The last three years have been a crazy, creative blur, and with only days to go until I finish my degree and exhibit my most recent works, I could not be more proud and excited! Here I discuss what university has meant to me, the key themes that have influence my practice over the last 12 months, and how important my degree has been to the development of my artistic practice, and my life.

So many things can influence the way we interpret a painting, from the title it is given to our pre-existing knowledge of the artist. As well as this, our psychological programming can cause us to find pattern and meaning in the shapes, tones and patterns of an abstract or expressionist painting.

With only a matter of weeks to go until my biggest exhibition to date, I am considering the organisation of my degree show as well as my plans for the future of my career!

When considering the body within contemporary painting, we must of course look back on historical representations of the figure such as the classical, Renaissance or Greek nude. Here I discuss how representation of the body has changed from these times to the contemporary painting era and explore how my own work can be inspired by classical nude paintings.

As my practice has developed towards an investigation of contextualising the female nude and the reaction of the viewership of the painter nude, the relationship between pornography and art has become of great interest to me. Here I discuss if there is a distinction between the two genres and also how notions of context and medium can effect the viewer/subject/painter relationship.

This week I was lucky enough to be part of an event championing body positivity and diversity within the mass media. Here you can see some pictures and watch my talk about my work and the importance of how we as a society, view and relate to the body and its representation.

In any artists practice there can be aspects that are daunting or difficult to approach, here I discuss the techniques I have used this week to get back into painting, throw a spanner in the works and get out of my comfort zone. I also address how to approach unresolved paintings and why it’s good to experiment, even when you have an established style, an approaching deadline or a set plan!

The artists’ sketchbook is often a private and personal item, but - particularly during university - it is also an intrinsic device to document development, note ideas and work on plans for paintings! This weeks blog post gives you a unique look inside the pages of my current sketchbooks, showing how I reflect on my work, research and analyse other artists’ practice and create initial sketches and designs.

As a female artist concerned with the human body in the contemporary patriarchy we exist in, the relevance of viewing and painting other women is not only interesting in terms of the perspective of the painter, but also intriguing as to how this painter-subject relationship is viewed. Here I discuss whether the male gaze can really be reversed, why women painting women is important, and how societal relationships to the body are overwhelmingly deep.

With my graduation approaching, imminent deadlines and the daunting prospect of life as a ‘proper’ artist looming, here I discuss how I have approached university deadlines, how to manage procrastination and how my time as a student has shaped who I am as an artist.