Category: Making

I’m a serial project starter. I come up with ideas that always feel like the best idea I’ve ever had. I’m motivated and excited by what this thing could be. It’s energising and all-consuming. Then, I start the work. Austin Kleon’s ‘Life of a Project’ from “Steal like an Artist” Soon enough, the initial burst… Continue reading The importance of finishing things (even if you think they’re terrible)

There are very few old-timey painters of Australian landscapes that I swoon over. In fact, Arthur Streeton might be the only one. Spring – Arthur Streeton (source) I’m a fine art Luddite, ashamedly so. As a child, my parents never entertained activities as ‘high-brow’ as painting, literature or poetry. Who does when you’re busy trying… Continue reading Fine Art Inspiration: Arthur Streeton

It feels like an epiphany, but it’s quite simple – my day doesn’t have to start with checking email. For some reason, checking emails in the morning became a habit as part of my day job. I’d get to work, boil the kettle, and make a cup of tea. Then I’d spend the first 30… Continue reading My day doesn’t need to start with email

A curious thing happened to me when I was interviewed by a bookstore not long ago. They asked the question, “What are your influences? Which books did you read growing up?” To which I responded, “As a kid, I never read many books because that’s not the family environment I grew up in. But, I… Continue reading The movie language of picture books

There’s only one thing that makes work ‘hard’ for me – any task that I don’t want to do right now. I love having fun. Who doesn’t right? Doing activities that you enjoy is, pretty much, life’s goal. So Hard Work sucks. But I can’t describe an activity or set of activities that I find… Continue reading What is hard work anyway?

I come from a background in Agile software development which has instilled in me a habit of running small, low-cost experiments to learn new things quickly. I take those new things I learn, and then iterate on their solution until I get something that works just right. It allows me to move quickly and cheaply.… Continue reading The iterative studio watercolour palette

I’m an avid listener of the Plein Air Podcast – a podcast that spends a good hour or so with an individual artist who shares some of their deep insight from a career in art. Yes, it’s decidedly and narrowly American, but there’s some good advice there. And recently, I’ve come to read some of… Continue reading Don’t start your painting with ‘values’

In 2017, I travelled with my family to the middle of Australia. And when I say middle, I mean that. Riiiight in the middle. The heart of the country. A place where the sand is as red as blood. No matter how much you prepare for it, it always takes your breath away. It took… Continue reading Sketches of Uluru and Central Australia

Sometimes, it takes someone else to unlock an insight in your work that was so intuitive to you that you couldn’t see it. And then, it’s like a rocket booster.