Where the Soul Lies Down : welcome

Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.

~ Rumi, 13th century Persian Islamic scholar, mystic and poet

Hello, and thank you for visiting. I have decided to start a blog because I enjoy writing and reflecting on my artistic practice. I hope that what you read here will be of interest too and spark your creativity. I hope, perhaps rather ambitiously, to make it a place where my soul lies down - and hope to meet you there, out beyond ideas of wrong and right doing.....

abstract sketch 2020 : acrylic on paper

Art has been a constant companion in my life, though never its focus, until recently. I have had a separate professional career for 30 odd years and I am essentially a self-taught painter.

However in 2017 I took a course in Abstract Landscape with Gareth Edwards at Newlyn School of Art in Cornwall which opened my eyes to a new way of painting that just clicked with me. Encouraged by his teaching and approach I ran after painting in a big way and in 2018 I was accepted onto the school's Professional Mentoring Programme. There I met one of the other tutors, Kate Walters, who turned out to be a seminal influence on the direction my work would, and is still, taking. I credit both her and Gareth with lighting those sparks within me. Without either of them I would still be a hobby painter today. Thank you Kate and Gareth.

https://www.katewalters.co.uk/

https://www.garethedwardsartist.co.uk/

There were many other tutors and fellow students who helped and inspired me through that time, and I still value their support today as well. If you would like to leave your thoughts and comments here I would love to read them. I will reply...and of course you can always check out the art school.

I am often struck by how anxious art can make its practitioners feel. 'Am I doing it right?' 'How do I make this better?' 'Is it Good Enough!?'

these are all valid questions but there is a distinct time for them, and if like me you come to believe that there is no right or wrong way, only your way then at least two of those questions can be eliminated, leaving only 'how can I make this better?' which is not really an anxiety at all but a drive and a challenge worth meeting. And if by 'better' you mean 'more authentically you' then I think you will have cracked it.

Here's the link to the art school.

https://www.newlynartschool.co.uk/