Category Archives: Creativity

AI… is it art? And if it is am I out of a job?!

This week I was intriged by an article in Hackaday about Midjourney – an AI bot which makes images out of textual prompts given to it by the user. It’s pretty geeky stuff, and I don’t claim to understand what it’s doing but I managed to sign up for the free version and get itContinue reading “AI… is it art? And if it is am I out of a job?!”

Capturing the spirit of a long lost landmark…..

When I saw the subject of the ‘Time at the bar please’ exhibition at Yellow Edge Gallery, about pubs in Gosport, I got a clear picture in my mind of what I would paint.   However, I had no concept at the time of how the painting would end up!   One of my earliestContinue reading “Capturing the spirit of a long lost landmark…..”

Listen to the silence…..

I have long had an interest in mindfulness and drawing but today was a first when I took part in an online Zoom meditation drawing session guided by artist Katie Solohub. Whilst I have a daily meditation practice, I have not ever tied my art and my meditation together before. However, it makes sense thatContinue reading “Listen to the silence…..”

Does a drawing have to look like somewhere?

This week I have been thinking about drawing – specifically the need to recreate a visual scene accurately or at least semi accurately. For the past few weeks I have been going to the same spot most days and drawing. But nothing I have drawn would be recognisable as the physical place. However for meContinue reading “Does a drawing have to look like somewhere?”

A Mindful moment – sound drawings

I am working on extending my new series based on Forton Lake and developing some more work based on the area. I have been spending a lot of time, mindfully recording what I see, what I hear and what I feel when I walk around the shores of the lake. An interesting exercise to doContinue reading “A Mindful moment – sound drawings”

Forton Creek Series

After a lot of work, I have produced three paintings that I am very pleased with, that convey my feelings about the creek near my home. Like many of us, I started reallly seeing my local area during the pandemic and I expect a lot more work in the future which is inspired by thisContinue reading “Forton Creek Series”

Stuck…..

I’ve been working hard on the abstraction course and it’s been challenging! I realised that I had become stuck. Working in such detail and in a concious way had led me down a narrow path and I ended up in ‘neat cul-de-sac’ and going nowhere! So I did a great exercise for becoming unstuck, oneContinue reading “Stuck…..”

Putting it all into practice

I have spent the last five or six weeks reflecting on my new series and what I want to say. I decided to focus on the area where I walk, almost every day, to the shore of Portsmouth Harbour as I find it endlessly interesting and have yet to tire of going there. Obviously, sinceContinue reading “Putting it all into practice”

Fun with my sketchbook

Away from my studio for a few days, so I have broken out a new concertina sketchbook to fill up with sketches. I did this last year for the first time and found it immensely satisfying to record the local area in light fun sketches instead of endless photographs (which to be fair, I stillContinue reading “Fun with my sketchbook”