Ask questions, raise hell, and look ugly doing it.

Well, last week's post went down a storm. Thank you to all who read it here on my blog and across my social media channels. It was good to hear from so many of you who felt the same way. It was illuminating in who and in how folks responded. And it made me realise a few things. 

The artists who are worried about adding to the glut, really don't need to be. Because you are not. It is just like us to think that we are though, but again - we are not. Do not make more space for the glut fillers by removing yourself and your skilled and thoughtful work.

Do not disappear. Plant your feet, broaden your shoulders and link up. Find each other, protect your art, and advocate for yourself and your true peers.  

T A K E. 

U P. 

S P A C E.

Be raw, unfinished, dirty, and sick. Ask questions, raise hell, and look ugly doing it. 

This isn't a vanity project, this is our fucking life. This is our art - an extension of ourselves. This isn't a choice. This is blood. 

We don't do it for the bots, or the bloated likes and follows, we have no choice. 

So let's not pretend that we could ever fit into an algorithm.

Show up like we did before the world's stage was in everyone's back pocket. 

Find your true kin and give them your time and attention. Find yourself.

Your work is too good to doubt or to hide. Show them how it is done - your way. 

See you there.

You can’t be what you can’t see

“I agree with activist Marian Wright Edelman, ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ so it’s extremely important for women to be seen being artists as well as supporting each other in the process.” Here I am in the studio today, with a new shipment of canvases. 

Be seen being an artist.

Be seen working. 

Be seen taking up space. 

Be seen in your power. 

Be seen being brave. 

Be seen being assertive. 

Be seen making a mess of things. 

Be seen making something beautiful, wretched, or scary. 

Be seen contradicting yourself. 

Be seen screaming. 

Be seen trying something new and failing. 

Be seen crying and vulnerable. 

Be seen being ugly. 

Be seen being your most beautiful human self. 

Be seen loving the planet. 

Be seen loving strangers. 
Be seen loving animals.

Be seen meditating. 

Be seen doing yoga. 

Be seen dancing wildly.

Be seen getting it wrong.

Be seen getting it right.

Be seen caring about yourself. 

Be seen loving all those who come into contact with you. 

Be seen cheering someone on. 

Be seen making a difference. 

Be seen laughing like mad. 

Be seen making your own personal history. 

Be seen on the edge of your comfort zone. 

Be seen being strong. 

Be seen being weak. 

Be seen making a mistake. 
Be seen trying again.
Be seen changing your mind.
Be seen reclaiming your time. 

Be seen reclaiming your space.

Be seen asking for what you want. 

Be seen asking for what you need. 

Be seen being sure of your opinions. 

Be seen embracing all your quirks. 

Be seen with your brushes, canvases, and paint splattered shoes. 

Be seen with your tools of the trade whatever they may be.
Be seen with your economy of line and your wild intuition. 

Do not get small, do not fade away, do not give up... we need you here. In you, I see myself and together we are stronger. 

Thank you.