STUDIO CONWAY
Art by Helen Conway
A week ago, I would have started this blog post with an apology for the long gap since the last one. But I am not going to, because I have discovered the concept of ‘ma’. ‘Ma’ is the Japanese idea that the space between things is as equally important as the things themselves. So, the......
For 2018, I am not making Resolutions for my studio practice, I am making New Year Rituals. Over the last few months I’ve developed an intrigue about the power of rituals. There are some rituals I have embraced which are ancient, handed down over generations and wrapped in religious tradition. Others are rituals I......
What if no one wants my art? What if no one reads my writing? I’m writing this from a beach resort in the Algarve where I have been taking the opportunity to do some thinking about longer range goals. There are things on my bucket list which are calling to me and I keep slapping......
The one question I get asked more than any other when I talk to people about my art is: Where do you find the time? I confess I am always tempted to answer, earnestly but slightly sarcastically: “On the beach at low tide” or “I was just browsing in the charity shop and it was......
What’s the secret of starting to make art when you feel unable? Do the thing you need to do right before you think you are starting. So you want, you need even, to create a new piece of art. You have no ideas. You have no energy. You have no commission, no enthusiasm, no (......
Do you know your place? So often being told to ‘know your place’ is a put down . A suggestion that you are getting uppity and need to back down. In fact as an artist there are three reasons why knowing your place can empower you. 1. We all need a ritual recharging place There is......
I now have just 20 days before I have to deliver all the work and labels for the Urban Scrawl Show. I took some in today to show the gallery samples from each mini-series and to have a discussion about hanging plans and pricing and the all important plans for the party! As I unpacked......
At some point in every creative project, the most important technique you will need is trust. All the screen printing classes, the poring over design books and, for some more assiduous than I, the precise annotations of careful chemical experiments with dyes ( Leah Higgins, you know who you are) will only get you so......
I had a moment of creative epiphany on my morning commute today. There are some major roadworks on the East Lancs road and the right hand lane of two is closed for a relatively short stretch. There are the usual signs forewarning of this from about 800 yards out. (I say yards. It could be......
In just a few days I am going to be able to formally announce the launch of a new website for a charity project called Artists in Law. For now let's just reveal that, having been very careful to separate my art life from my law life for some considerable time, some months ago I......