Working hard behind the scenes can lead many creatives to feel like they aren’t doing enough. This is something I have definitely been feeling this week, so in this post, I discuss how social media can make us feel inadequate, how juggling multiple jobs and roles can take it’s toll and why it’s important not to feel like you are missing out or not working hard enough, just because you aren’t shouting about it on instagram!

Finishing a painting or any work of art is not only a strenuous task, but also an incredible deliberation as to when it is actually complete. Once this monumental accomplishment has been overcome, decisions of presentation, installation and physical aesthetic are then put upon the shoulders of the artist. In the contemporary art world, there are no longer stipulations of presentation, framing or installation techniques, meaning this is totally open to the artists own choice. Here I discuss framing, presentation and breaking conventions in how paintings are presented.

Experiencing artworks in person is an integral part of my practice, it’s where I find inspiration, make new considerations in my own work and explore different approaches to themes and processes that interest me. Here I discuss the exhibitions I visited this week and how I have found them to influence how I think about my own work!

A busy few weeks in the studio has led to some reflection on the use of repetition within my work, and how compositions adapt as a piece develops. In this post I discuss how various artists use repetition or recreation in their practice and how I have found my work can develop and improve when at first a piece does not work.

Colour is a widely discussed topic in contemporary fine art, yet often in figurative works we are so focused on representation that we default to ‘traditional’ tones and colours. This week I have been considering the use of exaggerated or expressionist colour in figurative painting, discussing my own use, universality and the works of contemporary painters who play with colour.

Reflecting on the opening of GO FIGURE, a look at some of my favourite pieces and reflections on the variations and breadth of figurative arts.

As I embark upon my journey as an artist, I have found a few hurdles that I did not expect to decrease my motivation. In this blog post I discuss how a change in environment, rejection and lacking motivation can effect creativity, how I am trying to address these issues and why we all suffer from anxious feelings about the unknown or unplanned!

Our faces and bodies are so individual and unique and yet we often find that it is only our face that is considered to be our identity, and is used in portraiture to represent our character. So why is it that the figure is usually painted in relation to form, shape and structure, rather than as an embodiment of a person? How does objectification, the gaze and the presence of power structures relate to this, and how are contemporary painters challenging the notion of portraiture and figurative painting being separate endeavours?

With university done and dusted, creating my new studio is high up on my to do list! Here I discuss the importance of a studio space, the functions of an artists studio and contemporary painters whose studios I find inspiring, as well as plans for my own work space.

Here I share some of my favourite pieces from Nexus and a little bit about the brilliant artists I have been working alongside for the past three years.