June 23, 2020

To paint like a child

As adults who have learned about the world, we carry a version of it that’s influenced by our loves and fears, our likes and hates. These things make us who we are. They influence the decisions we make, the risks we take, and the stories we tell ourselves about the life we’ve led. They also influence the art we make, and how we make it.

It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child. – Pablo Picasso

Perhaps the pursuit of art is about unlearning what we know and what we’re afraid of. To put aside what people think we should or shouldn’t do and take the selfish time to discover who we were before we learned how to exist as adults in the world that may not be made for us.

Other observations
July 7, 2026

Polishing the rice

What can I learn from how brewers help or hinder the flavour profile of rice when they’re making sake?

June 30, 2026

14,500 days unnoticed

If I’ve only noticed the sunrise a handful of times out of tens of thousands of daily opportunities. What else have I missed?

June 23, 2026

Ready? Catch!

If we never know when the world will offer us a new idea, how can we best prepare for the moment when it inevitably comes?

June 16, 2026

Brain, Heart, Hips and Feet

If you feel like dancing, you probably wouldn’t book last minute tickets to a Chopin concert. So what’s bad music? And can bad books exist?

June 9, 2026

Exposure matters less and less

What changes in an art practice when the sharing of the work one makes becomes secondary to making the work in the first place?

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