‘you can’t use up creativity, the more you use, the more you have.’
– maya angelou
Creativity is something that is within us all. It shows up in myriad of ways for different people. Some of us need help manifesting ours to reach full potential. I love working with people, to support and develop theirs and in turn, this nurtures my own development.
In my own practice, I have many different ways of starting to work. It can be looking at images, objects or environments. It can be from listening, touch, feelings, memories, injustice, anger, frustration, fear and play.
I am interested the concept of play in art in relation to the work of Schiller and Kant, especially when considering colour, mark making and image building. When does the ‘play’, become the focus of value in creativity?
I was once very afraid of using colour, I didn’t want to get it wrong, all of my mixed media works began with a layer of Titanium White or Buff Titanium acrylic.
My early works on paper were complex layer upon layer, pulling back, adding in but always muted and subtle, I think Printmaking and specifically screen printing brought me to colour. The layering here was different, one colour on top of another colour, just created new ones.
I was able to work in a more spontaneous and creative way, playing with the layering – not being measured and ordered – but being playful and experimenting ‘on the go’ to see what happens.
I love to draw, I see patterns and shapes everywhere, colour brings me joy.
I like order as much as I like disarray.
I like starting something and not finishing it – I like revisiting and reworking.
…