Will re-organising my studio also reboot my creative thinking?
I’m really hoping that by reorganizing my studio it will also reboot my creative thinking. Why? Well because I feel as if I’ve been in a cozy rut for too long. Within my studio space I’m cosseted by my favourite work, all created over the past ten or so years....
Exploring dissonance
For the past few months I’ve been thinking about the ways in which dissonance is an underlying factor in my work. I’m particularly drawn to the notion of tension between disparate materials and processes and how their interaction can determine the direction the work...
Dealing with ‘the void’
Recently I read a Facebook post by an artist, an older woman, where she writes of her despair when faced with what she calls ‘the void’, where she feels she ‘has no sense of skill to fall back on, no accumulated sense of accomplishment’.[1] Writers would call it the...
Present – yet unseen
These images no longer exist as works in their own right. They have been absorbed into the latest form I’ve been making in my ongoing chrysalis series; their subtlety now remains hidden beneath stitched folds of silk and metal. Only I know they exist – they are...
An unknown known…..sort of…..
It may be for reasons not yet clear to me but my need to just keep plodding on with this particular process, with no end point in sight or even wanted, seems to serve a purpose far beyond whatever object or form I create. I’m 69 now and in a few months will be...
When darkness matters
I watched a webinar recently about young textiles artists from quite different parts of our complex world. Their enthusiasm and confidence filled the screen, they knew exactly what they were doing and why and were obviously certain of their message and...
Today and not yesterday
My last 2 posts felt cathartic but also they rather echoed of resentment. Clarity takes time to reach especially when we continually try to resist it. I don't have many words at this point for the new work on this page but I do acknowledge that it is slowly emerging...
Undeclared risk to artists doing PhDs – part 2
How does academia value new knowledge obtained through creative practice? As discussed in my previous post about myown PhD experience, I felt that it was seen as secondary to the primary, measurable element - the written thesis. What followed was a profound...
The hidden risk to artists undertaking PhDs
I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I was awarded my PhD in creative practice in 2018. Since then, I feel as if I’ve been on something of a journey and I’d like to share some thoughts, primarily as a cautionary note directed at any artist contemplating beginning the...
The variations within an iterative creative practice
So much has changed yet much has remained centre-stage. The new body of work is increasing, albeit still slowly. I’m absorbed in the process itself. By that I mean, this iterative method I use is revealing minute aspects I’d overlooked before, to the point where every...