Welcome to the new home of ArtStudioCB online, where you can discover more about my creative work in the About and Projects section; Commission a work unique to your vision; receive updates in the Blog; and get in touch in the Contact section. Coming soon will be a Shop where you can purchase various items inspired by the work you see here. For news about the opening of the shop, please sign up for the newsletter.
What is a home without a housewarming? Or an online homepage without friends and new visitors? Perhaps make yourself a brew, pull up a chair, and gather around this blog post…And if there are biscuits, all the better.
In this post, I’ll be writing about working with fantastic creatives as part of my Embodiment-Movement-Art and Mental Health project, supported by the Creative Steps Programme with the Art Council of Wales. I’ll be writing about my new art-work in the theme of ‘Vagary,’ which explores being female and fertility. I’ll be offering some tips on sourcing art supplies for art courses this term if you’re taking a leisurely class or have just started art school. There will also be news on the Aildanio film I was very fortunate to be able to take part in, and local events where I’ve begun to perform poetry. To get started, however, I want to write a little about the content and sensitive nature of much of my work.
Trauma can be a difficult experience, but it can also be a powerful catalyst for change, and leading a life that has meaning. I combine the experience of trauma with the experience of hope because I have found hope to be fairly persistent, and even when I’ve wanted to give up on it, hope has remained. I create works that explore both, and whilst hope has positive connotations, and trauma can be perceived as negative, I don’t want to avoid negativity. I want to capture those difficult emotions, experiences, and their impact. However, I’m aware that such work can be triggering. I would advise that, if you wish to receive my work and you’re concerned about being triggered, please seek support and follow practices such as grounding. Also, there is the freedom not to engage with the work at all. I have always been inspired by artists who work with the challenges and difficulties in their art, but there have certainly been several occasions when an artwork has been too much for me, and I’ve had to take a deep breath before moving on to something else. I invite you to take as much as you need from my art-work here at ArtStudioCB, at a pace that suits you.
This new online space was made possible by the Creative Steps Programme with the Art Council Of Wales. As a result, I’ve received tutoring and support from creative practitioners who are working with me to develop embodiment and movement in my art practice and to offer greater accessibility to my creative work. The experience has been extraordinary: I have felt more in tune with my physical form and something of a transformation in my being; the natural world seems even more beautiful than I realised; I’ve been able to listen and receive the experience of creative professionals who know their craft. I have, at times, also found it emotionally challenging, which has been difficult to communicate, but it’s part and parcel of going through such changes in our art-practice. The project will be completed in the new year, so stay tuned for more news.
‘Vagary,’ is a project nearing completion, and explores the eclipse as a symbol of being female and associations of fertility. Working on this theme has been wonderful. I often experiment but to have the chance to work in the abstract with a particular motif has provided insight into the creation of paintings, and felt much like a meditative practice. I’ve explored oil painting and just enjoyed working with the materials.
Both these projects signify personal change. Changes happen at all stages of our lives, even when we feel that life has remained much the same because we haven’t noticed what’s happening within us and around us. With change comes growth, and like the chrysalis, we can not know who we will become until we emerge. Journaling is an activity that can be supportive during such times, and prove useful further down the line when we look back, and we may even want to use our journals as inspiration for art.
We’re here in a new term for those of you studying art this October, and I wanted to offer a few tips on essential art supplies and those that I find useful in my art practice. As an affiliate with ArtDiscount, I promote their products and services, as they have supported me in my art-practice and I hope that they can do the same for you. I receive a commission for doing so if you decide to purchase through the affiliate links in this post. Working with a range of materials, I find what I require at ArtDiscount at good value for money, and I’m able to experiment as a result. Sketchbooks are an essential item, and I work with these Seawhite Spiral Sketchbooks, they’re hardy and can handle the rough and tumble of being carted around in my bag to different locations, tea being spilled on them, and hold up to markers pens, and so on. If you want to get started with painting, ArtDiscount does a fantastic range of economy canvases, which are great quality. Then there’s their own brand range of brushes: I’ve been using their oil painting, bristle brushes which are wonderful to use. You’ll find a huge selection of pens, pencils, and mark-making media, in every hue. Gathering your supplies and materials can inspire a project, and if you haven’t signed up for an art class this term, I’m happy to write that there are courses from ArtStudioCB coming up very soon. Facilitating creative workshops over the summer has been a real joy, I’m aiming to bring that experience online for those can’t make it to the workshops here in Rhondda Cynon Taff. Please sign up for the newsletter if you would like to receive updates.
Over the summer I was grateful to be featured in the Aildanio Film , with Disability Arts Cymru and Culture Colony. Aildanio was an Art Prize held in 2022-2023 that toured Wales with selected artists who displayed their work on the theme of a spark, or re-ignition. This was a pivotal experience for me as an artist, and the Aildanio film beautifully captures the processes, inspiration, and challenges that disabled artists face. Organisations such as DAC support artists in pursuing their creative goals, supporting them through their challenges, and the brief for the art prize was fascinating to me. ‘Burning Inside,’ 2022, had a great time visiting all the galleries and appreciated the positive feedback received!
I have also been performing poetry at local open mic events with Cynon Valley Museum, which have been such good fun, with a great crowd and atmosphere. I hadn’t read at a poetry reading since I was in primary school until a recent open mic at the museum, and now I look forward to doing so. If you’re a poet and think you would like to perform your poetry, I would say give it a try. Even find some support in a local creative writing group or one online. I imagine you will find reading poetry to an audience a thrill and they will love your work. To celebrate the launch of ArtStudioCB online, please find a free copy of my poetry ebook ‘The Sanctuary,’ available at Amazon. It will be freely available until 2nd October.
Thank you for reading October’s post. I will be posting on the 1st of each month. Next month I will have more news on projects, upcoming exhibitions, new courses, and plans for Christmas (Yes- I said it!). Have a great October!