An Art To It

This week, I'm joined by painter, and Byre Gallery regular, Jill Hudson, whose creative life has been shaped by travel, resilience, and an enduring love of the sea. Jill shares her journey from studying at Falmouth art school to achieving an enviable life/work balance, and how experiences like teaching in Uganda and studying in Venice helped shape both her perspective and her practice. We chat abo...

This week, I'm joined by the brilliant and irrepressible Sara McKee - art historian, copywriter, branding expert, and founder of Life Full Colour, https://www.lifefullcolour.com/ a vibrant gallery and cultural hub in North Wales. Sara shares the rich tapestry of her creative and corporate life: from being mentored by legendary art historians at Warwick University https://warwick.ac.uk/ and discove...

In this episode, I chat with London-based painter Melody Reynolds, whose luminous swimming pool and beach scenes have brought a welcome breeze to the gallery walls this summer. Melody reflects on studying at St. Martin's in the 1990s, why she's always felt like an outsider in the art world, and the ways her painting process balances instinct with experimentation. She talks about what it takes to s...

In this episode, I chat with award-winning silversmith Alex O'Connor about the winding path that led her from sculpture to silver—and from the Isle of Wight to the far west of Cornwall and the rugged landscape of West Penwith. In a hugely engaging and very honest chat, Alex shares how her autistic thinking and aphantasia (inability to voluntarily visualise mental images) shape her highly tactile,...

What does it mean to make art that's truly yours—even when it doesn't fit the mould and you have to face potential resistance in the market place? In this honest and uplifting episode, I chat with Cornish artist Siobhan Purdy, whose dreamlike, deeply personal paintings have earned her a cult following. From navigating childhood as a selective mute to building thriving artist communities in Cornwal...

In episode 31 of An Art to It , ceramicist Deborah Harwood joins me from her beautiful studio on the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex. Deborah shares her remarkable creative journey: from growing up part of deeply artistic family, her late father, is the acclaimed playwright and screenwriter, Ronald Harwood, (The Dresser, Quartet, The Pianist) to working for over a decade as an agent representing so...

In this solo episode of An Art to It, I share my experiences of creating a brand identity for myself. Why am I doing that you might ask. Last year I realised that I really needed to set up a separate website as a home for the online courses I run, and for this podcast too. I wanted the Byre Gallery to concentrate on doing what it's supposed to do, showcase our exhibitions and the beautiful work we...

In Episode 29, I'm delighted to be chatting to Caroline Reed, a London-based glass artist working in the exquisite and lesser-known technique of pâte de verre. Caroline shares the extraordinary story of her transition from a career in science and leadership development to a deeply creative life as a glassmaker, her third career, and one she treats with both passion and professionalism. Caroline re...

For many artists, despite having an idea of what you want to create, sometimes the work finds you. For Claire Brewster it was a love of paper, a passion for the freedom of birds… and some handy foam board and pins that sparked her creative practice. Twenty years on from her 'eureka' moment, her exquisitely detailed paper birds, hand-cut from vintage maps are in art private and public art collectio...

We have a double delight in this week's episode of An Art to It: a painter who is also a gallery owners, as I'm joined by Judi Green—painter, curator, and co-director of Cornwall's Tregony Contemporary, a gallery she runs with her husband Brian Green.  Judi is a rare and inspiring creative—an accomplished artist in her own right, and someone who brings the same care, clarity, and commitment to nur...

In this episode of An Art to It, I'm joined by Amy Frankie Smith, a ceramic artist and designer whose stunning porcelain lighting and fluid watercolour paintings bring together texture, translucency, and an undeniable sense of place. Amy's journey into ceramics began with a degree in 3D Craft at the University of Brighton, followed by hands-on experience in architectural ceramics for conservation....

Shaping a fresh brand identity is something a younger Laura Wasley might have envisioned—but back then, it would have been for a major fashion house rather than an arts venue and educational charity. Now CEO of the prestigious Make South West, Laura originally set her sights on becoming a buyer for the iconic London store Harvey Nichols, leading her to study fashion. After a brief stint in visual...

Nikki Mosley's stunning paintings - whether her cool, pale and elegant beach scenes or her passionate pink skies - do feel quintessentially Cornish. And that's no surprise as Nikki lives and works on the Cornwall coast. But it was the other side of the Atlantic where Nikki's first seriously began her creative journey. After following her husband and his career across the globe, a posting to Housto...

When you have an artistic eye and a talent for creativity you are often blessed with being able to use this skills in different ways, and Claire Stockings-Baker is a perfect example of a multi-disciplinary artist.  Sculptural silver jewellery is what Claire is best known for as an artist, but her creative career started in costume design, and print making and painting are still a big part of her l...

Sometimes a guiding hand is all that is needed to kick start you on a particular path or career, and sometimes fate delivers that in an unexpected way. Visual artist Kerry Louise Bennett knew that she wanted to pursue a career as a painter but it didn't seem quite achievable; then prompted by misremembering a comment from a friend, she picked up a book in a second hand shop by hypnotist and self-i...

If you could pick the ideal medium to create your art work what would it be? Oil paint, charcoal, … or chocolate? Although painting had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember, it was as a chocolatier that Ashleigh Anne first found creative professional success.  In our lovely chat, Aisleigh shares her love of creating in all its guises and how following in her family's footsteps...

Creativity has always been part of Sarah Pooley's life. But after completing a degree in textiles her career took her into the knitwear industry where she found a job she loved designing patterns for a brand of knitting machines. When she started her family having a home based career was preferable and the beginning of the next chapter in her creative life was in soft furnishings for interiors. It...

There probably aren't many artists who can lay claim to a previous career working with stunt horses in film and TV productions, but Claire Howlett can. When she had to abandon her foundation degree in fine art, Claire first turned to art restoration as a potential career but after an enjoyable and educational few years in a darkened room, it was to her other great love - horses - that she turned....

A glance at Emily Hadley's website is enough to make the most accomplished of creative business owners feel (more than?) slightly inadequate. Not only has she and her husband renovated three homes, Emily took charge of the interiors - a service she has also developed professionally - she is also an Instagram influencer and content creator, a silversmith with a range of jewellery… and now runs a hu...

Lucy Innes Williams runs not one, but two creative businesses - her fine art practice and her printed goods and stationery business, Floradore. In our really interesting chat Lucy reveals how she manages to balance the two separate entities, both linked by her love of capturing all things floral. We also discuss the journey Lucy has taken: a graduate in Fine Art from Central St Martins College in...

Textile artist Helen Wilde, aka Ova Bloom has made a career of being in the right place at the right time and grasping every opportunity with both hands. From work experience, (with no less than artist Tom Phillips https://www.tomphillips.co.uk/ to art college, and her subsequent successful career, Helen has been fortunate at meeting the right people and the most opportune moment. But that shouldn...

Colour is at the very heart of Ruth Shelley's creative life.  Growing up in rural Wales with limited external entertainment, making and domestic creativity were at the heart of her childhood, and inspired her move to study textiles at art college.  Travel and finding inspiration in the colours and patterns of south east Asia continued to influence her textile work but stumbling on an evening class...

A love of making - and of maps - has taken ceramic artist Loraine Rutt on an unusual but very successful creative journey. Loraine began her career as a cartographer at London's Birkbeck College https://www.bbk.ac.uk/ but when digitalisation of maps meant that she would be using a computer rather than the more physical approach of a pencil and tracing paper, she decided to pursue her earlier dream...

Growing up as part of a creative family - and a keen painter from an early age - it was no surprise that Sophie Harding decided to attend art college. But inspired by a documentary she watched as a teenager it was the Fashion course at St Martin's college that Sophie enrolled on.  In my chat with Sophie - whose stunning paintings I'm fortunate to exhibit regularly at the Byre Gallery - we discuss...

This is a cheeky little extra session where I talk about my online course 'An Insider's Guide to Gallery Success' and explain why with a number of alternatives to learn about how to best approach - and develop a relationship - with galleries, mine might be the right one for you. There are three reasons that this course fits the bill for you: The Byre Gallery, which I founded in 2014, is a welcomin...