All good things...

It's not the end really, just a new beginning...

“It's time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes are sad and I'd much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure.”

Ernie Harwell

SPOILER ALERT

This isn’t really goodbye to all of you subscribers, just goodbye to my weekly missives here on Substack.

As I explained in last week’s post, I’ve been struggling with my motivation; I felt I was in danger of becoming a content creator/curator, rather than an artist. And that wasn’t a direction I wanted to travel in…

So I decided to quit Substack. Whilst I’ve enjoyed my time here, it’s becoming apparent, that in order for me to grow my audience here, I would have to devote an increasing amount of time, time that I would rather spend painting…and, to be honest, growing my ‘own’ mailing list rather than being at the mercy of another platform…

In order to achieve more space and energy, I’m moving my mailing list across to Flodesk, and reducing my emails to one/month, rather than these weekly posts. The monthly newsletters will still include all my usual offerings; inspirations, photographs, videos, latest updates and what’s been happening etc. - you won’t miss out on a thing!

I just want to re-iterate, I will be transferring all of you who are on my current subscriber/mailing list across to the new platform. If you no longer wish to be part of my community, then please feel free to unsubscribe - no hard feelings.

That being said, I hope you do want to continue on this journey with me…as I do so enjoy your company!

This will be my last post here on Substack. From now on, you’ll receive a free monthly email via my Flodesk account. I’ll be sending the first one out around the third week in April…so keep a lookout!!

One of the other things I intend doing, as well as more painting, is to spread my wings in my local area; seeking out opportunities, making local connections, going on ‘art’ dates etc…

At the weekend, we went to hear a talk by Adam Frost, a renowned garden designer, RHS Chelsea gold medal winner, and one of the presenters on the BBC’s Gardener’s World programme. It was a great evening, and he was very funny!

What I found particularly interesting was how he realised that, in order to gain ideas for designing garden spaces, he had to do more than sit staring at a blank computer screen waiting for inspiration to miraculously strike! His passion for music, poetry, history and learning all feed into his creativity, enabling him to design beautiful spaces…

I’d long been coming to the conclusion that I, too, was trying to create in a vacuum - not a recipe for success!! Hence the recent successful (!!) application for a solo exhibition next year at Indigo Crow Gallery in Lincoln, and a submission for the Usher Gallery Summer Open exhibition in July - fingers crossed for that one. I also participated in the Printers Inc. monthly get-together - it was great meeting new people, chatting about art and lots more besides, getting advice and bouncing ideas around….

I will keep you fully updated on any developments, opportunities, activities or general information in my monthly newsletters…

And to end with, a few snippets from this week:

That’s a wrap here on Substack…

See you soon in your inbox.

Until then, happy creating!

P.S. Hopefully, I’ve managed the tech okay, and you’ll be receiving my next emails direct to your inbox from my Flodesk account… If not, they could be going to your junk mail, so don’t forget to check there…