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.

Consulting the oracles

conversation with self

It's been a hard month - Loss, illness, and unease

It's been a beautiful month - Conversations, understanding, and alchemy

A creative return 

Consulting the oracles

My hands have moved

Reclaiming stolen property

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

For Brian with gratitude always.

California Schemin'

In the time it takes
Acrylic on canvas, 46 x 32"
© 2020 Megan Chapman 

Today I had an amazing experience. I got to see one of my paintings on the big screen for the first time! I booked tickets for the first showing on opening day of James McAvoy's acclaimed directorial debut, California Schemin'.

I think I might have exclaimed "Holyyyyyyyyy Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit!" under my breath to my pal in the darkened cinema. Or maybe it was "Oh My God!!!" when the camera panned and my painting was right in the centre of the scene above the fireplace. This is the penthouse...

Screen grab from California Schemin' Promo
© StudioCanalUK © California Schemin

There it was, just for a few seconds, but a definite presence. My large abstract painting with its bold strokes of pink and black cutting across the canvas - the trappings of success: our Scottish heroes of the film, Silibil N' Brains, had made it big. I was so engrossed in the film that the sight of my painting caught me by surprise even though I'd spotted it in a promo clip on Instagram earlier in the week.

Something I painted is now in a major motion picture by a famous Scottish actor and now director, filmed in Scotland about two talented Scottish rappers from Dundee who adopt American accents to finally get their big break.

What this moment means to me is hard to put into words. As an American artist (now an American Scot) who uprooted my life to come to Scotland with so many unknowns before me, I am extremely proud to have my work be part of this film. I love everything about it.

If you are in the U.K. this weekend, go see California Schemin'! It's a captivating and wild story of talent and fierce determination, and a proud moment for Scottish cinema.

Joy is resistance

You know what's cool? Walking down a road you've never been on with your pal, then standing with your backs against a wall in the winter sun. I’ve done this twice lately and highly recommend it. If you joke that you both look like members of an '80s band and share a laugh, it’s even better.

Julia and I have been roaming the streets again, seeing art, and sitting in coffee shops. We have already seen some great exhibitions this year. This is normally where I would tell you all about them but I cannae be arsed. Go out and see some art wherever you live. 

I will show you one of my new works in progress. I decided to pop it into a frame just to see how it would feel in one, and it seemed to agree with it. I like my frames like I like my art, a bit dirty and damaged. 

In other news, I have been reading books, organising, working, meditating, baking, and learning new ways of being. It's a good way to stay sane when everything is awful and gross. I am also taking action, voting, calling, signing, and joining. Community, community, community - that's where it's at. I hope you are being supported by your community. I hope you are supporting your community. 

Stay free, be well, and stand against walls in the sun. 

This gift remains

Little Edie Flag Dance, Grey Gardens, Maysles Brothers' Film 1976

It's the 4th of July and while not patriotic, it is still an atmosphere that I can easily recall: a hot, sticky, Arkansas summer. Picnic tables at the park, Mom's amazing BBQ baked beans, hot dogs, and watching the country club's fireworks from a distance at the picnic table on the side of Mt. Sequoyah, and then later the fireworks at the Northwest Arkansas Mall. Bottle Rockets (and getting hit in the neck with a bottle rocket - thanks, Sean). The smell of burning snakes (not real snakes) as they undulated on the pavement. A feeling of a bit more freedom and extra wildness, walking the hot streets in the neighborhood to the pool with my friend, Annie. Vivid summer memories of childhood. 

But today, my brain has other plans—today it feels like the hashbrowns at the Waffle House (another American institution). Today, I am scattered, smothered, and covered... if you know, you know. This 4th of July I am anxious, angry, and fretful.

Today, the sky is grey and featureless as little Edie from Grey Gardens does her perpetual flag dance, frozen in time on my computer screen. Rain starts to fall on the pane of the tilted open window and I am a bit cold and far from home and the people I love. 

The US government did a bad, bad thing yesterday, and it all feels a bit much. I soothe myself by looking at and crying over Bruegel paintings. Yes, really. It's all right there. The paintings of Bruegel and Bosch were my version of Where's Waldo. Certain paintings become touchstones for grounding. These paintings serve as kinship and provide strength and a knowing. Like holding up a mirror passed through the family for decades—all your people have gazed in the same glass, and they are still there with you now.

The Triumph of Death, oil on panel c. 1562
117 cm × 162 cm (46 in × 63.8 in) Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Museo del Prado, Madrid

In these hard and strange times, I am so grateful to have this type of relationship with art. To be able to slow down and just go into a painting, to know a painting, to feel the support of a painting, to marvel and dream over a painting. To feel seen and known by a painting and to know it in return. It's a rare gift that I credit my parents for making  available to me through the prints on the walls and the books on the shelves in our little home in Arkansas.

No matter where I am or what happens, this gift remains. 

This is the best costume for the day

£2 well spent looks like this

After last week's newtongrange moment, I spent the weekend doing nothing much at all. I met a pal at the local car boot sale on Sunday and found some perfect antique teaspoons (I have a thing for old silverplate - I mean a real thing - I have said in the past if I ever got a tattoo it would be of an old fork or spoon and maybe a rickety chair). Anyway, I took it pretty easy as I was still recovering from the after effects of the previous week's migraines. 

I could feel the edge of frustration creeping up as my newest routines had been slightly derailed by the headaches. It was a busy week at work, but I did manage some creative time - just a few moments of weirdness but it's good for the soul. 

It was one of those frustrating moments, where the day had been fine but dull and that edge was creeping up. All of the sudden I was in the bathroom putting on red lipstick like Robert Smith - you know, not inline with my lips - too much product and a bit deranged like an old hollywood meltdown. It's nice to do things "wrong" especially if you are always trying to get it right. I then filled in my eyebrows - the way they were before I mistakenly plucked them in my 30s for the first time. I haven't done a thing to them since 2018 but they don't grow back the same after you've fucked with them, so they are spare in parts. I back combed my short hair like I did in hair school and put on a headband. It's really good to do something slightly out of character and just for the hell of it. I thought about all the times I don't do this. I mean this was standard fare in junior high and high school for me, but then that became a costume like any other, so eventually I stopped with it all. 

"Just getting through life" can make for a pretty boring but necessary costume. So it was nice to have a bit of a play. Play is a forgotten art for adults - think about the way we dress, the face we put on - often so ordinary. I wear "this" but not "that." I couldn't possibly make a change now because this is "me" and that is not. 

Anyway, I guess I was having a very mild Cindy Sherman moment so I decided to take some snaps (the adult voice says how vain, how 2009, and what is the point of all of this). The child says, because I am here, I exist, and it's fun. So I did, and the child was happy. 

With action comes power (or at least a change in perspective or a break from inertia). 

Daily Life Costume

A bit extra for dull days

Photographic expansion 

Double exposure 

Living my best life in multiple exposures

In street finding news, a fully functional bicycle in great condition was put in my path this week.Thank you to the generous soul who clearly marked it, "free and it works!" before abandoning it in the alley. I went for a ride after I got off work yesterday and again, the child was happy. 

It's okay to play when the world is on fire.

Until next week, you know what to do...

PS. Thanks to everyone who makes this blog what it is. I am so glad to be back.

Return: Manual for Living II

New Small Works

I haven’t written a blog post in ages. I am currently 9 entries behind this year. I am going to endeavour to start filling the gaps and get back on track. Not because I owe it to you, but because my blog helps me to remember things and ultimately it helps everything else in my life. The following entries will be back dated of course and might be a bit more minimal or image heavy while I try to catch up. To those of you who have checked in here, I hope you will get something out of these entries or at least know I am attempting to work my way back to you.

A lot has been going on behind the scenes and my studio blog and my art practice have been the furthest things from my mind. Everything is a bit of a blur and I am finding it even harder than usual to focus. I am looking back at my calendar, photos I took, and social media posts to help me figure out what was happening, against a much larger backdrop that I either will or will not get into. 

Thanks for being here.

My last blog post was on February 7 and it proved to be a popular one, or perhaps people just kept landing on it looking for future posts. Either way I am glad many of you allowed me to be dramatic and also resonated with the post yourselves.

Overwhelmed with everything going on politically, I was calling my representatives in the United States from Scotland often this week in February, along with posting political actions on social media. I was holding on to the second season of Severance as one thing I could look forward to every Friday evening even when everything else was going to shit. I started a small series of new works this week as well. Ultimately creating 7 new small mixed media collage works on paper and framing them in simple white frames.

These pieces remind me of a condensed version of the “manual for living” series I created in 2010. Seems fitting - we may need a manual now more than ever.
At this time, I can only offer these works to folks living in the UK due to prohibitive shipping costs and the fact that these are framed with glass. If you are in the US and really want one please message me and I will give you a shipping quote. 

Art has the power to inspire and provoke thought, and it can also be a vehicle for change. By purchasing one of these new small works of mine, you are not only supporting my work but also contributing to an important cause. £10 from each sale will go directly to the American Civil Liberties Union helping to defend the rights of all people in the United States.

"With immigrant rights, trans justice, reproductive freedom, and more at risk, the ACLU is in the courts and communities across the United States to protect everyone’s rights."

You can see the entire series together here. You can click the message or purchase buttons next to each image to send me a note of your interest, and if you want to buy the piece, I will email you an invoice with my UK bank details.

Okay, Harriet
mixed media on paper
Art Size A6/14.8x10.5 cm
Framed Size 12.5x16.5 cm
Megan Chapman 2025
£65 (includes 2nd class UK Shipping)
Message for invoice to purchase

Always walking up hill
mixed media on paper
Art Size A6/14.8x10.5 cm
Framed Size 12.5x16.5 cm
Megan Chapman 2025
£65 (includes 2nd class UK Shipping)
Message for invoice to purchase

Please let us go there
mixed media on paper
Art Size A6/14.8x10.5 cm
Framed Size 12.5x16.5 cm
Megan Chapman 2025
£65 (includes 2nd class UK Shipping)
Message for invoice to purchase

Let there be moments
mixed media on paper
Art Size A6/14.8x10.5 cm
Framed Size 12.5x16.5 cm
Megan Chapman 2025
£65 (includes 2nd class UK Shipping)
Message for invoice to purchase

Everything you climb
mixed media on paper
Art Size A6/14.8x10.5 cm
Framed Size 12.5x16.5 cm
Megan Chapman 2025
£65 (includes 2nd class UK Shipping)
Message for invoice to purchase

Where no one walks alone
mixed media on paper
Art Size A6/14.8x10.5 cm
Framed Size 16.5x12.5 cm
Megan Chapman 2025
£65 (includes 2nd class UK Shipping)
Message for invoice to purchase

Holding Electric

mixed media on paper

Art Size A6/10.5x14.8cm

Framed Size 12.5x16.5 cm

Megan Chapman 2025

£65 (includes 2nd class UK Shipping)

Message for invoice to purchase

A small framed piece of work sitting on a shelf using the ladder back of the frame.
These can also be displayed on your wall. 

Thank you for your support and patience as I get back in the swing of things.

Take care of yourself. The world needs you and the gifts you bring. Keep fighting!

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.

I am not the artist I used to be

I am not the artist I used to be. 

I could be distressed by this (and I am a little) or I could be excited. 

The second one seems like the better option. 

I don't play the game as well as I used to and I always required a lot of help to play it at all. 

I have been beaten down and worn out by it and I got confused. 

I deviated from my original purpose.

I make art to express myself to myself and to understand the world and my place in it. 

I make art because I am good at it and it feels good to be good at something.

I make art because it gives me a purpose and helps me make sense of my brain.

I make art because I don't always understand the world or myself and it helps me to feel better. 

I make art to hide within and to stand strong beside. 

I make art because it is something I know how to do better than almost anything else. 

I don't always stick to a routine or a schedule and I judge myself for this but less and less.

I know my natural rhythm is a trickle or a deluge. 

I know I am rebellious against the routines I love the most. 

I know I can have a hard time with record keeping, documenting, archiving, and consistently sharing my work as well as presenting it for sale. Probably because I am a painter and could use more support in these areas - but I am done judging myself for this and I am proud of doing it as well as I have.

I don't love all art, some art really pisses me off and I wish it would go away. 

I have made 1000 choices in order to live the way I do, to protect my art, my brain, my being. Some of these were hard and some of my choices were not so good, or easily understood, but I am still here. 

I still need people to view, enjoy, and support my art - I don't want to work in a vacuum and community engagement is extremely important to me.

Financial support of my art is crucial. I'm not independently wealthy and I can live a pretty precarious existence that is at times stressful and scary. 

If you want to see me in my flow state, ask me to talk about art. When I don't have the chance to do this (and I haven't really in years) I feel like a part of myself is missing.

Art has given me so much in terms of community, love, support, joy, and excitement. I have sacrificed a lot for art in exchange. I wouldn't change it. 

I have cried over and regretted this calling.

I still wouldn't change it. I can't.

When art returns to me after being away there is no better feeling.

To be certain of my place in the lineage feels like coming home. 

I am not the artist I used to be.

So let's see what happens next...

Keep fighting. 

Your exposure is my exploitation

Between fear and joy (that's where we live), works on paper, 2024

Thanks to everyone who read and shared my studio blog last week. That post was my most viewed of the year.

There is clearly a systemic misunderstanding of what artists do, how we live, and what we need and want. There is also a devaluation of our time, skills, and methods. Continuous gatekeeping and obfuscation at every turn is the norm. The results of this continue to land on the artists with wounding effects.

These broken systems dine out on the culture we create, yet we are left holding the tab. Emotionally, physically, and financially, we suffer, while the systems that claim to support us grow and thrive. The very systems that pit us against each other while also breaking us down and filling us with doubt. 

Artists seem to be meant to live speculatively and unmoored. Our faith, resilience, and dedication towards creation are meant to sustain us wholly. This is untenable. 

I am not your creative economy. I am an artist. 

I am not your academy. I am an individual. 

I am not your content creator. I am a worker. 

Your exposure is my exploitation. 

My art is my life, not just one part of it. 

I deserve ground under my feet. 

I deserve to be seen and understood. 

I deserve to live well. 

We all do.

The ship is sailing

but I don't want to stop, work on paper, 2024

Through my love of genealogy, I have learned so much about my family’s place in history and the history of the world. It is meaningful to find the beginnings of one’s strength of character, creativity, moral code, or adventurous spirit embedded in the documents of those who have come before. It is moving to find your place in their words, deeds, and movements across the land and sea. 

Recently, I was looking at ship manifests from 1774. This particular one contained a list of passengers on board Ulysses bound for North Carolina from the Port of Greenock, Scotland. Listed are the passenger names, ages, former place of residence, business, and lastly, the reason for emigrating.

“High Rents and Oppression.”

Listed over and over and over again.

“High Rents and Oppression.”

We all know of the Highland Clearances, and most of us know what happened there and why - but for some reason, to read “High Rents and Oppression” repeatedly in this way hit me a bit harder and differently.

250 years later, the same plight comes crashing down around us, “High Rents and Oppression.”

Workers are struggling to pay their rent. Artists are struggling to pay for their studios.

Buildings that held promise are being left to rot - gap sites of misunderstandings and budget cuts. Yet, there is always money for something new and shining.

And then, the news this week from Creative Scotland regarding The Open Fund for Individuals - the fund that supports artists, writers, producers and other creative practitioners in Scotland would be closing due to the Scottish Government being unable to confirm the funds required.

“High Rents and Oppression.”

I am an artist. I tell stories and express feelings with colour, shape, and form. I watch the world and comment on my place in it. I get to be dramatic, daring, and critical. However, I worry some may think I am being too dramatic or that I am not from here and do not have the right to make such connections. I am from here, and I have returned. I stand rooted in my ancestor’s boots.

And I know that artists are packing up their studios, packing up their lives, and hanging up their brushes and other tools. Their offerings and forms of art are disappearing in front of our eyes.

Ideas float past a heartbroken painter, yet she will not look up and grab them. These ideas will float on and away. The jubilant words you need to hear won’t reach that writer as they push their dreams away. The play, the dance, the song, the film - they continue to fade. They are leaving us now...

A cultural diaspora in the making.

The ship is sailing.

Online Studio Sale Continues!

Collect

Thanks to everyone for coming to Open Studios on the 3rd and 10th of December. I always love seeing your faces. Thanks especially to my new patrons.

My Annual Studio Sale is Online and happening now. I am thrilled that patrons are picking up some new pieces for their collections. Thank you for supporting my work, it means more to me than you can possibly know.

Many of the selections continue to support Bikes for Refugees as well. So that's extra wonderful. The small paintings that are professionally framed in white tray frames would make an extra special treat for you or a loved one this season. They can be sent in the UK via Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed and get to you or them by 1pm the next day during the week. You can also pick something up in person. My studio is open by appointment. Send me a message if you would like to visit.

Visit Solo Gallery online and in person for a selection of my available works. They are located in the beautiful Innerleithen, Scottish Borders.

Collect

I have been thinking about my art a bit differently over the past couple of weeks and have some new ideas and plans for the future so please stay tuned. 

Like what I share or just want to say hello and support all the work I share? Consider buying me a coffee or two. Thank you.

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.

Trying to make my way back

The puzzle says "seek magic every day." I do. 

Hello, lovely studio blog readers. 

I hope you are well. Today I am going to try to make my way back to you. If you have been following this blog for quite some time you will know that it is a fundamental element of my art practice and how I share information and my process with my patrons, fellow artists, and art lovers. I have a substantial gap in my posts currently. I don't like that so my one task today is to slowly fill in some of the gaps, starting with the most recent and working backwards. This break was necessary for a multitude of reasons but the longer the break, the harder it is to return. This has happened with my blog, my video visits, and all my regular postings on social media as well as the most important thing of all, creating the art. 

Not making art is a complex issue - if I don't make art, what do I have to say or share here on the studio blog, what do I have to make my Tuesday Studio Video Visits about? What do I have to share on my social media accounts? The answer is actually plenty. There are loads of paintings you probably haven't seen or you have forgotten about. I could write more in-depth about them or make more videos about those pieces and the process involved in making them. 

However, social media and internalised capitalism are a sick mix - we have this urgency to stay current, fresh, relevant, and to churn out shite just to have something to post and share. I don't know about you, but I didn't "get into" art to become a machine. Paintings take time, bodies of work and the exploration of themes take time to flesh out - not everything is made for the "wham, bam, click, heart, scroll" world of today. 

However, I also know that as someone who has called myself an artist for half of my life on this planet, I need to do the work. I have been compelled and called to do the work and then that calling went a bit quiet and now I am going to have to coax it back out onto the playing field. 

This is going to require faith, optimism, hard work, and time in the studio. It is going to require finding something inside myself that became fearful, sad, uneasy or more honestly, pissed off. I will need to work to steady all of this to create again. 

So, here I go - filling one gap, writing one post, and expressing a few thoughts. Finding my way back. 

I hope you are well, happy, and inspired and if not, tomorrow is another day. Keep fighting and thank you for being here. 

Don't Stop! Give it all you got

The Clash: The Magnificient Seven

The above Post-it note is stuck on the windowpane in front of my desk. This yellow square kept me motivated as I did eight hours of data entry on my archive today. There have been many long days recently working on this task and I was planning on going into more detail about how the process of working on this makes me feel. However, my cat is in my lap as I balance my laptop on the arm of a chair, so perhaps next time. Theo is supremely important. 

There was a short and sweet Tuesday studio video visit recorded this week. If you missed it, here it is. Thank you for your likes, shares, and subscriptions to my YouTube.

Like many this week, I have been staying in as we weather these two big storms in the UK. I am thinking of everyone affected - Edinburgh has gotten off lightly so far. I hope you are warm, well, and safe wherever you are. 

And that's it, I am going to cut this short, it's time for some dinner and some Netflix, but of course, Theo is still in my lap so it may be a while before dinner yet...

Thanks to everyone who has supported my work over the years, as I go through the archive I am reminded of conversations, emails, chats, faces, and memories of everyone who has bought and supported my work. It's been quite emotional and really fulfilling - more on this soon. Thank you. 

Until next week, take care and keep fighting!

PS. When the sun comes out again, go celebrate at Detour Espresso in Marchmont, the Abstractionistas exhibition continues... 

2021: Year in review

I take a deep breath. It's that time again (I guess) - time to review the past year of my art life. This is mostly a helpful practice, as time gets away from me and I am often unsure of what I have done or created. As I sit down to write this, I am weary and I don't feel like I created much at all. These almost 2 years now of pandemic living has messed with my wiring a bit as it has for so many.  So today, I am going into this practice with empathy for myself and all beings and I am going to dig into my past year with curiosity and while searching for clarity. 

Have music, tea, and ready, set, go!

January 2021: 

Walking is of course crucial to my art life and is fairly well maintained throughout the year except for strangely during the warmer/nicer months. I was slow out of the gates to start working at the start of the year but around the 15th of January, a wee flood of work emerged. 

My palette of yellow ochre, grey, black, and white paint along with yellow, white, burnt sienna Conte crayon and charcoal carried me through. I have definitely drawn more since the pandemic hit. Merging painting and drawing as I switched to mostly working on paper and unstretched canvas since working from home since March 2020. 

These works are all 56x77cm mixed media on some glorious Fabriano Artistico paper I had stashed away long ago and had forgotten about. These paintings were based on medieval genealogical research into my family history. These are strangely still yet to be named and as soon as these five works were completed the thread of this series vanished. Perhaps these will be seen in 2022. 

As I read my blogs from January of last year, I can hear the edges of worry, frustration, and victory as I try to get going again. 

February: 

A small body of work of 8 pieces on paper emerged with the same palette. Again, I remember feeling the pressure to produce but not exactly the drive. The relentless "Insta-productivity" created by social media and business school painters is partially to blame along with internalised capitalism and the real need to pay some bills. This part of things weighed on me more these past few years as I know it has for many of my artist friends and any person trying to make a go of it in this society. However, back to the 8 pieces, I salvaged these out of a large piece of the fancy paper (waste not, want not and all that). They were called the Winter Variations. I was ever thankful when several of them sold.

After more than a year of online meetings, The Abstractionistas collective I am a member of started promoting itself and our work on Facebook and Instagram getting ready for several opportunities that were coming our way, including our debut exhibition together in July. But more on that later. I do a few drawings and have a few messy frustrated mark-making sessions. Sales are slow, I feel stuck in my art so I turn to the outside world and walk in nature.

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

March: 

I was very fortunate to have been interviewed by Peter Goodbody for P3DRO, a wonderful music and culture site based in England. A simple interview of 13 questions turned into something much more far-reaching and personal than I expected. I have to say this is one of my most favourite interviews to date. I really enjoyed knowing that it was going to be published on a mostly music-driven site, as music is so important to me and my process. I felt like I could communicate more effusively about the musical connection to my art and be more completely myself- it was a more holistic interview. It all came together so well, it felt like a gift. 

If you missed it the first time: Read it here: https://p3dro.net/2021/03/01/megan-chapman-this-is-our-family-tree-made-of-charcoal-dust/

During this month, I added more prints to my ko-fi shop and promoted them along with my smaller original works. I applied to work as an arts volunteer at the Granton Hub in my community and worked on an accordion book that eventually would be part of the Abstractionistas group exhibition. At the end of the month, I have a computer failure which is a tense and somewhat costly situation. It makes me think even more about my digital use. I am thankful for print sales and somehow I manage to paint 5 more small works on canvas board and thankfully all but one sells. 

From there to here
mixed media on canvas board
5x7"/13x18cm
©2021 Megan Chapman
Available

Ties that bind
mixed media on canvas board
5x7"/13x18cm
©2021 Megan Chapman
Sold

Your wild terrain
mixed media on canvas board
7x5"/18x13cm
©2021 Megan Chapman
Sold

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

April: 

I joined the Granton Hub as a volunteer member of the art 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. 

Also this month after the computer debacle I started focussing on my archive and trying to get more of my work organised and all in one place. Thanks to the generosity of my ko-fi supporters and patrons, I was able to buy a 1-year membership to Artwork Archive. I still have a lot of work to do regarding this. If you want to try Artwork Archive, here is a referral link for a $10 credit.  https://www.artworkarchive.com/?ref=6f381a  Besides working on the archive this month, I promoted some older framed works across social media and just tried to stay afloat. 

A wave of inspiration hit me, a new series of works on raw unstretched canvas was born! The series, The Andromeda collection and Superman's ill-fitting belt filled me with delight and hope.

May: 

Life seemed a bit frantic at the start of the month, with emergency dentist and veterinary appointments, voting in my first election (milestone!) and thankfully getting my first vaccination. I did manage some "accidental portrait" sketches. Here's a motley crew of assorted faces. 

 

Later this same month I released even more paintings from various older series as limited and open edition prints through my Ko-fi shop. Bringing you more colourful abstracts, bold and minimal selections from the distillation series (as seen on HBO's True Detective), and even work from my Scottish diaspora series. I focused on creating more ways for you to enjoy and support my work while keeping it affordable. The sale of these prints saw me through the next couple of months. They are still available through my shop. 

June:

Things started to get busy with more real-world exhibition planning than I had been a part of in a good long while and with excitement also came trepidation. I helped as a volunteer at the Granton Hub as they prepared for their big open call exhibition. The Abstractionistas got busy finalising our exhibition plans as well. 

I went back to my studio for a rare visit in June as well. I remember not liking it much after too much time away and for whatever reason, I wrote this after my visit, "the room felt hollow and collapsed. A punishment rather than a prize. A lonely place where no one knows your name and you pay for the privilege." Ouch. However, by the end of the month, things were looking up as I was soon to be participating in not one but two exhibitions in July at the Granton Hub and at St. Margaret's House. 

July: 

All energy went towards promoting, installing, and documenting the exhibitions at the Granton Hub and St. Margaret's House while following all COVID safety protocols and dealing with the associated worries. It was hectic, exciting, stressful and more due to the unusual conditions in which the exhibitions were held. Below are a few quick snaps I took of my two pieces from my BOOKS series that were part of the Granton Hub Exhibition. 

Here are a few photos of the Abstractionistas Exhibition. 

Judith Shaylor, Megan Chapman, Susan Wilson, and Esther Donaldson = Abstractionistas

August:

In August I was asked to send over a collection of 13 paintings on paper, panel, and canvas in a variety of sizes and prices, ranging from £40- £285 to the Front Room Gallery in Helensburgh. You can purchase and enjoy those works in the gallery and online here. I am thankful as ever for another exhibition and sales opportunity. I spent time this month considering my other options, retraining or taking a short course towards becoming an art therapist. A dear friend convinced me otherwise and to invest that time and energy into my work and learning new skills to help with the marketing aspects of my work. I committed to bringing back the Tuesday Studio Video Visits after a bit of hiatus and assorted Facebook hijinx. I got everything organised and put all my art videos (some as far back as 2006) and my various podcasts in one place on YouTube and got enough subscribers to get my own username. Excitement! Thanks to everyone who subscribed - and please do if you haven't. 

Later in August, I was invited to participate in another exhibition coming up in September. The real world seemed to be waking up or just getting on with it... I was happy to be invited to participate in Inception, a weekend exhibition in the gorgeous and storied Dalkeith Palace. At this same time, I am thinking about future series and wishing "I could make 100 broken things and paint over them. I have always wanted to paint on dirty and abused surfaces."

I was invited to become a Ko-fi ambassador, which comes with a lifetime membership. I was delighted to be asked and it is a great platform - join us! Thanks again to all my supporters and patrons. 

September:

At the very start of the month, I write the following - 

"I haven't been painting much lately - mainly because I feel that I have exhausted the home studio capabilities. I am ready to "fuck shit up" with paint and I can't do that in a rented house. Also, I have a perfectly good studio just waiting for me. It's so complicated. The studio costs money, getting to the studio costs money, covid is still out there (public transport). Making art costs money and I have a studio full of completed paintings just waiting to find homes. Art sales have slowed to a stop and it almost feels decadent to paint more things to store, document, and archive. I have been quite down about it. I wrestle with the whole point of this art thing. The market is saturated, everyone's work starts to look the same, and social media can feel like a cornucopia of shite. 

However, regardless of my feelings, opportunities keep showing up and I am prepared for them and this is a good thing. 

Front Room Gallery

Solo Gallery

Dalkeith Palace

This month also saw a visit to the fabulous Bannockburn House as a potential venue for the Abstractionistas collective."

Inception opened Friday, September 10th from 10-6pm and will be open again on Saturday, September 11th and Sunday, September 12th from 10-5pm at the incredible Dalkeith Palace. I had 5 large works on show and then several smaller framed works in their pop up gift shop. It was an incredible venue and setting. I was honoured to be invited to participate. It was good to see and meet many of my fellow artists. 

Inception

After Inception, I returned my attention to my Ko-fi page and the introduction of membership tiers. There are lots of lovely perks over there in exchange for your support. Check them out.

The Abstractionistas regrouped after our exhibition and start making future plans. At the end of the month, I think I pay my studio another visit and create this. Feeling a bit deflated I return to a mark-making practise and keep it simple. 

October: 

The month starts with more Abstractionistas exhibition news! The Abstractionistas in collaboration with GOSSIP Collective and Forth Valley B.A. Students show at the fabulous Bannockburn House. 

In other news from this month, I continued on with my mark-making exercises to help me get out of my rut and return to remembering my foundations. After working on several small paper pieces/exercises, I moved on to six A2 sized papers and spent a bit longer with my marks and actually got to a place I liked. It was a good feeling.

These drawings are A2 size on 200 gsm. heavyweight paper. 

I enjoyed the introduction of my favourite inky pen to the mix, along with Conte crayon, charcoal, oil pastel, white paint and some words. 

This month I also celebrated the 7th anniversary of my living in Scotland along with my 1st anniversary of becoming a citizen!

I must have caught a wave of inspiration after my mark-making exercises and these new works on paper because, after these works, I created a series of 12 small works on canvas, mounted and ready to frame. I showed these along with six works on canvas that were framed at the Bannockburn House exhibition with the Abstractionistas. 

Here are a few photos from the Abstractionistas exhibition at Bannockburn. 

I really enjoyed the Bannockburn exhibition. I felt very comforted by the space and atmosphere. Writing, 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. It was a good weekend away from Edinburgh getting to know my fellow Abstractionistas even better. The exhibition was a real victory for me personally. Everywhere you looked around the old house and grounds there were stories of perseverance and hope. An ideal setting to show and share art. 

November: 

I enjoyed returning to my artist mentoring work and was reminded how much I love helping artists in this way. If you are interested in working with me please book an appointment through my ko-fi shop. I love helping other artists in their process. 

I was delighted to have a drawing published in issue #3 of 'Less' a journal on degrowth, radical sufficiency and decolonisation in Scotland, produced by Enough! Scotland. It was a thrill to have my work circulated and available at the COP26 civic hubs in Glasgow and then later nationally across Scotland. This paid publication was a real boost and aligned with my values perfectly as well. 

The drawing above can be seen next to
'Unlearning empire ~ re-membering earth' by Vishwam Heckert

As November continued, I was delighted to be asked to work alongside Amy Britton Scotland in a collaborative pitch. "The Innovation Exchange programme is working alongside Ørsted to help them reach out to potential innovators that might have solutions involving the upcycling of Transition Piece (TP) covers. The TP cover is a robust, watertight cover that protects the internal working space during the construction phase of an offshore wind turbine." 

Our pitch to incorporate this material into Amy's designs and for me to also work on the remnants once fashioned into large sewn together substrates for my abstract paintings, while closing the waste loop for the material, made it to the second round of talks and we then had the opportunity to pitch it via a video conference call. It's not every day that I am on a call with business leaders and from such a different field. It was an exciting experience and I really enjoyed painting test works on this waste material. Here are a couple of my favourite examples. This all came about as a result of the Bannockburn exhibition and social media, proving once again the need to be ready for any opportunity that comes along. 

Samples capturing the wind and sea energy 

By mid-November, it was time for my second annual studio sale and a deep discount of some of my larger canvas paintings spanning several series. I wanted to try out a unique feature of the Artwork Archive program. My sale is ongoing - see it all here: https://www.artworkarchive.com/rooms/megan-chapman/b92e55 I am donating 10% to Bicycles for Refugees from the sales of these works. 

As late November rolled around, I discovered a couple more paper pieces that were finished this year. I got busy signing, dating, titling and varnishing a huge pile of drawings and paintings on paper from 2020 and 2021. 

Way down inside
mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper
42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"
©2021 Megan Chapman

I know the way
mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper
42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"
©2021 Megan Chapman

December:

I was gearing up to participate in the Christmas Exhibition and Makers Market at the Edinburgh Palette on the 11th and 12th of December. I was to have three paintings on the walls of the gallery in the exhibition and I had loads of works on paper and canvas for the Makers Market along with my fellow Abstractionistas at our stall. 

Omicron was starting to make the scene and I was starting to have my doubts about participating. For the first time ever in over 20 years, I backed out of an arts event. 

Once I decided I felt relieved and I also decided my part of the show could go on, just differently. I updated my online ko-fi shop with everything I was going to show at the art market and added the three pieces on canvas to my online studio sale. I set it all up in my house and documented and promoted it just as I would any other show. I donated 10% to bicycles for refugees and ended up having a fun and productive weekend. Thankful for the understanding of my fellow Abstractionistas, the exhibition curator, and my patrons who supported me online that weekend. 

I mounted these seven small works on paper for the art market - these were from my mark-making series a couple of months prior. Now they are available in my shop. 

And here we are dear readers, patrons, friends, family, peers. This is the last day of December 2021. I started this blog thinking I hadn't done much with my year in art. How wrong I was. I created around 70 finished original works, started numerous other works. Introduced an affordable range of prints. I had an interview published that I adored. I had a piece published (and was paid for it) in a journal I admire. I was part of a collective of artists that I respect and we had two successful featured exhibitions. I had my work in 3 group exhibitions, one of which was in a palace of all places and I volunteered in an arts organisation helping with one exhibition. I mentored an artist whose work amazes me. My work was part of an important collaborative pitch to reduce waste. And I was able to support my favourite charity, Bicycles for Refugees. 

The pandemic is the backdrop. Politics is a constant noise, the earth is in deep trouble and somehow I still think it is important to make art and share it with you. 

Thank you so much for your support, your patronage, your inspiration, encouragement and friendship. This is a hard gig - I doubt what I am doing and the merits of it constantly, you are crucial to the process. Never doubt my appreciation - thank you for the gifts you bring and share with me. 

2022 starts tomorrow. I don't know what to think but here I am and I choose to greet it with compassion for us all and our planet. Wishing you luck, health, and happiness. Take good care. Celebrate, mourn, curse, spit and move through it. I am right beside you. 

Love, 

Megan