In the summer of 2023 I was awarded a bursary from DAiSY (Disability Arts in Surrey) to become artist in residence at the New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham, Surrey. The brief was to be in an ‘open studio’ situation, welcoming the gallery’s visitors and answering any questions they might have about my work and about creativityContinue reading “building joy”
Tag Archives: BrightWell
Blue Christmas: for mourning
Grief is a response to an irreversible loss… To generate grief rather than sadness, the thing lost must carry great emotional weight, and it must pull back the veil that covers a transcendent aspect of the world. Breathe out to push the fog away from a brilliant pinpoint of light. … Gravity holds my feetContinue reading “Blue Christmas: for mourning”
for community
It is in the shelter of each other that people live. (Irish proverb) Making room for community is different from spending time with my extended network of friends and family. In my current definition, it’s a network of people with whom I have a meaningful encounter, exchange or dialogue, whether online or in person. Continue reading “for community”
well or w/hole (part iv)
I meant to write this in September 2023, but it is now February 2024. I am recovering from a reanimation of the chest infection I caught before Christmas, but it has wiped out this month. I am attempting not to fight the bouts of vertigo and dizziness which sideswipe me, even as I sit perfectlyContinue reading “well or w/hole (part iv)”
well or w/hole (part iii)
(This is the third instalment of ‘well or w/hole?’, and it might (?!) make more sense if you read the other two instalments first. You can find them on the Blog Feed.) Let’s follow the water… One line of research around the bright-+/well project led me to think about the ‘well’ in the name BrightWellContinue reading “well or w/hole (part iii)”
well or w/hole? (part ii)
We dance round in a ring and suppose, But the Secret sits in the middle and knows. ‘The Secret Sits’ Robert Frost For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the idea of essence: that there is a core, a kernel, a seed, a heart, a soul, which functions as aContinue reading “well or w/hole? (part ii)”
well or w/hole? (part i)
When will I be well? When was I ever well? In the beginning I had wellbeing, I was a being of wellness because I lived in a beingwell, a cocoon, a shelter, a haven; those childhood homes, where my parents held me in safety, safely, surrounded, enclosed, beloved, so I could be well, learn well Continue reading “well or w/hole? (part i)”
old wounds
I have now begun my artist residency at the New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham, in earnest. This week was moving-in week, a big enough challenge in itself. It also coincided with me having the honour of staging a ‘take over’ of the Gallery’s Instagram feed while the director, Outi Remes, was on holiday. Outi wanted meContinue reading “old wounds”
playtime is here
Regular readers of this blog will know that I was fortunate enough to have my first solo exhibition, ‘episodes’, at Farnham Pottery last summer. A surprisingly busy Autumn followed, with between 1 and 6 ‘episodes’ paintings appearing in the following exhibitions: ‘and we meet again’ at the Lightbox, Woking; in the Second Saturday group exhibitionContinue reading “playtime is here”
image into ikon 