For days now it’s been distracting you, this problem. You just can’t see a way forward. You’ve tried all the usual fixes – journalling your feelings, comparing pros and cons, talking it over with friends – but nothing has shifted. Exhausted at the end of a dispiriting week, you’re having a long soak in the …
There is a part of the creative process that often goes unnoticed. It isn’t the spark, the initial idea that came into your head on a random Thursday afternoon. Or the rhythm of the making, or even the standing back and looking as the picture or piece emerges. It’s the quiet pause at the end …
What do you think about the idea of visiting an art gallery? Perhaps it reminds you of school trips and reminders not to touch the paintings. Maybe they’re somewhere you only go while on holiday. You might visit on a whistle-stop tour of a city, ticking famous paintings off your list. They’re there to be …
For a long while I saw journalling as a way to capture what had already happened – a place to record the past, to sift through thoughts and try to make sense of tangled feelings. Just as when I began junk journalling, I thought it was simply a way to use up scraps, a creative …
Colours are often associated with emotions – people talk of being green with envy or feeling blue when they’re sad. When it comes to grief, you might experience the dark depths of loss or despair, or the bright red of anger. But grief and loss can encompass a wide range of different emotions and stages, …
Late afternoon sun streams through my teenage daughter’s window, spotlighting her as she curls cat-like on the bed, around scraps of paper, glue, a scattering of pencils and a tatty journal. In this tableau, her expression is serene and contemplative. The book is fat with scribbled notes, fragments of lyrics, a shopping list, a gig …
As you push on the bookshop’s heavy glass door, the little bell tinkles its welcome and invites you to step over the threshold. With a deep intake of breath, you absorb the scent of fresh paper and new print. A glance reveals shelf after shelf of colourful paperbacks and dust-jacketed hardbacks, some placed spine-on, others …
One of my notebooks is labelled ‘Compost Heap’. It’s where I jot down thoughts, stick in pictures and save interesting articles that have caught my eye. I use it to scrawl mind maps of ideas that come to me out of the blue, usually when I’m trying to fall asleep. The writing is spidery and …
Even unzipping the case of a 1960s Olivetti Lettera 22 typewriter sends a thrill through the body. Cup of tea on the desk, thesaurus and a childhood dictionary placed neatly alongside, and an intention that here is the time to create. Rolling the paper into the machine, the first line is slowly pondered and, as …
Unexpected, strange, delightful – the stories and characters of dreams have long provided inspiration for novelists, film-makers, artists and poets. But this well of ideas and insight might seem out of reach for the layperson, particularly those who don’t recall their dreams regularly, even though it’s something every single person does every single night. And …
