September 24, 2019

It’s not you, it’s me

It’s easy to blame ‘the other’. Them. They don’t understand me. They don’t see what I see. They missed the point I was making. It might be a publisher, after a rejection. Or an editor, on a submission. It might be a reader in a review.

But what if it was me, and not them? What if, instead of blaming the other, I looked at how I could change for them? Maybe they had a point? Maybe it wasn’t right for the age group? Or maybe it does need more clarity? If I made the work for them and not me, maybe, just maybe, this once, they could be right. Don’t we owe it ourselves to see what would happen if they were?

Other observations
March 24, 2026

I have to work today

What if, on the days we don’t feel like making art, we do anyway? In the same way that we show up to our day jobs when we don’t fee like it?

March 17, 2026

Scared of progress

The problem with progress is that we’re likely to learn that we’re either not good enough or not ambitious enough. But maybe there’s no other way?

March 3, 2026

The ancestors are speaking

What might we be able to tell ourselves and listen for in order to provoke more positive energy and action in our art practice?

February 24, 2026

Can I do this?

Where does the motivation for beginning mark making come from? Why would I even try in the first place?

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