape . Mixed media, 2025. Eva Lane Of course, I accept that not everyone will like everything, that’s simply human nature. I don’t like liver, The Trait
Dec 19, 20253 min read


Textiles of Comfort
Winter approaches and with the shorter days and darker evenings, it's time to crack on with my crochet. I come from a family of makers, stitchers, knitters & crocheters. My early education didn't include museum & gallery visits, in fact I was 23 before I went into an art gallery. But I did learn to sew, crochet, knit & handle most woodworking tools by the time I was 13! Creativity comes in many forms & it's fantastic to see Fibre Art gathering popularity, not least because i
Nov 22, 20253 min read


Exhibition Notes - Louise Bourgeois 1911-2010: Nature Study
What follows are my notes on a guided tour of an exhibition of Louise Bourgeois' work at Compton Verney, 6th September 2024. Exhibition Notes are my way of recording and reflecting on exhibitions I've visited. They aren't polished by any means, but act as an aide-memoire, with photographs and comments, as well as links to the best rabbit holes I've enjoyed exploring. So grab a cuppa, sit back and be inspired. Louise Bourgeois' (LB) fraught and complex relationship with both p
Nov 12, 20255 min read


Building Visual Vocabulary
As we draw our brain, informed by the eyes seeks a label of recognition- a shape, a form, a colour. Then we file the labels, according to experience into neat preconceived expectations. We predict the sea and sky is blue and clouds white. This is what life has taught us. Yet in doing so we limit our growth and art. To truly observe is to activate the muscle of dissociation. The challenge is to approach what we draw with curiosity, as if never encountered before. In mark makin
Nov 12, 20252 min read


Six Creative Tips
Here are six tips I use to inspire and develop my work..... Tip 1 - Look for colour combinations around me. I seek out the colours I'm...
Oct 2, 20253 min read


Exhibition Notes - Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting
August 2025 National Portrait Gallery London Exhibition Notes are my way of recording and reflecting on exhibitions I've visited. They...
Sep 17, 20254 min read


Painting Conversations- with Emily Ball
Life's been a little manic lately, so it's been kitchen table creating when I can't find much studio time. So this mark making exercise...
Jul 24, 20251 min read


If you were a painting, which one would you be?
If your character or aspiration, or life even could be captured in a painting, which one would it be? I knew instantly which painting I...
Jul 22, 20253 min read


Sometimes the Landscape is just TOO Big!!
My Go To Place! Do you ever get that feeling? That the landscape is just too big, too vast and expansive to possibly capture in a...
Apr 29, 20254 min read


Finding my Palette
Before beginning a new series of work I'll spend time creating a colour palette that fits with what I've observed in the landscape....
Mar 17, 20253 min read


Graham Sutherland & His Sketchbooks
'I have a horror- once lost in work, of being disturbed. If I could barricade myself within a ring of rocks I would be pleased! But I can...
Mar 14, 20253 min read


Tips to Calm a Busy Composition
I have never watched Landscape Artist of the Year , which just kicked off again here in the UK, but it got me thinking about the pressure...
Mar 14, 20252 min read


Hew Locke: What Have We Here?
The British Museum, London October 17th 2024 - 9th February 2025 Notes from an Exhibition - We Have Lots of Loot!!! The British Museum...
Feb 2, 20252 min read


What we can learn from Rabbie Burns?
Yesterday, January 25th we celebrated Burns night! Hard! I hosted, friends gathered and we spent the joyful evening sharing the usual...
Jan 29, 20253 min read


Are You a Jack of All Trades?
How many projects are you juggling right now? At the moment, I'm working on small woven pieces, papier-mâché sculptures, several crochet...
Dec 20, 20245 min read


12 things worth sharing this November
If you receive my newsletter you'll know I've been gathering creative inspiration like a demon over the last few months. There's so much...
Nov 17, 20242 min read


Exhibition Notes - Unravel
Unravel - The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art - Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam September 24 I learn so much from examining other...
Sep 18, 20245 min read


My Sketching Practice - it's a 360 thing!
Exactitude is not truth - Henri Matisse In my June newsletter I wrote about the sketching materials I take out with me when I'm out in...
Aug 2, 20243 min read


My Sketching Supplies
Link in some pics and insta posts. I have been immersed in sketching landscapes over the last few months, in preparation for my...
Aug 1, 20243 min read


Welcome to North Worcestershire Art Trail August 23-26 2024
This year, as Worcestershire Open Studios takes a break, some of Clent Village artists and members of the North Worcs Artist Collective...
Jul 8, 20241 min read
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