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Beth Garner: How Do You Adventure?

February 19th, 2018 by Emma

Bio

A self-taught artist, I dived into the world of art after a difficult time in my personal life and began experiments in fluid painting; mixing various cocktails of house paint, gloss, acrylic, pva glue, water and washing-up liquid (anything goes!) Therapeutic and addictive, I’ve probably watched hundreds of art videos on YouTube and have found the Instagram community so uplifting and inspiring. I don’t believe there is ‘bad’ art and anyone can (and should) make art for whatever reason. After living in France, Germany and other parts of the UK for work and study, I have returned to the place I grew up, Berwick-upon-Tweed, with a new appreciation of this area. The ever-changing Northumberland skies and the oddities of light have inspired my abstract landscapes which explore and challenge light, colour, gesture and texture.

Instagram handle: @abstract.beth

Where is your home country?

England

What is the name of your hometown?

Berwick-upon-Tweed (in Northumberland)

How would you describe your hometown in 3 words?

Underrated. Peaceful. Home.

Why is Berwick-upon-Tweed fricking awesome?

I may be biased, but travelling by train from Newcastle on the east coast and arriving into Berwick is one of the most beautiful sights in the world. There are three bridges with their own stories to tell and a light that dances beautifully along the river and out to sea (commuters at sunrise and sunset can attest to this!)

Berwick-upon-Tweed may be small but packs quite a punch. Although the town changed hands between England and Scotland more than a dozen times, we finally settled in England in 1482 but our football team, Berwick Rangers, play in the Scottish League Two. There’s around 25,000 people living in the town and its surrounding area but with less than an hour by train from Edinburgh to the north and Newcastle in the south, we can enjoy the buzz of city life whenever we want.

Where is the first place you go when you’re bored?

A walk along the beach cures everything.

Where do you go to find natural beauty?

As above, the beach really does have it all and no two days are the same. The tide can be wild and ferocious one day then still and inviting the next. I often visit Paris and it is really humbling to come home to a vast horizon and the peace it brings.

Where would you go for tranquillity and relaxation?

Northumberland is one of the least densely populated counties in England meaning that you can go for a walk on Goswick beach or in the Cheviot hills and feel like you’re the only person in the world. If you do meet any locals though, we’re a friendly bunch! If you want to go a step further and literally be cut off, travel to Lindisfarne (Holy Island) which is attached to the mainland by the causeway – just be mindful of the crossing times!

How do you make the most out of where you are?

I try to go for a walk every day which admittedly can be hard when it is rainy and dark in the middle of winter. I have taken some pretty amazing summer sunrise photos which provide fantastic painting inspiration.

What are the top 3 things a visitor needs to do/go see in your hometown?

Buy fish and chips (my favourite!) and walk along the Elizabethan town walls and pier – waving to seals is optional and if you’re lucky, you might catch a glimpse of the dolphins and porpoises in the warmer months.
Visit during one of our festivals; take your pick from the Lindisfarne music festival, food and beer or film, media and arts which excellently showcase local talent, often in venues steeped in culture and history. Or just pop in to the Gymnasium Gallery or the barracks to see the latest exhibition.
Enjoy some live music downstairs at The Barrels Alehouse and learn some local slang.

Where do you go for seriously good food?

The Maltings café has brilliant views over the rooftops and serves food all day. Newly-opened Mule on Rouge is a vegan-curious café and music shop on Bridge Street which has several restaurants serving locally-sourced dishes. Venture a little further afield to the Chain Bridge Honey Farm and have your afternoon tea and cake on an old double decker bus.

Huge thank you to Beth for this. If you’d like to be featured with your hometown in my ‘How Do You Adventure?” series, please get in touch.

How do you Adventure?: A New Guest Post Series

February 9th, 2018 by Emma

What do you associate with the word adventure?

Riding elephants in Thailand, skydiving in New Zealand, climbing Mount Everest or foraging through forests in Vancouver – right?

Sure – these are adventures.

But what happens to those of us who are unable to embark upon these types of adventures? Does that mean we’re unadventurous? Certainly not.

Social media leaves us with a twisted perception of what an adventure is, making many of us feel bored and resentful towards where we live.

I want this to change.

So, I need you to know something: adventures can start right on your doorstep – in your hometown.

I’m quite confident that a lot of us take where we live for granted. Well – I certainly did for a long time. After school, 99% of my friends moved away, whilst I remained in Cheltenham. Many who moved still can’t understand why I’m still here, in the ‘Cheltenham bubble’. Well – it’s comfortable here, everybody knows everybody and it somehow has a way of sucking you in. My friends were able to escape, I have not – and you know what? I don’t want to.

It took me a few years to realise this, but I love it here. The impression I had of my hometown was severely tainted by what I saw on social media. Instagram is a constant stream of ‘epic’ photographs taken all around the world. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing these photographs – they inspire me and give me a peep into what else is out there. But I admit, they used to make me feel quite negative about where I live; I felt as if I wasn’t capable of going on adventures because of location, time and money. This was so wrong of me. And if you do this as well, this is so wrong of you too.

Your hometown. What’s it like? What can you do there? Are there hills, rivers and nature trails? Or is it more urban with high rise buildings, tramlines and roads? Or somewhere in between? Try and understand it. Think of some reasons as to why people would come and visit.

I believe that an adventure can be embarked upon anywhere on this earth.

In my definition of the word adventure, I mention that it’s not just a physical process, but also a mental one. It’s not just about where you are, it’s also about how you feel and what you learn. Being adventurous isn’t just road tripping across the States or climbing Kilimanjaro – it’s also thinking outside the box, trying something new and exploring your mind and body’s capabilities, wherever you are.

(N.B. I’m not saying I’ll never travel around – of course I will. These posts are just to improve our usual everyday.)

My new series of blog posts – ‘How Do You Adventure?’ – are to highlight hometowns from all around the world, giving us an insight into how we can make the most out of where we live. Reading about other people’s hometowns will help you look harder at your own, enabling you to realise that where you live is capable of being pretty awesome – you’ve just got to think laterally, look harder and dig deeper.

Do you want to put your hometown in the limelight? Please send me a message if you would like to be featured.

The Recap: Redefining an Adventure

January 18th, 2018 by Emma

Happy New Year, Everybody! – I know, it’s a bit late into January to be saying that.. but oh well.

It’s now 2018, and I’m super excited to be writing again.

Let’s Recap

At the beginning of last year, I bit the bullet and decided to get back into painting as a way to deal with the loss of my Dad. Translating my emotions onto paper and canvas enabled me to get back in touch with reality; it genuinely made me feel a lot happier. So, I continued to paint a variety of abstract art collections and also maintained this blog, writing about life as an artist and ways to maintain a happy mind.

September came around and it had been a whole year since my Dad had passed away. And I’ll admit it, I fell into a hole of unhappiness again. Painting just wasn’t working any longer. I felt trapped in my studio and my creativity came to a halt. For most of the year, I was promoting happy art for a happy mind on my Instagram because I was happy and it was (mostly) because of the art I had been making. However, I put too many eggs in one basket. The day came when I tidied up my studio and gave myself freedom. I let myself back outside, where there’s fresh air, engaging sounds and you know, people.

A family holiday to Crete was the game changer for me. I wanted to press the reset button and that’s exactly what I did.

Blank notebooks, pens, pencils, pastels, paints, jars and brushes filled my suitcase. I didn’t want to force myself to be creative whilst I was away. I brought my supplies with me just in case I felt the urge to paint or if I found inspiration. I’d had various project ideas planned for whilst I was away, and I did carry them out- but unfortunately, I didn’t feel connected to what I was creating.

What I did end up connecting with were my blank notebooks, which became very not blank by the end of the holiday. On the plane home, I was doing my usual multi-tasking (I get it from my Mum) by reading Helen Frankenthaler essays at the same time as flicking through the notebooks I’d been painting and writing in. For the duration of the trip, I’d taken these notebooks around with me everywhere, writing down conversations, describing landscapes, making marks and colours to sounds and textures- I’d been documenting everything, creatively.

The books made sense to me. It was like I’d written my own dictionary of experiences. The pages were filled with my interpretations of the way I saw things, heard things and felt things. I had come up with my own language of adventure and experience, and I’m the only person who’d understand it. These books felt very special and quite different to the usual sketchbooks I’d use at home.

Once I returned, I dug deeper into this new process and continued to use notebooks to document life. By doing so, it motivated me to interact with the outside world more. My studio remained vacant but my car’s mileage was ticking as I drove places to interpret and translate into (even more) notebooks, which I now call my adventure journals.

I felt adventurous – driving to places on my own, allowing myself to get lost in the countryside, hauling my art supplies around and truly making the most out of the environment I was in. This may seem like a breeze to some, but for a long time, if you’ve read my story before, you’ll know that I couldn’t interact with the world. So, this was a big deal for me.

My reset button had most definitely been pressed.

Present Day

What do you consider an adventure?

I redefined what the word meant to me:

Whether it be long or short, near or afar, an adventure is a physical and mental process of looking, seeking, finding and collecting. When you go on an adventure, you’re capturing moments, making minutes count and living life to the fullest.

And this is what I do.

I explore my mind and my surroundings to make artwork that tells stories. Wherever I go, I take a journal with me to interpret, record and comprehend the environment I’m in. I make marks from sounds, blend colours from landscapes, put into words the textures beneath my feet and write down overheard conversations. I’ve discovered that creating art is my preferred method of communicating how I see, hear and feel. In doing so, I want to demonstrate to people that embarking on an adventure and feeling the bark of a tree is not only a physical process, but also a mental one.

This year kicked off with a collaboration with Hobbycraft. Have you read it yet?

Here’s to 2018. It’s going to get adventurous.

See what I get up to on Instagram.

6 Reasons to Buy Original Art for Your Home

October 26th, 2017 by Emma

Do you buy original art for your home or work space? If you do, that’s great – thank you for supporting our practice as artists. If you don’t, I’m going to talk you through a few reasons why you should.

1. It’s One of a Kind

When you buy original art, it’s a one of a kind- no one else has it.

Think of clothing- when you go to a party, the supermarket or wherever, it’s not ideal when you see someone else wearing the exact same outfit as you. So, why not take this ideology and apply it to the interior design of your home and/or office? Granted, it’s not embarrassing to have a mass produced art print hanging on your wall- I’ve bought many myself because obviously I can’t afford an original Frankenthaler or Picasso. However, what about original artwork that is within your budget? Nowadays, a lot of original artwork is really quite affordable, especially work by emerging artists that you typically find on social media.

Many artists, like myself, also offer commissions. A commission is a bespoke piece of art tailored just for you and only you. My process involves a lot of back and forth with my customer, where we talk about colours, themes, energy, emotion etc. in order to create the ideal artwork for their space and personality.

It’s pretty much impossible to recreate the same artwork again exactly, so having an original artwork hanging on your wall is pretty special.

2. It Sparks Conversation

This may not relate to everyone, but I think that having a beautiful piece of art hanging on your walls at home sparks conversation. Whether it be a guest, your parents, your children, whoever- behind every artwork is a story, a theme and a reason of purchase. When it comes to abstract art, quite often, people have varying opinions about what is seen/felt upon viewing the work, which I always find fascinating. Opinions of artwork always differ from individual to individual and in my experience, debates do happen. Heated or not, talking about art is still a great way to find out more about someone.

So, buy original art for your homes to open up minds, inspire and stimulate creativity!

3. It Brings a Room Together

So, this one is a bit of an obvious one and the reason why a lot of people prefer having commissioned artwork- it brings a room together and provides an instant colour palette. When you move into a new home or you redecorate your house, you have a variety of things to think about- design wise. What about the colour of the walls, the curtains, the sofas and the cushions; the layout of the television, the mirrors, the side tables and the lamp? There are many things to consider when you’re trying to make your home a more beautiful place to live in. Having an original artwork as a statement piece in any room can quite often be the cherry on top of the cake- whether it’s added in first or last. Give it a go- have a look around your home and see whether you find a wall that is crying out for a colourful/large/small/emotive piece of artwork.

4. It Personalises Your Home

Just like how we dress ourselves or how we wear our hair, owning original artwork can be how you style your home. Sure- you may have a print of Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss”, a poster of The Rolling Stones and a family photograph up in your house (which is perfectly fine), but what about a real painting, with tangible textures and vibrant colour. You can chose an original artwork that not only matches your living room to bring the colour scheme all together, but also one that reflects your personality, whether it be dark and gloomy, peachy and floral or explosive and alluring- your style, your home, your choice.

Having artwork up at home can also be very beneficial to your mood and mindset. When you view your artwork, you may experience feelings of happiness or provide you with a moment of zen after a stressful day, it may also make you feel proud if it was something you saved up for and treated yourself with.

5. It Supports an Artist’s Practice

This is an important one.

You know when someone is good at mathematics and they become an accountant, or fantastic with their hands and become a mechanic? Well, us artists are born with a need to create, our ‘talent’, if you will, is to express ourselves, to put paint onto surface and to make things. The problem is, a lot of us are unable to translate our talent into earning income. I can’t tell you how many times people have said ‘..and what else do you do?’ after I’ve told them that I am an artist. Unfortunately, quite often it’s not acknowledged as a ‘proper job’ and many people resist spending money on our work, especially when it’s abstract, the ‘easy’ work that ‘looks like a child did it’. Abstract art is very misunderstood and sometimes, I feel that we have to work even harder to find people to purchase work of this kind- it’s crazy!

This needs to change. For us to be able to use our talent to earn money in the way we feel we are destined to, we need you to support our practice. We need you to help us top up our supplies, keep up with the rent of our studio space and to enable us to work. Yes, to work– just like how a hairdresser, a plumber, a doctor or a teacher would.

Musicians- they’re artists. Have you ever bought a CD or a song on iTunes? I’m assuming at some point you have. Well, buying music is like buying artwork. You’re not just paying for an awesome song to listen to, you’re also paying for the musician to continue their work. It’s the same for us- visual artists!

6. It could be an investment

A lot of money flies around in the art world. So, if you were to buy original art, particularly from an emerging artist, it could be a sound investment. The artist could very well go on to be a renown artist, which in turn makes the artwork you have bought a lot more valuable. Obviously, there is no guarantee that this will happen but it would be worth keeping on the look out and following along with the journey of the artist’s career because you never know what might happen!

You can view my original artwork here.

Catch-25: A Weird Brain in The Art World

October 5th, 2017 by Emma

“I bet my brain is weirder than your brain”, said a customer yesterday, as I was running my Mum’s music shop. We were having a conversation about how all of us think differently and how life never pans out the way we imagined when we were younger. I didn’t know how to respond to what he said, so I just said, ‘who knows?!’

I’m 25 years old.

Why is it that when you’re a teenager, your twenties seem like they’re going to be easy-going and fun with a clear path of how your life is going to pan out? (Well, perhaps this is just how I felt.) When you’re in your twenties, wow- you’re going to be so grown up and it will be a time where you travel the world, soul-searching, meeting new people, getting offered opportunity after opportunity, then finally landing your dream job, settling into a grind you’re super comfortable with. Hey, perhaps you’ll even meet the love of your life along the way, elope in a tropical island and start thinking about the ‘baby’ word. Hah- I think not. My 15 year old self would be beside herself if she knew what being in her twenties entailed!

OK- it’s not all bad. I still get asked for ID when I buy a lottery ticket, so at least I still look 15. Then again, perhaps this isn’t a good thing..

Granted, many people, a couple of my friends in fact, have indeed done the travelling, settled in a good job and (I assume) are enjoying the grind of life. It is possible. But I can’t help but think about where I’ve gone wrong. Well, is it wrong – or is it just different?

BEING HONEST WITH MYSELF

After talking with a friend, who is also a creative/artistic/perplexed type, I’m starting to realise that perhaps my life isn’t going the way I planned because of the way my brain is wired. It’s as if my brain is it’s own ‘catch-22’- I’m very idealistic, I have all these dreams and goals that I set myself but I’m too self-critical to do anything about them. Before I start walking down the path to these ‘unrealistic’ goals, I stop myself before I’ve even put my shoes on. Instead of just snapping out of it and getting on with the tasks at hand, I question my ability to the nth degree. I can’t do it. It will take too long. I’m not good enough. So, nothing gets done and life stays the same.

Hold on, it gets a little more complicated.

I then get fed up of life staying the same and can’t understand why it doesn’t change. The answer is written right here in front of me and yet, I still don’t understand why I’m in my mid-twenties with not much progression. I’m troubled with my own intellect and stupidity all at once. I’m analytical, able and dedicated in my approach of setting goals and imagining the endgame, but then become blank, careless and doubtful about the actions that are needed to be carried out to get to these goals. On top of this, if I do start a task, my impatience leaves me unsatisfied with the length of time it will actually take to complete.

Unfortunately, this brain wiring doesn’t bode well with a career in the art world. The art world is a very competitive, scary and difficult place to succeed. Quite often, galleries won’t even consider you if you don’t have an MA, multiple press features and numerous residencies under your belt, regardless of how ‘good’ or ‘innovative’ your artwork is.

On a personal level, I find this really hard to deal with. Due to my past indecisiveness and self-doubt, I’ve accumulated a student loan of over £40,000. This isn’t so much of a big deal because the pay back methods are quite chilled out here, but what it does mean is that I’m unable to apply for any other student-type loan. So, a Masters will only happen if I spend a year or so working to save for it. Granted, this is how most people get themselves through a Masters degree but I struggle to even envisage working 9-5 sat behind a desk or till any more than I already have. It’s a catch-22 all over again.

From recent experiences, I’ve learned that life is way too short to be unhappy in your everyday. When I look back on the days of working in retail, with the constant clock watching and longing to get home- that isn’t a life I want to live. I totally get it- woe is me! These are first world problems and to some degree I just need to suck it up and work like every other person to put food on the table and save for life things. However, there’s been something in my brain that hasn’t let me do it. My subconscious hasn’t allowed me to make decisions that cause me any unhappiness. Instead- I’ve just sat, daydreaming and longing for this life as a renown artist, expecting opportunities to be thrown at me from all directions.

Now, there’s nothing I want more than to work super hard in the right direction. But- what direction?

ASKING THE IMPOSSIBLE

I’m sat here now, at what was my Dad’s desk, thinking about what he would do if he was me. It’s hard to tell- the amount of times he told me to quit my jobs in retail because of how unhappy they made me and the amount of times he told me to work for myself, it’s hard to know what to do. I’m asking the impossible now, but how do I get to where I want to be without sacrificing my happiness for one second? It’s taken me so long since my Dad passed away to get this happiness and I don’t want to let go of it. Sure, I’m not happy all the time- obviously. I still get very emotional about Dad, frustrated with my progress in the gym, angry at the news, jealous of other artist’s studio spaces, heartbroken about not being able to attend a certain exhibition in San Francisco and unsatisfied with the tasteless stir fry I just made- life can’t be happy all the time. But one thing I can control, is the happiness I feel in my everyday job.

Over the last few months, I’ve been making and selling artwork, which is great. But I want to dig deeper. I’m going to start fresh and make more of an effort to immerse myself into the real world of art, to meet other artists, attend events and visit galleries more frequently. I’m heading to London next week, want to meet for a coffee and talk about art?

In addition, I’m going to start from scratch and push the reset button with my studio practice. Therefore, my studio needs to be emptied. Find marked down original artwork at my shop.

AN ADVENTURE ARTIST

Lately, I’ve been looking, listening, exploring and studying in order to develop a new process of making artwork. This artwork won’t just be medium on a surface, representing this and that, it will be artwork that is honest with an engaging disposition. In the past I’ve been selfish with my way of making artwork because I needed to be. Now that I’m on the other side of grief, where it’s less raw and more manageable, I’m now yearning to make honest artwork for myself and others.

For so long, I’ve taken where I live for granted. So, over the next few months, I’m going to hop in my Ford Fiesta (or Jon’s Audi when he’s acting as my chauffeur) and drive to places here in the UK, seeking colour, texture, sound and conversation.

With new adventures, will come new artwork and I’m labelling myself as an adventure artist.

Now I’ve just got to figure out how I’m going to actually do this.

Come on, brain. You’ve got this.

Tuning in For a Happy Mind

September 1st, 2017 by Emma

When people are not happy and/or going through a bout of depression, many march their way to the self-help section in a book store or Google into oblivion, searching things like ‘how to get happy’, ‘what to do when you’re bored’, ‘why do I feel down for no reason?’ etc. etc. What I’ve learned this year is that you don’t necessarily need a book or an answer to a specific question, you just need to be in tune with yourself.

I don’t know about you, but I used to be obsessed with Google, convinced it had all of the answers to my obsessive questions about why I feel a certain way and how to snap out of it. Last year, when I suffered from awful hypochondria, I’d spend all day hunting for a diagnosis by reading articles about every physical symptom I had. Doing this actually made me more ill, more obsessive and more unhappy- my aches and pains worsened and new symptoms would come from no where. I ignored statistics and told myself that I was actually dying. The scariest thing about all of this is that it was entirely my own mind that was the cause. Apart from being undernourished from not being able to eat much, I was physically healthy. Mentally- not so much.

(Obviously, if you are worried about your health, go to your doctor. I’m not telling you to ignore physical symptoms, just don’t obsessively use Google to find your answer.)

So, being in tune with yourself. What do I mean?

I mean getting to know yourself, as a human being. Pinpointing when you’re tired, hungry, happy, sad, jealous- whatever. If you can distinguish between different feelings emotionally and physically, you’re getting in tune with yourself.

How does this translate into a happy mind? Surely feeling sad and jealous isn’t a happy mind?

No, this is just being a human. In life, feelings of anger, frustration and envy are unavoidable. When I talk about having a ‘happy mind’, I don’t necessarily mean a mind that can only experience the emotion of happiness- that wouldn’t be realistic. A ‘happy mind’ is a mind that you know, a mind that isn’t clouded and a mind that you can control.

Being in tune with yourself means that you recognise when you feel certain emotions and understand why you feel them. It also means that you know the needs of your mind and body. You’re not being very kind to yourself if you don’t at least try to understand your feelings, or if you’re not giving your body what it needs to function at it’s best. Your personal development would certainly be stunted. So, why not try and get in tune and find out how to be the best you you can be (under your circumstances)?

For me to be in tune, I consider the following:

SLEEP: Do I get too much or too little? How much sleep do I need for my mind and body to feel right?
WORK: When do I work best? Am I an early bird or a night owl? Is my work organised? Do I actually like my job? Of course!
DIET: Do I have a balanced diet? What do I eat and does my body like it? Do I bloat? If so, do I know what triggers it?
EXERCISE: Do I get enough and does my body like/need the amount I’m doing? Is my form right? Am I progressing? Do I have a goal here?
LADY THINGS: Do I still have periods and am I in sync with my cycle? I use the MyFlo app.
APPEARANCE: Am I content with the way I look? Is my appearance making me unhappy? If so, what do I need to do to change? Okay- 99% of the time I don’t focus on this one. I’m an artist and this means that I get away with looking scruffy.
GOALS: Do I know what I want? Have I written down my goals and considered what I want in life? Have I analysed whereabouts I am and assessed whether anything needs to change?
FEARS: What am I scared of and why? Can I face these fears? Do I know what I’m capable of/incapable of? Read this post about facing fears.
FACTS: What actually makes me happy/unhappy? Have I made an effort to do more of what makes me happy and less of what makes me unhappy? Why am I feeling this way- jealous/angry/emotional?

Considering these aspects of my life has enabled me to really know who the frick Emma Howell is, and it’s really eye-opening. For those who feel a little lost, I totally recommend sitting down with a notebook and figuring out how you work. Use my list as a starting point, if you wish.

You will only ever be one person, so you might as well make an effort with that person.

Look after yourself, physically and mentally and get a happy mind by tuning in to your mind and body’s mechanics.

Thank you for reading. As always, message me here if you want to comment on this post. Follow along with my journey as an artist and adventurer on Instagram.

Credit to Jon Munson, my boyfriend and the guitarist featured, who is always in tune.

Credit to the genius Mari Andrew, who inspired this illustration that I drew a while back at the start of my journey.

Upcoming Work: Project Crete

August 29th, 2017 by Emma

Can you believe that summer is almost over? The year anniversary of my Dad’s death is looming, the mornings are darker and cooler, and the leaves are just starting to think about changing their colours. Are you feeling disheartened about the end of summer, or are you super ready and excited for autumn?

Despite the fact that I think this year’s summer has gone by really quickly, I’m actually feeling pretty cool about it. Perhaps I feel this way because I have a holiday on the horizon..

At the end of September, my family and I are off for a long break to Crete, Greece. Naturally, I’m going to take full advantage out of this and lug my art supplies with me to do some serious fieldwork.

Over the last few weeks, you may have seen on my Instagram that I’ve been doing some extensive research and explorations of colour, marks and compositions. This is all in preparation for a new collection aiming to be released early in 2018 (most likely a bit later because there is a lot going on). It feels so invigorating to be busy- does that sound strange? I feel more energetic, more worthy and more alive. Those past months of nothingness have made me really appreciate being busy and having a mind that’s focused and on the ball 24/7.

So, all of this busyness in the studio is now going to transfer over to Crete in September, to make “Project Crete”.

PROJECT CRETE

This small project will be a stepping stone towards the evolution and development of the new collection (2018). It will be all about interpreting, gathering, documenting and experimenting. Across the 14 days, 14 artworks on spiral bound paper will be given life (and most likely a sketchbook of scribbles and a notebook of short essays). The blank paper will act as a sponge, soaking up the day just past- it’s colours, textures, sounds, smells and conversations. After the 14 days, the works will represent adventures, meditation and creativity experienced in the beautiful Island of Crete. Again, like the Happy Santorini collection, this project will be dedicated to mental health awareness because as always, creating artwork is one of the many things I do to keep my mind happy.

PREPARATION

At the moment, there has been a lot of colour going on in my studio. I’ve been wanting to learn more about colour and get to know how and why we all see them differently. Why is it that the colour orange is linked to humour and also danger? and why is it that the colour green is known to represent envy/greed and also growth/vitality? It’s made me want to get in tune with the way I see colours, how they make me feel and which waves of the visual spectrum I am attracted/not attracted to. So, I’ve mixed up 14 recipes of my own colours, named them, written about them and documented them. They’re now coming with me to Crete.

PACKING LIST

Fluid acrylics, 30ml (variety of colours- don’t go mad)
Acrylic medium
Plastic jar for water- thanks to Pip and Nut
Daler Rowney spiral bound A5 paper
Soft pastels (limited colours)
Tin of pencils
Paintbrushes (variety of sizes)
A palette knife
2 blank small sketchbooks
1 blank small notebook
Fine liners and biros
SLR (and memory card)
Orange notebook full of secrets

PROCESS

I’m a lot more focused and energetic in the morning. So, after a quick workout, I’ll then get to work on the artwork that will reflect the day before. Who knows how long each artwork will take- I usually like to take my time working in layers with my works but obviously, I’m on holiday and intend to go out and about with my family. I also want to soak up the environment, the colours, the culture and the sounds- so, I need time for that! You’ll be able to follow along with my adventures in Crete on my Instagram. Please be aware that the artwork created will not be released until I return. I seriously need a holiday and my business brain needs to switch off, otherwise it will burn out!

The originals and prints of the “Project Crete” artworks will be available at my online store mid-October.

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

Once our time in Crete comes to an end and all 14 artworks are complete, they will be coming back to my studio with me to be assessed. These works will then lead into further development of the new collection. If I’m super organised before we leave, my studio space and supplies will be all set up and ready for me to crack on with the new works straight away. Stay tuned because things are going to get interesting..

Thank you for reading. As always, if you’d like to get in touch, please message me here.

A note on inauthenticity and plagiarism- I am trying to be as private as possible at the moment to protect my practice. I’ve started to realise that when us artists show the ins and outs of our way of working and share all our ideas with our audiences on Instagram, some aspects of plagiarism can occur. Photographs of our works in progress or pages in our notebooks are not academic essays that are going to be screened and checked for plagiarism, so it’s easy for anybody to replicate ideas. I mean, sure- be inspired by others and experiment with different mediums seen on feeds, but when it comes to actually replicating words and artworks, surely it’s pushing the boundaries a bit too much? (What do you think?- let me know here). At the end of the day, there isn’t really much we can do but to just keep our heads down and focus on our own goals.

Path to Happiness: My Story

August 20th, 2017 by Emma

I wrote this post with quite a heavy heart. It talks about my experience with depression, anxiety and bereavement. I’m sharing quite personal information with you here, so if you’re sensitive to hearing about quite distressing life situations- I’d advise maybe to miss this post out.

I was unhappy. I mean, extremely unhappy. I dreaded both waking up in the morning and going to bed at night. It was an endless cycle of depression. Waking up meant that a day of sadness, anxiety and emptiness was about to begin. Going to bed meant 3 hours of insomnia and then an anxious and sweaty sleep- the catalyst to the feared morning.

Before my recent transition into working as an artist, I had 8 months of unemployment. I couldn’t face the world outside my own home and had very little energy, so I physically and mentally couldn’t go back to work. I spent many days, too many days, pacing my living room floor trying to find things to do that would fill the time. There were only so many dishes I could wash, inches of carpet I could vacuum and images on Instagram I could swipe through- comparing my life to others. I was stuck in an unusually comfortable hole of grief, frustration and fear.

As many of you now know, my Dad passed away last September from advanced metastatic cancer. From the initial doctors appointment (for a slight cough) to dying, was 6 weeks. We didn’t even get his diagnosis until the day he died. So, this wasn’t just a shock, it just wasn’t happening- at all. My mind wouldn’t accept it. I’d never really lost anyone close to me before. What even was death? Where was he? Can he hear me? I hadn’t ever needed to think about it before. I couldn’t stop thinking that a person, any person, can have these awful things growing inside of them and be totally unaware, until it’s too late. It’s utterly terrifying.

After he passed, I can honestly say that I feared the mere act of existing. I kept thinking: who’s next? Is it me? I could be terminally ill and not know it, just like Dad. So many awful thoughts crossed my mind. My mind became so overactive, suspicious and obsessive, I began to lose all sense of reality. Everyday, I convinced myself a little more that I had cancer and that I had only a few months left to live. So much so, I developed severe pains in my chest, under my ribs and back. Most nights, it felt as though someone was sitting on my chest. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t really even talk to anybody. It got to the point where I had a paramedic called out at 3am, hooking me up to an ECG machine and trying to calm me down. I also claimed on my medical insurance, saw private doctors and admitted myself to A&E, demanding a chest X-Ray and second opinions. On top of this, I’d also convinced myself that my mum and boyfriend were both terminally ill with cancer. I was ‘certain’ that they’d lost weight and looked unwell and focused on every last detail- their coughs, their diet, the colour of their eyes/skin, the shape of their legs- no joke. It was utter madness.

As I write this, I actually laugh. That might sound odd to you- but now, I honestly can’t understand or even access those thoughts. Ok, the laugh is actually more of a bouncing sigh of relief. Its just unreal what your mind can do.

Have you ever been there? Or are you there? I can thankfully say that I have escaped and scrambled out of the hole. You can too. Your mind is a powerful thing and it’s truly incredible what sh*t you can get through.

What did I do to escape that Salvador Dali painting of a life? Well, I did numerous things- counselling sessions, reading books, meditation and a few other things that did help a lot, but what helped me the most to change my way of thinking was to not only make art but to also write. By ‘write’, I don’t mean writing down negative thoughts and fears onto a piece of paper and throwing them in the bin. I mean writing down positive things. Things like: a daily schedule, what exercise to do today, what chores to do today, who I’m grateful for today, what I’m excited about today etc. I learned how to organise my days, my weeks, my life. As a result, I learned how to organise the mechanics in my head.

[Not an Ad, just a recommendation]

I did this with ‘The Happiness Planner ’, created by Mo Seetubtim. If your mind is not happy and you’re struggling with anxiety and/or depression or you just need to sort your life out, I urge you to get one.

The Happiness Planner is very well thought out. At the beginning, there are pages that you need to fill in that ask you about what makes you happy/unhappy, what your strengths/weaknesses are, what habits you’d like to improve on, what your dreams/goals are etc. These pages make you think. No more blankness is allowed, no more ‘I don’t know’ and no more ‘I don’t mind’. These questions enable you to realise that you are in charge of your own life and your own happiness- all you have to do is think, decide and write. Nothing is set in stone, things can change- but just write things down and get started. You got this.

After the introductory pages, you then get started on filling in day-by-day (like a diary). For the first 6 months of using this planner, I would start filling out this page as soon as I woke up and then finish right before I went to bed (without fail). For the last two months, I’ve been on and off filling these pages in because I’ve been so busy. I see this as a really positive thing because I’ve obviously started to not need it everyday- which means improvement!

At the end and beginning of every month, you’re asked to reflect and plan. This was super important for me because it made me analyse and think really hard about what I’d physically and mentally done that month. Before using this planner, I’d let so many days just roll into the next, never knowing/caring what the date was, floating through life. So, filling these pages in forced me to assess how I’d done, eventually making me realise that I was getting better and enjoying life again. Planning for the next month was also great because it taught me to get excited about things and set goals for myself.

So, to have a happy mind, write, plan and organise your life.

Has ‘The Happiness Planner’ helped you too? Or has something else helped you? Please let me know by sending me a message here.

Thank you for reading my story and also for supporting my practice as an artist- it really does mean a lot. Follow along with my journey on Instagram.

You’re Awesome As You Are

August 11th, 2017 by Emma

I am not using this post to preach. These words I write are not intended to make you change your life. These words represent the way my mind works. I’d rather you didn’t see them as words of advice- more as words of mindfulness and words that just randomly show up at the end of my fingertips. I just want you to be happy, so if you can empathise with this post or have any opinions about it, please let me know.

Words that I keep hearing from someone, who heard from someone etc. etc. are “everyone is on their own journey”. You can read these words as total cheese but when I read them, I think yesss. These words can relate to your relationships, your career, your health, anything. Everyone is doing their own thing, so really, we should be keeping our nose’s out of each other’s journeys and focusing on our own.

I’ve started to be more mindful about this because I kept finding myself unsettled when people act like some things in life are “fixed” or have a “set time”. Life shouldn’t be seen like this- surely, we should be living in a way that feels right just for ourselves and not trying to live like the person next to us. There is no “set age” to get married, there is no “set price” for a piece of artwork, there is no “set time” to eat your lunch and there is certainly no “set time” to hit life goals. From talking to friends, reading articles and flicking through social media- I see that people are kicking themselves for not conforming to “standards” set by.. set by who!? What standards? Why do we think that we should all live up to the same “standards” (whatever they are) and also, why do we judge others by our own “standards” (whatever they are)? I say ‘we’ as a generalisation here.

An example of a typical judgement is when people get engaged- some do after being together for 6 weeks/months and some do after being together for 10, 15 or even 20 years! The point is, they want to get married- it shouldn’t matter to us when it happens; that’s their journey, not ours. Why judge them for something that fundamentally makes them happy? If these marriages fail or succeed, 1. it’s none of anyone else’s business, 2. it’s not necessarily because of the time they got engaged and 3. it’s none of anyone else’s business (yes, I meant to write that one twice).

This is something that I’ve had to learn over time. We all compare ourselves to each other, and social media makes this super easy to do- I still do it on occasions!

It’s about being mindful about your own life and what makes you happy. If your sister is getting engaged- it doesn’t mean that you have to, if your friend is going to the gym- it doesn’t mean that you have to, if that artist is painting in a certain way- it doesn’t mean thats how you should be painting. You get the idea. There isn’t really a set way or time to do anything.

I think that when you start comparing yourself to others and keep trying to fit within these “standards”, you’re jeopardising yourself from having a happy mind. Your mind will actually become quite negative- you’ll beat yourself up about not going to the gym or not earning a certain about of money, you’ll resist socialising and you may start to walk down a path labelled “depression this way”. I’ve done it before and it’s ridiculous. So, if you’re doing this, it needs to stop. (Whoops- trying to give advice!)

In the past, I did the same when it came to making art. I saw many very successful artists, creating beautiful work and having hundreds of thousands of followers- and I thought to myself why can’t I make art like them?.. or what do they do that I don’t?.. or how can they afford such expensive materials? It’s one of those things- we compare, we get jealous, we get frustrated and a happy mind gets more and more out of our reach. Just stop doing it. If someone’s social profile really gets your goat or makes you feel bad about yourself, either don’t follow them or step back and congratulate them on their journey, then carry on with your own. Their journey is not yours in the slightest. You are you, they are them. Why do you think we all look different, sound different and smell different? Because we are different.

Over the last few months, I’ve embraced being different and started to find my own way of living, my own way of interpreting the world and my own way of making art. Read my story here.

Let’s all embrace being different.

To have a happy mind, do not conform to “standards” and make your own mark because you’re awesome as you are.

Check in next week for the next “Happy Mind 101” – it’s my birthday on the Friday, so it’s likely the next post will be up earlier on in the week!

See what I’ve been up to in the studio this week on Instagram.