Studio Shelf / 25cm x 20cm / November 2026
It’s been quite a few months since I’ve written anything here but it’s been busy, I’ve turned 40, I’ve been painting. That’s the headlines.
I was happy to take on a few commissions in July and August, something I havn’t done in a few years. It came at a good time, getting me painting again after a but of a post-July slump.
September and October then seemed to be a lot of writing. I decided to submit a few exhibition proposals which meant writing artist’s statements, updating cvs, and trying to make a coherent case for my paintings. It can feel a little like having to justify yourself, or persuade a gallery or arts body your work is worthy, which is not a good use of time. However just as the unexamined life is not worth living, so the unexamined work is probably not worth making, and I found it a useful practise whether anything comes from it or not. It was interesting to be forced to stop and examine why motivations and intentions, and it sent me right back to my days as an art student in 2009. Although working very differently now, and being a very different person, it was interesting to find common threads still. The word which it seemed to condense down to the most is , “aftermath”, and the idea of, “landscape as aftermath.” Something I may write more about. I also read my dissertation again. Incomprehensible. lots of talk about indexicality. Maybe I was a lot more intelligent in my 20s, or maybe I didn’t know what I meant then either.
Turning 40 in October meant more introspection and musing on the passage of time. Anyway right now in the studio, the hours of daylight are getting less each day, so I’m going to stop writing and start painting, sound-tracked by Judee Sills exquisite Heart Food.
Maybe there’ll be another update in 6 months time.
Studio, November 2026
