“Getting the Ball Rolling”
At the beginning of this year, 2019 I had a sense that it was time to re focus and direct my energy with purpose towards bringing my art into a more public realm. It’s not as if I haven’t taken up a fair number of opportunities before but for the last decade my energies have been directed towards other aspects of creativity and work. One of these has been working for a charity called The Art Room. A place for children and young people to come and have some mental and physical space and gain confidence through creativity and talking. This is close to my heart.
The power of art is often overlooked or taken for granted by those who make the policies that determine how much space there is for creativity in our lives. I believe art of all kinds has the power to unlock all sorts of potential in all of us. It is a basic human instinct and one which is suppressed too often by the constructs of our society. The work I have been doing at The Art Room is some of the most meaningful I have ever had the privilege to be involved in.
However, I felt at the beginning of the year that it was time to make a bigger space for my own artwork. I feel like I have things to say through pictures, colour and marks and I don’t want to miss the opportunity to do so. I have worked hard on improving my work, getting to places that inspire me, finding my favourite materials and experimenting with them as well as returning to old ways. I have tried to make some good contacts through Instagram and had some wonderful encouragement. I have also been very determined to create a website that is easy to use, represents my work well and enables people to browse without obligation but make purchases easily if they wish. I could not have done this without the expertise and understanding of Kate Carruthers who has set up this site and empowered me to add and edit it at my convenience. This gives me a huge sense of autonomy and joy! Thank you so much Kate! Thank you also to everyone, my family, friends, work colleagues, fellow artists and total strangers who have encouraged me over the years to carry on and pursue the thing I love doing the most! Your words and faith in me have been of utmost importance and I’m genuinely grateful.
My Dad told me once to ‘do what you WANT to do’. The challenge is not only to work out what that is but also dare to do it.
Thank you for reading my bloggy words and please feel free to browse through my work and share far and wide! Your support is invaluable. Blessings and love, Ali x
