Shaping art
My courses advocate play-based learning and intuitive art through exploration. That isn’t an easy mindset to connect to when for so long your sense of yourself as an artist has been outcome based and often accompanied by harsh judgement. I work with many adults coming back to art making after decades, still damaged by a school system that told them ‘you can’t draw’. It’s my job to lead them across the stepping stones of process based drawing and discovery, to move learners away from criticism and into a space of regular art practice. Regular doesn’t have to mean every day - it means a commitment to finding flow so that you leave open gateways to creative growth over time.
“Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the job of the sculptor to set it free” Michelangelo
‘Play’ can have connotations of immaturity and can make learners feel childish, so what if we talk about learning through exploration and ‘shaping’ art. Rather like a sculptor ‘finds’ a figure in a lump of marble, art is there but needs uncovering. There’s a sense of art coming through me. I am a conduit for it but I have to show up to allow that to happen. That needs time to look, to draw, to reflect, to make mistakes and to take forwards what works, leaving behind what doesn’t. Within that is permission to experiment and discover new ways of working with mixed-media; permission to listen carefully to the responses to what you create and to take the strands of what works into your own unique output. It means moving the boundaries of expectation whilst consolidating what works for you.
What works for me is raw, gestural mark. What works is layering mark with colour and collage. I lean towards the naive and shape based drawing. In my art I mix line, pattern, texture and colour. I respond to nature, aiming to capture the mood of a place. I am aware of what doesn’t ignite my spirit and where my limitations are. My nephew is so disappointed that I don’t draw portraits! I teach self awareness and creative flow. I challenge myself to take away the shackles of self-judgement and put my faith in my heart, head and hands to birth new ideas. I stand back and allow the process.
What art are you shaping? What do you enjoy? Where is your soul leading you?
My next post will be my subscriber post that I publish on the first of every month. It’s a magazine style post where I share, over a three monthly cycle, inspirations, creative wellbeing advice, how to manage creative block and move to creative flow. In month two, I share lessons from my online courses in the form of a ‘dose’ of creativity to kickstart your sketchbook practice. Coming in 2025 are interviews with other artists as well as news from my studio and insights into my creative practice (in month 3). Join my tribe for £5 a month or £50 a year and get access to my previous posts too.
