Lust for life

I am writing this blog from my studio. I have my big headphones on and I am still listening to this song on repeat after finally seeing Trainspotting 2 (T2) last Saturday night. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it yet - and go ahead and make it a double feature if it's been a while since you saw the first one. 

I am having a Cherry Coke and I have already painted today. I worked back into two canvases I had started a while back (in the same colour palette) so that was a no-brainer - working back in is always easier than starting anew. 

This week flew by! I put my niece back on the airport bus at 3am last Saturday morning. We had a great time, I think especially last Friday when I met her after writing my blog - we went charity shopping, ate some amazing pizza, followed that with gelato and had a gorgeous wee walk. Sounds like a perfect day. 

This week I worked as usual and I think the series is really coming together. I am building two series at once with a bridge, light and dark - just like life. Right now the darker side is stronger and I am enjoying working with its palette of black, red, and ochre - also a bit of shocking yellow chalk pastel. As I have mentioned before I am trying to use what I have on hand in the studio and not buy more materials to create this body of work. I really love this palette. I have always loved red and have painted my fair share of paintings with it. When I was a little girl, I would say my favourite colour was rosy red. I see you little girl - we know our way around this colour.

Okay so about the art. Let me start with the latest pieces in the dark series. (there are 4 pieces in the light series too - but this week I just want to see the dark together. Here they all are, beginning with the most recent ones.

this one might get worked back into... 

I just want to eat the black with a spoon, perhaps served with a sweet rosy red sauce. 

It feels good to be working again - reclaiming this sacred space, alongside my studio mate and dear friend Aoife. We both dive into our respective worlds and then come up for air and a wee chat. I am so glad this works for us. I'm very protective of my practice and the energies around it. 

Currently painting feels like returning home after getting lost in some really dark woods. 

If you missed the Studio Video Visit you can see it again here: 

That's all I have for you this week. I hope you have a beautiful weekend - thanks for joining me for the Friday Studio Blog. 

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You've come in singing

Well Hello, Dear Readers!

Interpol continues to work their magic in the studio (along with of course all I have ever learned and practised for years and years and fucking years... but this is how it happens. I have to commit to showing up and then the bottle stopper comes out and whooooooooooooooooooosh! 

Pouring out... don't stop. Keep showing up. Don't question. Make it bad. Make it old. Make it from the past. Make it limited, make it messy. comfort shapes and lines. Just get it out on the canvas. Don't question. Pour pour pour and don't stop - you can always refine later. You can question if it is "crapstraction" later. Derivative? Who cares, that's for later. These are like napkin doodles after smoking too many cigarettes and drinking too much coffee in 1987. Pour pour pour - don't stop. And then leave. Don't look back. You can look again tomorrow - you can make the connections tomorrow. You can think about it as you walk home under the trees with the birds, with your big headphones. You can repeat the song and hear the chop chop chop chop of the guitar... and you can make your mark. Do not question it at this stage. Plenty of time for this. Later. For now, you just show up and pour. 

And that's all I have for you this week on the Friday Studio Blog. Thanks so much to all of you who have read and followed this blog since 2007 and to those that have just found it somewhere along the way. I learned this week that the Friday Studio Blog is in the top 10 of the top 20 Best Abstract Art Blogs to follow in 2023! I am honoured to be coming in at number 6! 

Check out the list here: https://blog.feedspot.com/abstract_art_blogs

Oh and if you missed the Tuesday Studio Video Visit it's here: Please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven't already - thanks!

Thanks for your encouragement, support, and for being along for the ride. Take care until next week and get outside!

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Play it again!

New work from the studio this week

I started the week in the studio with one song on repeat at full blast on my headphones. I played this song for probably 3 hours or more. My hearing was impaired for the rest of the week but damn if I didn't get some painting done. I also made my Tuesday Studio Video Visit. If you missed it, click here. 

New work from the studio this week

What song did I listen to? This trance inducing number, "Circles" from 2010 by The Soft Moon. I have used this song and this band in this way before. I often go back to pieces of music that have worked in the past to get me to the place I need to be to paint the work I need to paint.


I repeat different songs for different things. Right now as I write, I am listening to Blur's Sing. I sometimes paint to this as well.

Do you do this too? How important is music to your painting practice or painting to your music practice? Do you use other forms of art to make your work whatever it may be? How about the repetitive aspect? I would love to hear about it if so.

If you listen to these two songs I think you will find similarities and perhaps see why they work for me. I like driving, repetitive sounds but with a good amount of noise, a touch of dreaminess and minimal words. I think this helps me focus on the essentials. Music is the ultimate alchemy and I remain under its spell.

New work from the studio this week

In other news, I am delighted that my painting, The New Language, sold from The Velvet Easel in Portobello yesterday! It will always make my day, perhaps even my week or month, when I sell a painting. I will always feel the thrill of it just like I did the very first time I made a sale years ago. I am grateful when someone sees my work and chooses it for their life. It means so much to me, spurs me on, and encourages me. I am headed into this weekend filled with gratitude. Thanks, patrons!

The New Language, Acrylic on canvas, 76x51x4cm/30x20x1.5" Sold 

Until next week, keep fighting. The world needs you, and your art.