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.

Exhibition News!

Under the surface
mixed media on canvas, 10x10cm
2026 © Megan Chapman

Hello Dear Readers,

I hope you enjoyed last week's post featuring a new wee painting and poem. If you've been following my work long enough, you'll know that titles are very important to me. Naming my work is an equal part of my process. The poem was a way for me to illustrate how titles serve as keys to let the viewer in to the work.

Last week's small painting and poem (and the work shown above) were all inspired by being invited by fellow artist and dear friend Steven Heaton to participate in Saul Hay Gallery's 10th anniversary exhibition next month in Manchester. 

50 artists from Saul Hay’s past and present have been challenged to create a piece measuring just 10x10cm. In turn each artist has invited a new artist, one who has never shown at Saul Hay before, to join the show. 

10 x 10 Exhibition

Saul Hay Gallery

​Saturday 13th June - Sunday 28th June 2026 ​​​

Tuesday to Saturday 10 - 5.30 and Sunday 10 - 5

Closed Sunday 21st

Railway Cottage, behind Bass Warehouse, off Castle Street,
Castlefield, Manchester M3 4LZ

Email: info@saulhayfineart.co.uk

You can view the 10x10 works online and more will continue to be added.

Disappear Here
Mixed Media on Canvas, 10x10cm
2026 © Megan Chapman
Sold

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

Reflections of Bannockburn house and new small works.

The house kept us just warm enough as we walked the old wooden floors and looked out through the open doors. I balanced a perfect cup of tea on an old radiator behind the red wingbacked chair in front of the window. Abstract art dotted the walls and furniture. It was a perfect rainy Saturday and a sunny and sweet Sunday would follow. 

I relaxed into the old space. It felt like home to me - solid and calm. A place of solace, in its old age and slight decay - authentic and real. It breathed the damp into its bones just as I did. Occasionally, I would be called out to walk beside the five sisters, the old redwoods planted just a bit too close to completely thrive, but oh how they survived anyway. 

Everywhere you looked around the old house and grounds there were stories of perseverance and hope. An ideal setting to show and share art.  

Thanks to everyone who came along to see the Abstractionistas at Bannockburn House this past weekend. We enjoyed sharing our work in such a beautiful and historic home. Visit the Bannockburn House website to learn how you can volunteer or consider donating to help restore this community-owned treasure.

https://www.bannockburnhouse.scot/

In other news, I have listed the remaining nine small works I painted especially for the exhibition, they are on raw canvas and are mounted and ready to pop into a standard 8x10" frame. You can find them all in my Ko-fi shop.

https://ko-fi.com/meganchapman/shop

I hope you are well, happy and inspired. Never doubt what a small group of dedicated and passionate individuals can do. Thanks for being here. 

Bread and roses

From there to here
mixed media on canvas board
5x7"/13x18cm
©2021 Megan Chapman
£55 with free shipping in the UK

STUDIO FLASH SALE THIS WEEK!
NOW JUST £45 with free shipping in the UK.
Click to buy:https://ko-fi.com/s/a3b4f45a94

Lay it down

mixed media on canvas board

7x5"/18x13cm

©2021 Megan Chapman

SOLD

Thunder and the roar

mixed media on canvas board

5x7"/13x18cm

©2021 Megan Chapman

SOLD

Your wild terrain
mixed media on canvas board
7x5"/18x13cm
©2021 Megan Chapman
£55 with free shipping in the UK

STUDIO FLASH SALE THIS WEEK!
NOW JUST £45 with free shipping in the UK.
Click to buy: https://ko-fi.com/s/9ac8d1ded2

Ties that bind

mixed media on canvas board

5x7"/13x18cm

©2021 Megan Chapman

£55 with free shipping in the UK

STUDIO FLASH SALE THIS WEEK!

NOW JUST £45 with free shipping in the UK.

Click to buy: https://ko-fi.com/s/45e6147b43

I wish I could tell you a story about this new little series of works. The truth is, is that I just needed to paint. I needed to move. I needed to have something to show for myself at the end of a bothersome week. I needed to remember and connect with a force that doesn't have time for my horseshit. That's art, and that is how these pieces were born. You might want to listen to Tom Waits' album Rain Dogs while viewing them. Maybe that is all the story you need.

I currently have sixteen original pieces of art in my shop for £45 or less with free shipping in the UK. I also have six prints from my "accidental portrait/tell me how you really feel" series available from £25-40 depending on size.

Please support my work if you are able. I always try to keep a selection of my work in a more affordable price range because I believe in the power of art and the worker. "Bread for all, roses too." https://ko-fi.com/meganchapman/shop (click the tag "bargains £50 or less"). Thanks!

In other news, I just bit the bullet and subscribed to an online art archive platform,

Artwork Archive

. I have tried it for a month and it really seems to have all the features I need to keep my artwork in check. I went with a cheaper tier plan that will archive up to 500 works. I probably have more works than that (I keep finding new old works all the time) but I can upgrade when I reach that milestone.

Thanks to all my past and current patrons and supporters of my work for giving me a reason to have to keep up with all of this. Drop me £3 in my https://ko-fi.com/meganchapman if you want to help me cover this expense!

If you are an artist looking to archive your work, keep track of patrons, galleries, expenses, etc. Check it out. Yes, this is a referral link (to help soften the blow of my investment). If you subscribe with my link we both get $10 towards our accounts! Thanks! https://www.artworkarchive.com/?ref=6f381a

I have been knee-deep trying to find images of my work from art school in the mid-'90s and then on up to 2010. It's been a real challenge, a treasure hunt, and extremely frustrating but I am learning a lot in the process. And once all this is ordered I may just paint again! So if I seem more quiet than usual on social media it's just because I am taking care of business so that hopefully I can share a more complete story of my work with you. Some of it is probably better buried and lost but at the same time, it is the path of past work that led me here. Everything informs the next step. Even archiving all of this is part of the process.

Thank you for being part of it.

- Megan

As always if you live with my work or happen to have exhibition photos of my work, I would love to hear from you and see your photos! Email: megancha at gmail dot com

Broken computers and new small works

This week started off okay but then went to shite around midweek with a computer failure. It really made me realise how much I loathe computers and all the digital detritus we acquire and create. I take a hell of a lot of photos. Computers end up like journals for me. I often start just writing in the middle of a new notebook, random and cryptic words, notations, thoughts. I circle things, I write down dates and numbers and then I walk away, only to start again somewhere else in the notebook, probably writing the same thing again and again. I imagine my computer files stretched across so many dead or dying hard drives, perhaps across continents and seas.

I also realised I don't have to be an expert at all of this. I do pretty well with a few things and that's probably enough. Now, if I could just create a basic rudimentary system that works for me I'll be fine. 

Isn't that what we are all trying to do, just find our place within the frameworks of a basic system. I need wiggle room and a bit of space for wild abandon too. I know I need systems but I don't really like them too much. 

I am sitting in front of the window, the sun is warm on one of my arms, I watch my exhausted daffodils catch the wind, the grape hyacinths are coming up now in the window box. I am listening to concentration music on my computer - drones to keep the brain waves in check. 

I had an order for a print yesterday when I woke up from an old friend in Seattle. Always thankful for the support and delighted for the order. Check out my kofi shop if you haven't in a while. 

And in other news, I happened to paint five new small works this week. Can you imagine? I certainly didn't but somehow I have. These are on 5x7" mixed media on canvas boards. You can see the weave of the canvas in the photos, these wee beauties pack a punch. 

From there to here
mixed media on canvas board
5x7"/13x18cm
©2021 Megan Chapman
£55 with free shipping in the UK
Message me to claim (not in my shop yet)

Ties that bind
mixed media on canvas board
5x7"/13x18cm
©2021 Megan Chapman
£55 with free shipping in the UK
Message me to claim (not in my shop yet)

Your wild terrain
mixed media on canvas board
7x5"/18x13cm
©2021 Megan Chapman
£55 with free shipping in the UK
Message me to claim (not in my shop yet)

Lay it down
mixed media on canvas board
7x5"/18x13cm
©2021 Megan Chapman
£55 with free shipping in the UK
Message me to claim (not in my shop yet)

Thunder and the roar
mixed media on canvas board
5x7"/13x18cm
©2021 Megan Chapman
£55 with free shipping in the UK
Message me to claim (not in my shop yet)

And that's all I have for you this week. Thank you for stopping by and for supporting my work. Take good care of yourself. 

Just the right kind of shakeup

Winter Variation Four

Another Friday night and here we are. I hope you are doing well. We've had snow in the past week and that has added a nice clear light and brightness, providing just the right kind of shakeup. I am delighted to report that three of my latest small works that I shared last week have sold. You can see all of them again here.

In other recent news, I am a proud member of a new collective of women abstract artists in Scotland. We are called the Abstractionistas. We are starting to introduce ourselves and promote our collective. If you are on Instagram please give us a follow.

Please follow @abstractionistas

We debate, challenge, make, and curate abstract art and host our own exhibitions.

My peers in the collective are: 
@estherdonaldsonart
@adelaideshalhope
@judithshaylor
@susan_e_wilson

Please follow us as a collective and as individuals and stay tuned as we focus on advancing abstract art in Scotland and beyond. Our first exhibition is scheduled for July. 

In the home studio, I am working (very slowly) on a new series of works on paper that combines my interest in medieval genealogy and abstraction. It's too new to talk about in detail yet but I just wanted to mention it. There are five pieces so far. You have seen them here already in my recent blog posts, I wrote something to the effect of "this is personal" and it is. Go back and take a look, here, here and here.

That's all I have for you this week. I have been walking, running, dreaming, and waiting and learning so much and as ever I am grateful for your support. 

Take good care- the world needs you and your vision.

The Winter Variations : New Small Works

Winter Variation One

Winter Variation Two
Sold

Winter Variation Three

Winter Variation Four

Winter Variation Five

Winter Variation Six

Winter Variation Seven
Sold

Winter Variation Eight
Sold

We are in the dead of winter. 

Hibernation. The rain, the wind, the sea, and shades of grey surround. 

A quiet time to listen, sleep, watch, breathe, and repeat. 

The winter variations. 

These original mixed media paintings are on heavyweight hot-pressed Fabriano Artistico paper. The mount window is 5x7" and these are ready to pop into an 8x10" frame. £45 with free shipping in the UK. I will be adding these to my ko-fi shop soon and sharing them on social media. 

I hope you are well. 

Thanks for everything, 

Megan

Breathe through this

We walk
200gsm heavyweight acid-free A5 sized paper 5x7"
Mounted and ready to pop into an 8x10" frame.
Titled, signed, and dated on back of art and mount.
Sold

Today is the day after American Thanksgiving. Some of you know today as Black Friday or Buy Nothing Day. I simply enjoyed some leftovers and pumpkin pie and got back to work. 

I started spray fixing the pile of my mixed media pieces on paper that I have created here at the home studio since March. I also made a few updates to my ko-fi shop and will be adding more work there this weekend. Usually, I fix or varnish the pieces as they are sold but then they are in a precarious position while waiting for that moment due to the dry media (charcoal and pastel). I feel relieved they are fixed and on backing boards and under plastic now, well-protected. 

It felt good to varnish/spray fix nineteen pieces today. I made a varnishing station over the bathtub, so I could lay out 6 pieces at a time. I still have another stack of larger works on paper to varnish later this weekend. I have finished 61 new pieces since working from home, there are several others in various stages of progress.

I created some more affordable small works last week. Six new original mixed media paintings on 200gsm heavyweight acid-free A5 sized paper (5x7"). These are mounted and ready to pop into an 8x10" frame. They will be titled, signed, and dated on the back of the art and mount. £45 and free UK Shipping. £8 shipping anywhere else in the world. These are charity works with £3 from the sale of each piece will be used buy a nightlight for a refugee through freedomfromtorture.org.

You can purchase these through my shop.

https://ko-fi.com/meganchapman/shop

Minimal toys
200gsm heavyweight acid-free A5 sized paper 5x7"
Mounted and ready to pop into an 8x10" frame.
Titled, signed, and dated on back of art and mount.
Sold 

Everything good

200gsm heavyweight acid-free A5 sized paper 5x7"
Mounted and ready to pop into an 8x10" frame.
Titled, signed, and dated on back of art and mount.
https://ko-fi.com/s/8febf35798

Quiet place
200gsm heavyweight acid-free A5 sized paper 5x7"
Mounted and ready to pop into an 8x10" frame.
Titled, signed, and dated on back of art and mount.

https://ko-fi.com/s/6ac6e844b4

Marigold's castle

200gsm heavyweight acid-free A5 sized paper 5x7"
Mounted and ready to pop into an 8x10" frame.
Titled, signed, and dated on back of art and mount.
Sold

Breathe through this
200gsm heavyweight acid-free A5 sized paper 5x7"
Mounted and ready to pop into an 8x10" frame.
Titled, signed, and dated on back of art and mount.

https://ko-fi.com/s/528e4eb84d

I even managed to film a tiny Tuesday Studio Video Visit as I flicked through the above pieces (best listened to with no sound - as there was a plumber making a racket while I was filming). We like to keep it real around here.

And while I have you here, please consider signing up for my mailing list if you haven't already so we can stay in touch beyond the confines of social media. Your information is never shared and there shall be no spam! You can easily unsubscribe at any time. Click the link to subscribe: http://eepurl.com/hhjsEb Thank you.

Until next week, be well, stay safe.

Old ghosts dance under the surface

The sea whispers to me
Mixed media on canvas
20x20x4cm/8x8x1.5”
2019 Megan Chapman

After the excitement of open studios and my pop up exhibition, "To tell you everything" at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall last Saturday, it felt good to return to my very tidy studio and return to the work of painting.

I am not quite ready to dive back into my dark series yet, so I returned to some smaller work. These are lighter and brighter with hidden bits. I like to think of them as "A small series about control." These pieces nod to the palette used in "Echoes and memory" but also nod to other works with a dash of the pink here and there. They are textured, layered, and minimal with a touch of play but mostly a touch of control. When I want to control things, I love nothing more than a clear path. When the path is messy and murky in painting and in life, there is nothing better to me than to white it out, blank it out, clean it up, and fix it. This is much easier to do with painting. There may be chaos under the surface but with a broad stroke of paint, it is covered and cleaned. This creates a rich play of what is seen and what is almost seen, textures of what was, as the old ghosts dance under the surface.

On the wind
Mixed media on canvas 
20x20x4cm/8x8x1.5”
2019 Megan Chapman

Six of these small, 20x20x4cm (8x8x1.5") canvases were worked on until completion, documented, varnished, titled, and taken to the framer this week. All six of these pieces were chosen by Roz Walker, fellow artist, and owner of the Velvet Easel Gallery in Portobello, Edinburgh for inclusion in the next mixed show opening July 6th. It was a productive week.

If you listen (again)
Mixed media on canvas
20x20x4cm/8x8x1.5”
2019 Megan Chapman

I also had some fun with the Tuesday Studio Video Visit, singing to the pieces and giving viewers a good up-close look at the work.

Where my soul roams
Mixed media on canvas
20x20x4cm/8x8x1.5”
2019 Megan Chapman

The flowers I bring
Mixed media on canvas
20x20x4cm/8x8x1.5”
2019 Megan Chapman

Small gestures
Mixed media on canvas
20x20x4cm/8x8x1.5”
2019 Megan Chapman

Until next week, keep fighting - the world needs you and the light you bring.