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Digital Painting: Not Quite Blood, Alchemy and Ritual
Years ago, I used to do digital painting. It was a satisfying way to work, but eventually I eschewed it in favour of returning to my traditional painting practice. The motivation behind this was a general dissatisfaction with not having a tangible end product. Eventually, the conventional painting style took over completely, and I packed away my little Wacom tablet,…
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Painting: Hiraeth
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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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 gain any traction. You put it out into the world, and most people seem indifferent or simply ignore it. Of course, there are a few potential causes for this that may be unrelated to the work: incorrect audience targeting, a general lack of visibility, and a lack of a…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
Creativity and Self Development
