Shallow is as Shallow Does
I was recently fortunate enough to be able to present one of my images, “Like Ghosts from an Enchanter Fleeing”, to a small group of art experts.
Understandably I was rather apprehensive, and rather excited at the same time. I love to talk about my work and the opportunity to get advice and feedback is always something I look forward to, whether it’s from experts or not.
What this Artist learned from the 2012 Olympics
Sometimes creating a career doing what you love can feel almost Olympian.
The tears, the triumphs, the moments of joy and the setbacks. The hardest work you’ll ever know, for just the possibility of making a living doing something meaningful.
If, like me, you’re an aspiring artist, working hard to build your audience, sell your work and find galleries to represent you, I think there is much to learn from those who tirelessly and anonymously make huge sacrifices to get to the top of their game.
The Power of a Single Moment
The big story matters. It absolutely matters. But the moment has a power that the big story lacks. Its simplicity gives it extraordinary communicative power. The moment stays with us, as the big story falls away. Moments are signposts. Whether it’s a sudden rush of clarity that changes the course of your life, or simply an experience that brings you closer to understanding another human being.
Not all those who wander are lost
I wasn’t always an artist and I sometimes feel like this is both a blessing and a curse. There’s a lot of pressure on us as artists to have a coherent and communicable vision for our work, to have meticulously planned out and thought about every element.
Coming from a different background perhaps makes me more willing to say that I don’t plan everything in my shoots. I start with a far more loose idea about the emotion or the mood I want to create and I find my way organically by playing with different ideas and different shapes and colours. Perhaps this is why I take self portraits. I’m a patient model for myself, allowing the process to evolve naturally, as it usually does.
Podcast Interview with the Art Markets
I was recently interviewed by the organisers of "The Art Market," a fantastic event held over two weekends in June and November at the Holmfirth Indoor Market. To take a look at their upcoming events click here. Each weekend features 100 artists, craftspeople and...
The Wisdom of Lady Gaga and why I’m an unpopular guest at cocktail parties
We have a fundamental belief that creative people are different. They are born with a natural ability to paint and draw, or maybe sing and dance. They have god given fashion sense and manage to always look cool while wearing something that would make the rest of us look like the lady who collects plastic bags in the park. They make their own clothes, dye their own hair and furnish their houses with vintage flea market finds transformed into unique home decor. They are cooler than you or I will ever be.
We also believe that all of this comes naturally to them. They are moved to express their creativity in any and every way because they can’t not do it. To quote Lady Gaga, they are “born this way.” And thank goodness they are. Because if they weren’t, each of us would have to wonder if we could be creative too. Each of us would have to wonder if we could be the creator of our own lives, our own experiences, our own homes, our own destiny. This belief that artists are fundamentally different to you and I is such an unhelpful viewpoint. It keeps people stuck and it keeps them small and I want to put an end to it.
Twenty Four: Four
In late 2011 I entered a competition run by Stoli Vodka to find four people to star in a short film about creativity in the UK. I was a brand new artist at the time, having just finished my course at the London College of Communication four months earlier. I had begun...
Here be Dragons
You know how I love myths and legends and as today is St George’s Day, I’m going to talk about slaying dragons. The metaphorical kind, not that that makes them any less terrifying. There are many versions of the story of St George and the Dragon but here’s the story I...
Twenty Four: Four
Ok, I know I've been banging on about this for weeks now but, seriously guys....I'm in a film!!!!!!!! How cool is that? Those of you who've been following my work for a while will already know that in November I applied for a competition run by Stolichnaya Vodka. They...
How a photograph can change a life
When I finally quit my job in the City in 2010, it was after two years of soul searching. Two years of wondering what was wrong with me that I couldn’t settle in this job that provided me with all the material things I wanted. Two years of wondering if I was just...