” You must give birth to your images.
They are the future waiting to be born.
Fear not the strangeness you feel.
The future must enter you long before it happens,
Just wait for the birth, for the hour of the new clarity.”

Rainer Maria Rilke

During my childhood I spent a great deal of time with my grandfather in the National Gallery in London (or ‘the Nish’ as he called it). This has given me a life-long interest in fine art and my taste is eclectic – my favourite painters include: Piero della Francesca, Frida Kahlo and Gaugin!

The early exposure to fine art has given me a strong interest in imagery and in illustration – impacting my training and facilitation work considerably.

I have dabbled with art projects: illustrated ‘books’ for my children; posters trying to capture my sense of urgency about the state of the world and, most recently and intensely, collages (because it liberates one from self-consciousness about limited artistic talent). Never quite sure exactly what constitutes ‘collage’ as opposed to ‘illustrations’ but in the end I have concluded it all comes down to whether or not glue is involved!

Extracts from my Collage Manifesto

Ad hoc thoughts on collage

• Potential for creating something at speed means it is able to be less controlled, less contrived
• Spontaneous, reactive, emotional, sharp-focus
• Intended to explore, explain, explode
• Composed of contrasts between distance / objectivity and intimacy / revelation
• Homage or critique
• Making connections between (seemingly) unrelated things
• Exposing / exploring the unconscious and / or making the unconscious explicit
• Communicating with intent
• Journaling without words
• Making the invisible visible

“It is not important that I have made my mark but that the mark has been made – perfect because of what it is and imperfect because of what it could be”

Collage is… (downloadable booklet)

Gallery

(top to bottom)
Watching
Toxic Future
Torn Woman
Haiku for Trigonos
Space to be