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Hiraeth (Work in Progress)
Hiraeth: n. (Welsh) A spiritual longing for a home which maybe never was. Nostalgia for ancient places to which we cannot return. It is the echo of the lost places of our soul’s past and our grief for them. It is in the wind, and the rocks, and the waves. It is nowhere and everywhere. So it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything at all. You’ll know in future that’s likely a good sign that I am happy and healthy and *busy*…or deceased. At the moment I have a few projects floating and cannot stop reading, I’m devouring books like there’s no tomorrow. Part of the reason for this…
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Painting: That Time, SPA 2024 Finalist
Featuring in the Scottish Portrait Awards 2024. A painting started some time ago but finally finished only in February of 2024. When I started this I had no beard, now I have a beard. My three year old son refers to this picture as ‘Mr No Beard’. It has been hanging on the stair where we say goodnight to Mr No Beard on the way to bed as a matter of tradition. He’s been asking lately where Mr No Beard is, “on his holidays in Edinburgh” we say. This was painted on hardboard mounted on an old silk screen frame salvaged from the skip at the college where I work.…
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Painting: If Not Here Then Where
This portrait of my partner repainted substantially in June 2024, entitled ‘If Not Here Then Where’, is a deeply personal one that aims to capture a time when we were not sure if our location was the right one (we’re still not sure). We’ve spent years looking for other places to be the ‘right’ place to live, but have decided to content ourselves for the moment. It’s an ongoing issue. This is set in our dining room against the table that was the centre of our home. In the dimly lit background top left you can see a packaged painting. This was my first major competition success that was selected…
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Creative Ideas As Currency: Growth for Artists In The Digital Economy
If content is currency, then artists, you are already wealthy. You have enough unique, interesting and useful creative ideas to turn into a wide range of quality output. In the newest incarnation of our evolving economy, content creation is the most valuable currency. Artists are the original content creators and you are sitting on a potential gold mine. Today we’ll look at pushing the envelope of self-actualisation to mine the rich seams contained within you for profit and self fulfilment. Lets look at how you can start to leverage your creative ideas for increased returns. Unshackle Yourself from a Limiting Belief What would you want your life to look like?…
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Seize the Now: Adapting the Business Model Canvas for Creativity
Here is the problem; you create great work but it doesn’t get any traction. You put it out into the world and most people seem ambivalent or simply ignore it. Of course, there are a few potential causes for this that may be unrelated to the work; incorrect audience targeting, general lack of visibility and lack of a relevant audience altogether. Today, I’d like to introduce you to a model that can help you to reframe your creative concepts in a way that may help them to resonate with a more specific audience. An audience who potentially understand your work better. Today we are going to look at how to apply…
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What is Shadow Work? Understanding The Hidden You
Excerpts selected from Chapter 1 of my book The Creative Shadow: An Art Therapy Shadow Work Journey are compiled in this post. If you register below I’ll send you a download link to the next chapter (PDF file) from the book. “Everything of which I know, but of which I am not at the moment thinking; everything of which I was once conscious but have now forgotten; everything perceived by my senses, but not noted by my conscious mind; everything which, involuntarily and without paying attention to it, I feel, think, remember, want, and do; all the future things which are taking shape in me and will sometime come to…
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The Democratising Effect of AI Vs the Gatekeepers of Creativity
Of course we understand that new and disruptive technologies have a divisive effect and undermine the established norms and structures that support them, that is why, by definition, they are disruptive. The advent of photography had the same impact on painting as the advent (and rapid evolution) of AI tools is currently having on a wide range of creative practice. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth and heralding of ‘the end’ of painting. Did painting end? Of course not. It is very much alive and vibrant and has only been enhanced by the development of the technology of automatic image capture within a little black box. AI tools…
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Sky Portrait Artist of the Year Experience
Well it’s been a busy time round here and lot’s to reflect on in the past few months. Not much new painting at the moment as I’ve been busy on other projects but can’t wait to get back to it now especially after watching Sky Portrait Artist of the Year again. It’s fired me up and reminded me that it’s time to get back to it asap now that the weather for wandering around outside has gone up here. I’d been bracing myself for watching the episode I competed in (series 10, episode 4), I’m a private person by nature so putting myself out there on the TV has been…
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Better Creative Process Will Triumph Over Setting Goals
Do you set yourself creative goals that you never achieve? If you can answer an honest ‘no’ to this question, then you are a very rare commodity. Part of the human condition in modern life is the drive to achieve by setting milestones. This might not be the best way to progress. Let’s consider why you need to stop focusing on goals and focus on refining your creative process. As would-be artists we can often be focused on goals like finishing x amount of paintings by a certain date or getting your portfolio presentable for the next interview. You might also be aiming to complete a body of work for…
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Painting: Ghost Control
It’s difficult to explain fully what this piece of work means to me. It brings together for the first time a series of threads that have been with me for many years and in a language that feels more ‘me’. There is a pre-cursor to this painting and an interesting little bit of synchronicity attached to creation of this work. A little paint sketch exists in a similar vein to this piece with two views of the building superimposed on each other but in a very different colour palette and set of marks. I’ve never posted it anywhere before and you can see it below. The location is a real…
David Herds Night Studio
Creativity and Self Development
