KNOWING WHAT TO PAINT
“How do you know what to paint?” a friend asks. “Good question,” I retort. It’s the one stellar question that’s been sat glinting atop the throne whose answer has been just out of reach. That is, until now.
“How do I know?” I sigh, longing to be able to articulate it clearly.
SHOWING UP AND DOING THE WORK
It’s never something I’ve classed as a problem. I’ve not (yet) experienced creative block but, until this point, I’d taken the approach that I’d paint what I feel like painting and if I stop feeling excited about it, I’d move on. This has been a very deliberate approach. I believe in the importance of turning up in the studio and taking action rather than the romantic fallacy of waiting for inspiration to strike before picking up the brush. Most established artists will attest that the only real path to success is to show up and do the work.
WE ARE OUR ART
Having said that, I’ve always known that this lack of anchoring to my work was going to be temporary.
Every piece of art is made up of a thousand decisions by the artist. We can’t help but put ourselves into our work. The art is first and foremost for ourselves. It's personal. It is how we feel, it is how we process our emotions, it is how we communicate our deepest fears and our greatest hopes.
It is a reflection of what is going on in the world around us, distorted via our own, internal hall of mirrors. It is the accumulation of everything we’ve ever been, of everything we are now and holds glimpses of what we will become.
THE DIG
Nevertheless, the searching and omnipresent feeling of being on the hunt for the core of my subject matter has been emotionally testing. So I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a sense of relief this week when finally, like an archaeologist who’d been excavating for months, digging deeper and deeper, I felt a change in the air, I saw an outline in the dirt. Holding my breath, scrabbling for my smaller tools, I quietly and painstakingly brushed around the contours and stood aghast, feeling both shaken and excited, as the bones began to reveal themselves.
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
How could I not have seen them? They’d been there all along, not just in what I was painting but across all aspects of what I am creatively drawn to; music, literature, podcasts, films, documentaries, stories. I could now see the signs that had been hiding in plain sight. This is what has led to my creative breakthrough. This is why my sketchbook was full to bursting with strong women, wolves, forests, tigers and a curved, bejewelled, gilded opulence.
THE POWER OF THE FEMININE
I knew I was drawn to painting women but what had they been trying to tell me? It's a certain type of women; those who show an inner strength, embody an innate wisdom and sometimes physical prowess. These are powerful women who are proud of their femininity and unafraid of their sexuality, navigating the obstacles that lay in Her path.
Akin to my taste in music and literature, my paintings have been becoming more provocative and subversive, taking themes from fairy tales, myths and legends and reimagining them. I've taken pleasure in sometimes putting a sting in the tale and sometimes leaving hidden messages to be discovered. Happy endings or otherwise, I'd been painting stories - Her stories.
THE ART OF TELLING TALES
But why paint in wistful fantasy worlds full of fierce beasts and mythical creatures? Apart from the visual thrill and drama that I love creating, they seem to allow me to transcend Patriarchal structures and build up a wonderland where women can step into their power. I've revelled in the freedom of magical lands where women can be strong and men can be tender without fear of reprisal.
But crucially now I know what is at the core. I know WHY I'm doing it. I'm telling tales with my art in order to bring awareness to issues that hold women back; issues that I've experienced and witnessed myself and that most women experience at some point; sexism, objectification, double standards, misogyny and violence. It is through my art that I aim to shine a light on how it feels to be a woman living in what is still a Man's world.
So now when people ask me what my art's about, I can tell them that I want to make beautiful paintings that celebrate women, make them feel powerful, create awareness and spark conversations. Because when both men and women become aware they become empowered to make choices.
My work is full of hope and light for an equal world and aims to bring a sense of joy and liberation. This is a creative well that will never run dry.
I hope you enjoy my tales.
I will be delving deeper into my sources of inspiration in music, art and literature in future blog posts. If you'd like to be first to know when a new blog is published, you can sign up to my mailing list here.
Best Wishes,