A brand new year is here and I'd like to wish you a happy and healthy 2022!  

Also a big thank you for your continued support and interest in my work, courses and creative challenges in 2021! It was an eventful year with three events that were extra special:

• My new art studio got built and I love it (see photo below).

• After three years of experimenting and preparing, Explore Still Life 1 was launched and proved to be extremely popular (join the priority waiting list for the repeat of this course here).

• In November, our art retreat and exotic escape to Sri Lanka became a reality thanks to the organisation of the intrepid and dynamic Anna Kwiecinska (our next planned retreat is Bali in August 2022).

A Colourful 2022

Join me, make some time to indulge in creative pursuits! I have made plans to make creativity and colour part of our year ahead. Let’s start with a word.

Instead of a resolution, at the beginning of each year I like to choose a word as intention, motto or guide and ‘CONNECT’ is my chosen word for 2022. We are all still navigating our way through the global pandemic and at this time of prolonged isolation, feeling connected to others is vital for our wellbeing.

As an artist I cannot overstate the importance of connections with other creative minds, both in person and by doing so virtually. The best way for me to connect with others is by means of creative pursuits shared online and that is what I’ll be continuing to do.

‘Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected.’ — William Plomer

Online Courses

Over the last two years I realised anew the power that creativity has to lift and motivate us all. In response to the lockdowns of 2020 I created Colour Play and  Zest, two free short courses that used my Creative Leap principles.

Minimal art materials and fun, creative problem-solving projects guided people of all ages and artistic experience to explore and make art in alternative ways. The courses were free for an extended period with many thousands joining in. They are now available at a minimal fee.

Weekly Demos

Since 2020 I have done live painting sessions on Instagram and I’ll continue this venture in 2022 with #colourspark demos each Monday (recordings can be seen afterwards on my Instagram feed).

I thought of added ways to make these weekly prompts even more effective and came up with this simple but effective  plan.

‘Colours speak all languages.’ — Joseph Addison

The amazing response to the #coloricombo month of colour prompts I created and ran as an Instagram challenge last September with Lori Siebert has inspired me to extend the concept into a year long project for 2022.

Colour is something I am passionate about. As a colourist, mixing up and exploring combinations is my jam.  I would love to share this with you in bite-sized instalments, a bit like a slow paced creative challenge. This simple but effective approach is ideal to connect with creativity on a regular basis and is easily attainable.

If you’d like to join this program of fifty two colour prompts delivered to you in weekly emails please signup here.

Social Media

In addition to the weekly colour prompts I’ll be using the #coloricombo colour combinations with different topics, art techniques and materials on Instagram and occasional videos on my YouTube channel.

You can also join the private Creative Prompts Facebook group where I will share info weekly. By staying in the loop you will see what others do with the prompts and this is always an added motivation to join in.

Follow the #coloricombo hashtag on Instagram to see creations by others.

Other News

The way I am teaching online art courses is changing. Having outgrown the system used since launching the first course in 2015 it is now time for an update.

The new course site will make the learning experience more streamlined with progress tracking and more automation. Courses will also have a six month access period as standard and some of my older courses will be offered as self-paced options.

The experiences and feedback received from you help to inform plans for new courses, challenges, Zoom painting workshops and membership options to come later this year. More about this a future newsletter.