Temptress of the sea, you treat me right

Andrew Wyeth, "Airborne," 1996, Tempera on panel

What can I say, my mind is not exactly here. I am not that focused on art either (even though I did have four pieces documented, varnished, and I painted the sides of the canvases in order to ship them off tomorrow (more on that soon).

My studio is also still mostly tidy from last Sunday's Open Studio event (thanks to everyone who attended). I also installed another set of shelves in the studio (found on the street of course) for my canvas storage. So, I have been getting some things organised and moving ever forward.

I have been trouble sleeping, waking up at 3am most nights this past week, very excited about moving to our new place. We got the keys to our wee fisherman's cottage on Thursday.

I am not sure how we decided on this place, I think it was imminent homelessness nipping at our heels. We saw it all of ten minutes and it was in a bit of a state, nothing I would usually want to live in but at the same time it had "something" many places did not, a feeling that a potential metamorphosis could take place with a bit of care and vision. We saw it at 10:30 in the morning last Thursday and by 2:30 that day it was reserved for us. It's only 15 minutes away by bus to the part of town I know and love most, and we are technically still in Edinburgh, so I need not worry but trust in the only constant, change.

When we got the keys, I was very excited to walk through it again while the workers were giving it a fresh lick of white paint. I sat on the carpeted floors and looked out the windows. I stood on the concrete of the back patio and rejoiced that I had a place where my feet could touch the earth. I imagined all sorts of scenarios, pots of soup and cups of tea, and a meditation on the wee beach across the road. How will living in this new space and community affect my painting? Only time will tell. Perhaps, we all need to move every four years, to shake off the old ways and start again.

"We sail today 

Tears drown in the wake of delight 

There's nothing like this built today 

You'll never see a finer ship in your life 

Along the way 

The sea will crowd us with lovers at night 

There's nothing like this built today 

You'll never see a finer ship 

Or receive a better tip in your life..." 

-Interpol

I think we have found a fine ship...

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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!

One thousand miles an hour : Exhibition, Open Studios, New Flat

My brain feels like it is going one thousand miles an hour. A ping-pong match mixture of happiness, excitement (my show and open studios), disbelief (at world news and American politics), grief over the passing of a dear friend and relief for having found somewhere to live (finally!). This is how my brain feels even after my yoga and meditation.

Honestly, I think I am totally worn out. The stress of the constant search for a place to live over the last eight weeks was pretty intense and has caught up with me. I am grateful for all the leads, help, support, and just general good vibes we were given in the search. Thank you.

Now I just want to get in the new house and make it ours, a fresh start is needed. I also need to process my grief over my friend. This will probably happen when everything slows down or when I am least expecting it, at least I will be by the sea.

My exhibition,"Between memory and story" closed on Friday night at 5pm. It was a wonderful experience. Here's the Tuesday Studio Video Visit (filmed on a Wednesday) expressing my feelings about the exhibition.



Thanks again to everyone who supported the exhibition by their kind comments, visits, and sharing photos of the show on social media. It was a lovely experience.

After a bit of a studio clean up, I am ready to open it up to the public this Sunday from 12-5pm. I am pleased to be participating in the second Makers Marque and open studio event at The Out of the Blue Drill Hall. Learn more below.

Makers Marque
Sunday 30th September 2018
12pm - 5pm, £2 Entry/£1 Conc.

Makers Marque is more than just a market for local traders and designers. It is a chance for people to get involved, learn a new skill and see the processes that usually take place behind closed studio doors. The event is a mix of local craftspeople demonstrating their skills, artist and makers workshops, repair stations and marketplace.

We have workshops spaces, a beautiful and spacious market hall, on-site cafe and with local makers/ artists and designers selling their unique products and demonstrating their craft.

Drill Hall based artists Megan Chapman (studio G23) and Mairi Brown (studio F14) will be taking part with OPEN STUDIOS during the event!

Never a dull moment! We get the keys to our wee red brick 1840 fisherman's cottage in Granton on October 4th. I can't wait. 

I also can't wait to get back to a painting routine and just getting back to some type of normalcy albeit with a new perspective. I am grateful for all the support I have been given. Thank you.

Who knows, perhaps I can write next week's studio blog in the new place! Oh, there will be pictures - it's my next blank canvas. 

Special love to my dear friend, Antoinette. She is sadly not on this plane anymore but I know she is nearby on another and she would be so happy for this next seaside adventure.

Love and light to you and yours.

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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!

Between Memory and Story

I am writing this on a Saturday morning even though I will post it as it was Friday's entry for the sake of consistency. Yesterday was too full on to stop and write. I am writing today from the Out of the Blue Drill Hall. I am sitting in the cafe watching over my exhibition, Between Memory and Story. The sun is streaming through the Victorian glass ceiling and there is a community planning meeting in the room off to the side. I am drinking a latte and soon my porridge will follow. This is a wonderful way to spend a day.

My plan for the installation was to create a meditative tunnel that pulled the viewer through the exhibition and gave space to each piece so they could be seen individually and yet also as a whole. It is light, bright and airy. The work glows on the walls as the natural light fills the space. A mum pushes her pram through the exhibition, she stops to write a note in my comment book. I am so pleased to have this moment observing my work and the viewers interacting with it. I hope it brings her peace.

My exhibition was only meant to be on from 7-9pm on Friday as part of the Maggie's Culture Crawl, a fundraising event to support those affected by cancer. We had a wonderful crush of people, the crowd was estimated to be between 300-400 visitors. A choir sang for us all and spirits were high. Some lovely conversations were had, a selfie was taken with a group of participants in front of my favourite painting. It was a lovely event.

I am delighted to report that thanks to the support of management, my exhibition was held over! So here it is up again today, Saturday the 22nd from 10-5 and again on Monday and Tuesday from 10-5 and Wednesday from 10-4pm. I am of course thrilled with this development. It is so wonderful to see this body of work hanging together as intended and in what seems to be the perfect environment. It always feels like magic when the art fills the space in the perfect way.

This is my second solo exhibition since moving to Edinburgh 4 years ago this week. I get the same thrill whether I am showing my work in a coffee shop, community art centre, or high-end gallery. The work just wants to be seen and experienced. I need the work to be seen and experienced. I am always grateful for the opportunity.

Here is a video I made before the exhibition opened, to give you a better idea of the setup. Push play to open my eyes.


If you are local to Edinburgh or will be passing through on Saturday or Monday-Wednesday please pop by my exhibition at The Out of the Blue located at 36 Dalmeny Street in Leith, Edinburgh. I would be happy to make arrangements to meet you there as well. This is one of the best opportunities to see my work as it is truly intended to be seen.

Thank you to everyone who supports my work either by being a patron in the past, present or future. Thanks to all that continue to believe in me and have helped and supported me over the years in one way or the other. These victorious moments belong to us all.

Until next week, be ready for opportunities that may come your way and keep fighting!

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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...

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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.

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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!

Diving back into the work

This week found me back in the studio passionately working and it felt good. I returned to my paper series that originally started off as "the dark anchor" but now seems to be evolving into something larger and perhaps less dark. I am looking forward to framing these, I think these might fit in the expanded Echoes and Memory series once complete.

On Tuesday, there was an easy going sofa edition of the Studio Video Visit where I read an excerpt out of this brilliant book.

In other news, I am very excited to announce that I am having a solo pop-up exhibition on Friday, September 21st from 7-9pm at The Out of the Blue Drill Hall! I am honoured to present my work in conjunction with Maggie's Centre Culture Crawl, a fundraising event happening in 12 cities across the UK to support people affected by cancer.

I also started working on a potential commission for an interior design project. We will see what comes of it. I am enjoying taking inspiration from the designer's mood boards. Right now, it's a fun challenge and experiment. 

Did you know I accept commissions and work with designers? Well, now you do. I enjoy the challenge of working with colour palettes, mood boards and within budgets and deadlines so please contact me if this is a service you are interested in.

Building up the surface on four 70x60cm canvases 

The flat hunt continues, we are now one month into the search, we have eight weeks to go. 34 calls to various agencies and private landlords. Countless online searches, emails, and inquiries, time spent walking the neighbourhood taking photos of signs, and following up leads of friends. We've been to eight scheduled viewings. One application passed over. September starts tomorrow, two viewings are scheduled for Monday. I am grateful for the recent sunshine, yoga, meditation, my supportive friends, and all the helpers in the world. Let's see what happens this month.

Thanks again to everyone who read last week's blog post. I really appreciate everyone who took the time to reach out to me. You are all beautiful people.

Until next week, keep fighting and if you are an Interpol fan, buy their new album, it's good.

Love and light to you and yours. x

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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!