
Painted over an old painting yesterday to make way for a new one and it got me reminiscing about my first exhibition.
It was such a high. I was invited to take part in a group exhibition as part of Cheltenham Open Studios in 2019. I was so up for it and sold an original within the first hour.
Was also when I first encountered a hint of local art snobbery.

I don't tend to dwell on the negative. It serves no purpose. But I do still remember how this passive-aggressive comment made me feel.
The flyer referred to had been designed without my input by someone else and those who weren't sculptors or photographers, including me, were all described as fine artists.
The person who felt compelled to take issue with that was someone who had put a lot of effort into amassing art qualifications themselves. Very impressive, if that's your thing.
I remember feeling put out and a bit deflated that a fellow artist would try to belittle a newbie's attempt to have a go. Everyone has to start somewhere after all.
Looking back now, I couldn't care less. They clearly had issues of their own and I was an easy target. You don't have to look very hard to find pretentious bigotry in the art world, there's plenty of it around. Not here though.
As the saying goes, in a world where you can be anything (fine art degree and letters after your name or not) be kind.
Like to think I'm a bit more supportive of people starting out. If there was something you had the desire, determination and passion to turn into your vocation, I would only wish you well. There would be no reason not to.
And maybe I'd also will you on to have the courage and confidence to stick to your own path, rather than follow someone else's antiquated idea of what that route should be.
I've been a professional artist for seven years this month. I've stuck with it and still have tons to learn. But I have always been happy to share the little I've figured out for myself so far, if at all helpful. To be as kind, approachable and encouraging as I can, particularly to younger artists who might be thinking about art as a future career.
A fundamental part of being an artist, particularly at the start of your journey, is making yourself vulnerable and laying yourself open to criticism. So we definitely don't need any help being hard on ourselves from those already embedded in the field. We've spent weeks, months, possibly years, doing nothing but.
Whereas kindness can carry such positive clout, can be the difference between someone quitting or feeling spurred on to continue. Or starting in the first place.
There's a new series of Landscape Artist of the Year starting this week and already the negative backlash on socials has begun.
If you didn't watch the latest series of Portrait Artist of the Year you won't know that the person who won it was not the artist the majority of viewers thought it should be and all hell broke loose on Insta and Facebook.
I saw some quite ruthless comments about the winning work by those frustrated by the judges' decision. People freely letting rip with their anger, some of it clearly aimed at being as hurtful as possible.
Really? What's to be gained by trying to crush someone for being brave, putting themselves out there, and achieving something you haven't?
Most of us are probably guilty at some time or other of blurting out something insensitive in the heat of the moment before taking into account the consequences. It's easily done, too easily on social media.
The winning style wasn't my taste either but it was different and fresh, and predictably won approval among the quarters that counted.
Critiquing art and responding to it can be important, enjoyable and enlightening. But belittling someone and their aspirations is different and says more about you than it does them.
Maybe take a deep breath, reflect on your own hopes and goals in life, and ask yourself the question what do I want the outcome to be of these words that I type? before you write them.
And then get back to trying to make your own dreams come true instead of potentially snuffing out someone else's.
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