“I find it difficult  to write each day, but if I don’t I’m swamped with guilt. Where does the compunction come from?,” wrote Derek Jarman in a diary he started after moving to the Prospect Cottage on the bleak coast of industrial Dungeness. The diary, called Modern Nature: The Journals of Derek Jarman, was first published by Century in 1991, three years…

One of the most difficult relationship in our life is the one we have with ourselves. The difficulty of it lies in the ability to accept the things about ourselves which we cannot change, whilst making the effort to change the things we can. The balance of maintaining discipline without beating ourselves up for the smallest failure is the hardest…

I have recently returned from a really good holiday in Poland. So good, in fact, that I discarded the original return ticket and stayed for another week and a half. My definition of a great holiday is one that allows me to recharge physically, emotionally and intellectually so that I come back home with new energy and ideas. This trip…

It’s been a long time since my last blog post, for I have been enjoying a long overdue holiday in Poland. I didn’t realise how much I had missed home until I arrived in Kielce, my home town, which greeted me with its alleys of blossoming trees. After a few days I decided to extend my trip. I’ve had a…

A while ago, I wrote a post on departing from a safe zone in which I stressed the importance of challenging oneself despite the temptation to stick to what we know how to do well and what the audience likes. Today I want to write about the importance of returning to the comfort zone. Sounds like a contradiction? Well, it…

During that winter we all told our most colourful stories. Max was especially happy at this, spooking everyone with his hexes: coincidences, omens, funny, freakish happenings, all cleaving a rather sinister zigzag behind him like the path of a tornado, dogging his step from one opening to another. Curious tricks played themselves out around his pictures, and brought him up each time,…

I recently bought myself a new sketchbook. I normally go for something very plain from Cass Art or Muji but this time, wanting a notebook with an elastic, I purchased an A6 one with creamy pages and a suede cover which, despite its low price, looks like a relative of the famous Moleskin. As I took it out of the…

  In February, inspired by Steve Pavlina’s blog post, I took a 30-day break from Facebook, which I have already mentioned briefly in one of my recent blog posts on solitude and routine. I was keen to share this positive experience and my reflections on the impact of Facebook on an artist’s life, and now, after a few weeks of…

On the last day of December 2013, I wrote a post called The Art of Tidying Up, in which I briefly touched on the subject of regularity and order in an artist’s life. Since then, I have been giving a lot of thought to ways of improving not just the efficiency of work but also one’s emotional well-being. I often…

After several weeks of writing essay-like posts in which I devour and analyse new and old favourite artists, books, exhibitions etc., I decided to take a little break and write about my current project. I don’t usually share my work-in-progress, nor do I document it step-by-step. For one thing, I get completely immersed in any new artistic venture, so that…

As the New Year approaches, like many people, I have an urge to go through old boxes of non-descript “stuff” and transfer their contents to rubbish/ recycling bags; tick off all the remaining tasks on my to-do list, sort out whatever there is to be sorted, and make plans for the next year. End-of-year clearing immediately makes me think of…

So first, your memory I’ll jog, And say: A CAT IS NOT A DOG. — T. S. Eliot As I’m currently preparing a new series of cat drawings for the Kittytees, and had the pleasure of meeting Alice, my good friends’ cat last Saturday, I thought that I could dedicate this post to cats. Cats and artists – what a cliché,…