Gold is the colour of now

And that's all I have to say about that. 

X

Anchor to my days

Book two

I have now been engaged in my personal project in my studio daily for the last 5 weeks. As previously mentioned, this entails a string of rituals stacked on top of each other and practised each morning starting around 6am. This usually lasts several hours, and before anything else happens in my day. Everything in its right place - a certain order - a priority. This time is fused together by movement, music, writing and painting, study and meditation. Born from necessity, the essentials revisited. It is a meaningful anchor to my days and I will continue like this until it inevitably runs its course.

New small works series in progress

Within
mixed media on canvas, 10x10cm
2026 © Megan Chapman

Hello Dear Readers, 

Another new small work has surfaced (see above). There are currently four in this series, with the first one being in Manchester at the Saul Hay Gallery for their 10x10 Exhibition opening on the 13th of June. You can learn more about the exhibition and view the included works here: https://www.saulhayfineart.co.uk/10x10. 

I am delighted to be a part of it and thankful for the inspiration for this new series.

Three new pieces on my studio wall minus the one I sent to Manchester

I am going to keep it simple this week. I hope you are well and inspired wherever you are. Thanks for spending some time with me. 

Until next week, keep fighting.

A meditative pause

Glitter disco monarch of the glen with added buddha

How in the world is it already Friday again? Sorry, these types of pronouncements are about as dull as talking about the weather.

I have been awake for ages in the dark so I figured I might as well type a few words. I am still not ready to share what I have been up to on the art front. Maybe I will feel inclined to share this on boxing day (which will be the next time I write here). 

I also can't believe that we are less than a week away from Christmas. I put out a few decorations but nothing major - I've been too preoccupied with my job and my behind the scenes art vibes. Let's just say I have been working hard. Thankfully, I have had some welcomed help from my pal Julia (it's not a blog if my talented friend isn't in the mix these days).

 

all that glitters

At this point in my life, Christmas serves as a meditative pause. I am looking forward to time off work, time to reflect, to watch films, eat good food, catch up with some friends and go for walks. Time to settle into some new patterns and create future pathways. Ooh, and time for genealogy too! Now, I'm excited!

Whatever you get up to during the festive season, I hope you have moments of peace and security. It's been one hell of a year for a lot of us, so take it easy and don't forget to honour your needs (this is a reminder to myself). And remember too, it's almost Solstice - the light will be making its slow return back to us!

Wishing you a joyous season. Thank you for sharing some of your precious time with me. We need you and the gifts you bring. Keep fighting and shining.

I still shake

Above the old studio sink

Hello Dear Readers, Friday finds us again.

Thank you for spending some time with me in a world that is always pulling at your attention and lifeforce. Last week's post seemed to be a popular one, and I am glad it resonated. 

This hasn't been a great week, but there have still been moments of beauty and laughter, as well as tears. I took time for it all.

I have decided that I must approach things differently. It's once again time to reframe, change, embrace, and accept. Of course, it is always this time unless one is fighting against the very nature of life. I am actually pretty good at doing this - I can be pretty stubborn. I am a fixer and an optimist, a hard worker and much of the time, a black and white thinker. These qualities can serve me well to a point and these traits can also make things harder than necessary. I embrace my hardwired tendencies and breathe into what I can soften and release. 

This week, I walked more and listened to nature's lessons. 

As I think many of you have gathered, my art "career" is not the same as it once was, my feelings and motivations towards it have changed a lot since the pandemic as well as from all I have learned through my involvement with the Scottish Artists Union. I no longer work the same way as I did. Some of this is okay with me and some of it, is not. 

The arts (in all of its forms) was such a huge part of who I was as a child, how I was raised, what I valued and how I perceived my value. I credit art with "rewiring" my brain, giving me a purpose, and helping me make sense of the world and my place in it. Art built my confidence and gave me a shorthand language to help me find others that I could understand and who would understand me. Art supported me emotionally, spiritually, sometimes financially, and gave me a sense of community. 

Most of my friends are artists or in creative fields of practice and many of them have also changed the way they work. We talk about it differently now, in a wistful way. Longing for something that was lost. Back before algorithms, likes, and shares - or back to when likes and shares still equaled opportunities and income. Back before we realised how much all the open calls were costing us, before we realised the labour involved in pursuing speculative opportunities that seemed to generate income for everyone but the artists. Back when we had that hungry energy when we were younger. 

How do we peel it all back and begin again? What systems need creating to make it work? What is the goal now? How do you keep expressing and creating when you are the only audience for your work and your storage space and finances are limited? How do you remain committed to the creative practice when the world seems committed to misunderstanding it and you? 

How do you ignore the pressures of society to protect the tiny flame within?

I think you tell the truth. I think you keep showing up, even if showing up looks different now. I think you keep walking in nature, and realising the value of all things that feed the creative work. I think you get quiet and maybe a little angry. 

And you create to please yourself, to calm, soothe, explore, excavate and exorcise. I think you meditate and cry and limit the bullshit from taking root. 

Why would the path look the same as it did five, ten, or twenty five years ago? It wouldn't. We've changed, the world has changed, the internet has changed, galleries have changed, motivations have changed and this is simply the nature of things. 

Art is the constant, even in fits and starts. From youth to now, I think about it, write about it, talk about it, work around it, create it, cry and worry over it, and feel its exaltation.

I let go of what was, accept what is, and do not fear the future, but I still shake.

A shift in the weather

She is an imaginary girl

This girl from Arkansas was influenced by David Lynch

Dear Readers, Art Lovers, and Friends,

It was fitting that the soundtrack to last week's post was "Dark Night of the Soul" featuring David Lynch.

I was so shocked to hear of his death that I actually gasped out loud when I read the news in a message from my brother Sean. I wrote a few friends in particular who I knew would be upset and then I shed a few tears myself. I started watching old clips and reliving memories that revolved around David Lynch's work and art.

Like many others, I took to the internet to share my feelings:

"I'm so sad about this loss. David Lynch gave us so much vision and new ways to see. He offered up validation and permission. Meditations on darkness and love. Twin Peaks beaming into the house when I was in high school was as important to me as witnessing the dawn of MTV when I was child. Style, colour, art, mystery - everything was suddenly available to me. I could understand my own sensibilities and appreciate them even in Arkansas."

Looking back, I realise how much he had influenced me in the 80s and 90s and how he continues to influence me today. How often I quote his work. He was and will forever remain a true artist and an original. We are so lucky for all he gave us. 

Thank you, David Lynch for sharing your vision.

Two Sad Clouds, mixed media on paper, Megan Chapman, 2024

Temptation, mixed media on paper, Megan Chapman, 2024

How can we best show up in this crushing world with our own singular visions? How can we support each other and ourselves in our purest most expansive forms? How can we bring more delight, humour, wonder, and understanding into this world?

Let's catch some ideas.

Waiting (again)

I am back dating these posts more often than I like and the tuesday studio video visits fell by the wayside long ago. I didn't even try to sell you anything this year. 

I am letting it all slide and fall away as my energy is spent on living and laying down the first two bricks of the foundation in the hierarchy of needs. Again. 

I had a good dream last night, one of the special - true to life, lucid dreams, filled with symbolism and allure. I made a great cup of coffee this morning and I sang a made up song at the kitchen counter while looking up at the skeleton trees. 

Not bad at all. 

I completed some chores and I thought about ancient times. I listened to a familiar voice with his vulnerability vibrating down the line - a character actor singing about nothing. Perfectly. 

I meditated. 

I don't mind waiting.

Contemplation, rest, and gratitude

Thank you to all those who have supported me in the past, present, and future. I can't do this without you. You are a vital part of this dance. 

I will see you again next Friday for my 2023 year-end review blog. 

May contemplation and rest find you in the next week.

With love and gratitude, 

Megan 

My favourite kind of beauty

I went for a walk yesterday and everywhere I looked was beautiful. Aged, decaying, and run down - my favourite kind of beauty. The light was from the past and the golden leaves, the old doors, cobbles, and wynds were singing to me. The pavements held me, and the sound of the trees in the wind cushioned my steps. 

We are holding you. We are here for you. We are with you now. 

I looked up to the sky, I looked down at my feet, step after step. I looked at the light and breathed - looked into the wind and felt, looked up again into the trees and tears met my eyes.

I hear the small birds in the morning now, not the seagulls. The swans and signets have done themselves proud, their family intact and almost grown as they glide along the water in the sun. 

I congratulate them. 

I walk on, and the leaves glisten in the water. I snap a picture. 

We are holding you. We are here for you. We are with you now.

Capture the light

Morning Sun 1952 - painting Edward Hopper

I am stuck here wordless. 

I was videoless this week as well. 

After last week's activity comes this week's pause, this week's work, and this week's riding of the wave.

But there is a beam of sunshine on my hands and there is music in the air. I had a nice lunch and good snacks. I am wearing a new (to me) crisp white oversized button-up shirt from a charity shop. I can see clouds moving quickly from my window. I have packages coming my way and a stray cat who visits me. 

It's not bad or good - it's just life. 

When we look at a painting by Hopper we don't feel too bad about things. We don't judge the space in the room or the lone woman. We like the feeling. We celebrate it. Perhaps we can celebrate those days in real life too. Or just soak up the space, the light, the feeling. Celebrate is too strong. We can just be in the space without judgment and without wanting to move on too fast. 

Autumn is good for this, the need for hibernation is starting to filter in around the edges. It's okay to put on your shoes and go for a walk or just sit still and capture the light. 

Until next week, keep fighting and then take a nap. And if you live in Scotland sign this petition.

Thank you.  

You don't know us

she stopped breathing in the floating world
21x15cm
mixed media on canvas
2023 Megan Chapman

where tears freeze before they fall
21x15cm
mixed media on canvas
2023 Megan Chapman

holding everything dear

15x21cm
mixed media on canvas
2023 Megan Chapman

in silence the message

21x15cm
mixed media on canvas
2023 Megan Chapman

rest before the fall
21x15cm
mixed media on canvas
2023 Megan Chapman

     only to start again

21x15cm
mixed media on canvas
2023 Megan Chapman

In the shallows

In the shallows

Mixed media on canvas

80x80cm © 2018 Megan Chapman

Sold

Darkness comes in stages

Mixed media on canvas

30x122cm © 2016 Megan Chapman

Sold

I had the most delightful week of meetups, conversations, connections, sales and so much more... I am so pleased that the two pieces above found their homes this week. This always brings me such joy. You can hear me talk about the process and feelings in my Tuesday Studio Video Visit, below. Thank you for your likes, subscribes, shares, and comments and thank you for sharing in my joy and for supporting my work. It means the world to me.

And while I had a good week, I know many in the world did not. I am thinking of the people of Ukraine. 

May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all beings rejoice in the wellbeing of others.
May all beings live in peace, free from greed and hatred.

Thank you.

There's no place like home

What can I tell you? What can I share? 

Well, I have had some glorious conversations, affirmations, and put in a lot of hard work this week and so I have arrived here a bit worn out.

Ties that bind
mixed media on canvas board
5x7"/13x18cm
©2021 Megan Chapman
£55 with free shipping in the UK

I learned recently that there is an old house inside me and in the deepest room, there is a kitchen with a long wooden table. I always have a seat reserved there. I can bring whatever I need to bring to this place and I will be received with unconditional care and space to just be. I can see the light coming in the windows and my shoulders drop and I can breathe deeply. I am greeted the same at the table if I am rage-filled, sad, lonely, scared, tired, or happy as a clam. My table is always there in the light in the middle of the house. I carry this place with me. I will forget sometimes, but I do know it is there. Home within.

This scene makes me cry every time...

In other news, yesterday I joined the Granton Hub as a volunteer member of the arts subgroup to contribute ideas and help run events in their arts programme. I attended my first meeting and I am very excited about the ethos and happenings at the hub. I invite you to like their social media pages and posts if you don't already.

FB:

https://www.facebook.com/madelviccommunity/

TW: https://twitter.com/granton_hub
IG: https://www.instagram.com/grantonhub/
YT: https://bit.ly/3cIKyVA
Web: https://grantonhub.org/

And in other, other news, after the computer failure (and thankful replacement) of last week, I realised I really need and want to create a proper archive of my past, current, and future work. I have found an online platform, that has all the features I need to help me manage my art, exhibitions, finances, and patrons in one place. This platform would help me immensely going forward. I am asking my patrons and supporters to invest in my past work and my future by supporting me in this goal over on my ko-fi page. 1 year of this service costs £165. I have 11 days left of my month-long free trial. I have already uploaded over 100 works to the site.

With your support, I could get my archive off the ground and work smarter rather than harder, and easily share even more of my work with you. I am already hard at work getting my files organised. It has been an overwhelming yet empowering experience. I have a long way to go yet, but I think this is the best tool for moving forward. If you have a spare £3 that would be super helpful. Visit: https://ko-fi.com/meganchapman to help me with this goal. Thanks!

Please show up for yourself. Find your home, your room, your space. Find your folders, create your own system. Ask for help, make it happen. Make your mark. There is room for you here too.

The practice of being human

 Today is the start of the New Year. 2021

Last night:

Six bonfires on the wee beach, laughter and chatter in the distance, the moon and stars above, waves lapping in the background. Counting down minutes, watching the local fireworks displays all around and hearing the ships’ horns bellow at midnight.

I walked 116.30 miles in December. I have not been painting much since I completed my most recent small works on paper. But I have been walking. I think walking is becoming a part of my practice now. The practice of being human, the practice of meditation, practice of being an artist, practice for being in this world and walking through all the events of these strange days.

The pavement is my guide, the birds and trees are my friends. One step forward and then another. The sun holds my hand. I breathe into nature’s embrace. Ever thankful.

There is time for everything and for new ways of being and seeing. Soon I will paint again. Happy New Year, May you be safe, happy, and healthy. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Living on the fault line

A new painting from this week

I can feel the sun as it shines on my legs, the doors are open onto the yard of the studio on this, the third week of my lucky artist's residency. It's been raining like cats and dogs and angry ones at that, with the weather being more like Arkansas than Scotland this past week.

I am listening to REM's album Murmer as this place reminds me of it and takes me back again to my youthful summers spent dreaming of somewhere else. I watch the swallows dart in and around as the buddleia sprouts from the corners of the slate roof. Faded blue and green painted arched wooden doors come into view as this morning's rain puddles reflect the light.

I sit and write and breathe and feel content even when the world is going to shit. This morning I cried and then meditated (some call it prayer) for the children in cages and now the new ones left without parents in Mississippi. I know my meditations can't help them and I cry over the trauma that they will be left with. I am half a world away, sitting in the sun thinking about institutional racism and I am thinking about painting. I can think about both and I can choose to think about one more than the other because of my white privilege. This troubles me but not like it troubles those without this skin.

In my privileged world, I am learning to be okay with being happy and sad, civil and angry, content and yet aware of the world and its injustice. I wade into these grey murky waters, this muddled way of being, the dark and light within and the imperfection and humanity of us all.

I walk each step learning that nothing has to be "good" or "perfect" and I keep painting.

Living on the fault line

If you missed Tuesday's Studio Video Visit, you can see it again here.
Until next week, keep fighting.

May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all beings rejoice in the wellbeing of others
May all beings live in peace, free from greed and hatred.

Consider making a donation to the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance. "MIRA envisions a Mississippi that supports, protects, and welcomes immigrants from across the globe working hand-in-hand to create a thriving community called home." If you donate directly to them they have access to the money quickly so they can help these families hit hardest by the latest ICE raids. Donate here.

Thank you. 

The magic is in the schedule and in the practice

Small works framed for The Velvet Easel Gallery exhibition: "Off the Wall"
Happily, the two on the right sold on opening day. 

Dear Readers, 

I don't seem to have much to say about painting right now and I find that very frustrating. My studio blog is an important part of my process. It is a practice that I value right along with my painting. They work in concert together. My painting spurs on my writing, and my thoughts, words, and daily life spur on my painting. They each help me understand my motivations and why I paint. Sometimes, it's a simple reportage post of what happened one week in the studio, sometimes it's a love letter to the process, and sometimes it's just photographs of the work. The point is, whatever my blog is, I show up each Friday (well, usually). 

The magic is in the schedule and in the practice. This important practice has been hard for me lately. So here's to checking in, acknowledging the importance of the process, and stating my intention to get back into it. That's really all I can do. It doesn't help that I have had three viruses in the past 6 weeks. Perhaps this is a sign to slow down and nurture myself, to breathe in and breathe out and just be. There is an ebb and flow to nature and right now I am in the ebb. Looking forward to sharing the flow again with you one day soon. 

Thanks to all of you that check in here, your support and interest are also part of the process and part of my community that I hold dear. I plan to "catch up" later this weekend.

To quote Thich Nhat Hanh, "Darling, I care about the suffering."

Studio life, routine, sales!

Stolen moments

40x50x4cm

Mixed media on canvas

© 2017 Megan Chapman

£585

Available through The Velvet Easel Gallery

This week was fabulous. I worked in the studio from Monday through Friday. I also returned to my yoga and meditation routine. In short, I returned to my natural way of being.

I deep cleaned my studio, gave all my brushes a good wash and organized my storage and just reconnected with the space. It was so good to be there, to drink my tea there, to see the familiar faces and walk the streets of my old neighbourhood.

Time spent as someone else

40x50x4cm

Mixed media on canvas

© 2017 Megan Chapman

£585

Available through The Velvet Easel Gallery

After my deep clean, I decided to have an impromptu studio sale over on my Facebook Art Page. I am grateful to say that eighteen pieces have since sold from the sale. This will enable me to pay my studio rent for a little over 3 months and provide some peace as our budgets have been severely stretched as both the studio and the flat rent went up considerably.

The sale continues with new works (mostly smaller, older, and some stranger) added and there are some ridiculous deals to be had. In the end, it comes down to space and money and I need both. Thanks again for your support.

Precipice

50x40x4cm

Mixed media on canvas

© 2017 Megan Chapman 

£585

Available through The Velvet Easel Gallery

In other news, this past Saturday I delivered 4 pieces to be included in the "5 Years" exhibition at The Velvet Easel Gallery. These works are from a series painted in 2017 called "All the ways." You can see them here, peppered through this blog post. I have now been showing my work with The Velvet Easel for the past year and I am really delighted to participate in this show celebrating the gallery's success over the past 5 years of business. Join us on Nov. 3rd for the opening. It's an all-day drop-in affair so if you want to make sure to meet up with me there, send me a message or comment so that we can coordinate.

Far away

40x40x4cm

Mixed media on canvas

© 2017 Megan Chapman

£550

Available through The Velvet Easel

Don't miss it. 

There are a few other art related things happening on the backburner and I will tell you about those soon.

Keep fighting because just when you are ready to quit, it might just get good again, so hang on. With gratitude until next week.

**************

Do you enjoy my blog, my video visits, the paintings I share, or the other content that I provide for free across social media? Consider buying me a cup of coffee in support of my work. I am a member of Ko-fi.com, A friendly way for creators to get paid! Thank you!

Come to centre

I put my hands together at my heart centre. I breathe in and I breathe out. I put my hands together at my third eye and I breathe in and out. I put my hands together at my lips and breathe in and out and then back to my heart.

I bow to us all. 

May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. 

May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. 

May all beings rejoice in the well being of others.

May all beings live in peace free from greed and hatred. 

I do this every morning after I meditate and practice yoga. This has become non-negotiable, an anchor to begin my day and to connect with myself and the world. 

I am grateful for this peaceful and kind practice. I am not trying to get anything or earn anything or be anything that I am not. I am simply coming to my centre.

And then everything else comes from there. My art, my intentions, my speech, my love, my relationships. I am not superhuman, I fuck up plenty, but the goal is to come from the centre. To live and work from this congruent place.

Yesterday, I was fortunate to ramble through the centre of the Pentland Hills to walk in the valley and see and feel the vastness of the landscape and just how small I am. I had the space to notice how small my worries, fears, and perceived problems are too. The day before I had been stressed, running from bus to bus from appointment to appointment with a mind filled with expectations and hopes. The next day I was free. I was sitting on an old low child's swing under a tree canopy in the Pentland Hills, surrounded by nature and sheep. Returned to centre. 

When I got home I wanted to dream of the place when I slept. I didn't, but I don't need to. The place is within.

I approach my best art from this place. Expansiveness. Creating something from nothing, art is a divine expression personal to me but able to reach and connect with many. This is not something to expect things from, this is a gift to be nurtured. What if I approached art from the same place as my morning meditation and yoga practice? 

"I am not trying to get anything or earn anything or be anything that I am not. I am simply coming to my centre."

Let's see...

************

Do you enjoy my blog, my video visits, the paintings I share, or the other content that I provide for free across social media? Consider buying me a cup of coffee in support of my work. I am a member of Ko-fi.com, A friendly way for creators to get paid! Thank you!

Reminder. Next Friday, Sept 21st. 7-9pm.

Between Memory and Story: Selected Works of Megan Chapman a week from today at the The Out of the Blue Drill Hall September 21st  from 7-9pm. as part of Maggie's Centres Culture Crawl in Edinburgh.

Between memory and story

Let's see, I don't feel like I have much to say or maybe I have a lot to say but I don't know how to say it. Or I have a lot to say but this isn't the forum. Who knows. All I know is that it is Friday and I am here writing because it's what I do.

Let's start with the basics. I worked in the studio some this week but not quite as much as I would have liked. I might make up for this over the weekend.

You can see what I have been up to on the Tuesday Studio Video Visit recap.



I started fine tuning the canvases that I had been working on as an experiment for a potential commission that I shared in progress last week.

Here are two that are heading into a more finished phase but are not quite done. The other two have a ways to go yet. The colours feel fresh and bright with the pure yellow and dash of coral. We will see what happens next.

In other news, we are still stressed while looking for a new flat to rent (we have about 6 weeks before we have to be out of this one). My studio rent went up £20 a month and another gallery in Edinburgh contacted me to pick up all my work.

However, I know we will find a place to live because we just have to. My studio rent went up but I believe it now includes high-speed internet in my studio (just what I need, right?) and the gallery gave me back all my work but now I am able to present even more of my latest body of work at my solo pop-up exhibition, Between Memory and Story on September 21st from 7-9pm for the Maggie's Culture Crawl at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall.

I am incredibly honoured and excited to be taking part in this special event happening across twelve cities in the UK that aim to provide a year's worth of culture in one night all while raising funds and supporting people with cancer.

I have nothing to complain or worry about. I have had better weeks or months but I have also had worse. You bet I hit the yoga mat this week and the meditation cushion too. I reached out to friends and I felt my feelings. Every day I do that is a victory. I hope you were victorious too.

Until next week, let's keep fighting.

***************************************

Do you enjoy my blog, my video visits, the paintings I share, or the other content that I provide for free across social media? Consider buying me a cup of coffee in support of my work. I am a member of Ko-fi.com, A friendly way for creators to get paid! Thank you!