The First One

The pull of Substack became too strong, I have gladly surrendered.

I’m not wishing away January but…

I’m just not cut out for this weather. My fingers enjoy feeling. My skin enjoys being anything but pallid and windburnt.

That being said. The little planning bug that crawls through my veins year through enjoys January very much and I have the spreadsheets on Notion to prove it.

“It’s just another month”. Yes, you are absolutely right, and in every month I plan, goal set, review, and reflect to within an inch of my life. So it IS just another month. A cold one.

Coming up:

• What to expect from me here and why I chose the name.

• The Recap: A life update, a mention of my love affair with London and may I invite you to my first exhibition walk-around and Q&A of the year!? Come and eat pastries with me (Free tickets here)

• The Recommendations: What I’ve been reading, listening to, watching, eating, and doing. (Why Emma Chamberlain said “TikTok is like doing a line of coke”, chocolate-covered prawns, and how to increase creativity)

• The Reveal: I may or may not be hosting some workshops (one online, one in real life) which only have 10 spaces each and this is where I’m spontaneously announcing them. Are you an artist? This is for you. Click here to find out more. (Ps. If I currently coach you, then you automatically have a free space ❤️)

What’s in a name, and what to expect.

If you haven’t read “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Dooer then do, or at least watch the adaptation on Netflix. The title alludes to the vast electromagnetic spectrum, which includes visible light. Throughout the book, the invisibility of most of this spectrum serves as a recurring motif. There is a tension between the seemingly insignificant and miraculous aspects of humanity, and then the immeasurable components that shape our lives.

Art is an immeasurable component that shapes our lives.

Art too exists on a spectrum, that which we see, that which we see only if we look carefully, that which we feel but cannot see, and that which passes over us, through us, beside us invisibly, and impacts us discreetly.

🌳 View art as an old Oak tree, where the exposed tree represents the creative outcomes (words, plays, paintings, music), and the extensively deep and wide network of roots symbolizes the unseen but crucial aspects of practice, references, context, discipline, support, learning, and failures. This submerged part, like the roots of an Oak tree, provides nourishment and support, ultimately contributing to the flourishing of the visible creative outcomes. The unseen art, and the seen.

For my weekly writing on Fridays, I will stick to a simple format: Recap, Review, Recommendations. Considering for each; Where is the art, seen and unseen? That’s quite tidy, isn’t it?

And when they pop up, I’ll share longer pieces. Ad hoc. Spontaneously. Without warning.

But first: Here’s me bundled up in Brighton. Evidence of cold. And evidence of a phenomenal coat (art, seen), thank you New Year’s sales.

The Recap.

In future, this section will be light reflections on the week that just passed: the good, the bad, the art, and the lessons. But, if you don’t mind, I’d like to bring you up to speed with where I’m starting this year from.

Where am I emotionally, physically, spiritually, geographically, psychologically?

Answer to all: London.

London, my beloved, how I love the thick air on the tube, the vomit on the streets of Soho, the rats the size of cats, the daylight robbery of TfL and Tesco Express.

I really do though. I love London.

I’m in my fifth year of living here and I have experienced many an era in the confines of the M25. These last 18 months, however, I have come into my own (read: I’ve got big girl jobs which pay me) and have begun to enjoy more fully the glory of the capital.

The history, the art, the experiences, the food.

I have selflessly tried some of the city’s best patisseries, Indian and Italian restaurants, and pancake stacks, so I may share them with you.

But despite what my TikTok and camera roll would have you believe I do not spend all day traipsing between markets eating truffle mayo hash browns (Recommendation: Hash Hut, see below), I have a full-time job sprinkled on top with a few freelance creative endeavours too.

The full-time one.

I am the Creative Comms Lead at SHiFT UK, which exists to break destructive cycles of crime involving children.

Two words: Fulfilling. Hopeful.

I’m learning a huge amount about the criminal justice system and the youth justice system in this country and Europe, prisons for children, blue sky thinking, policy and practice, criminal exploitation, what a great leader looks like, and more.

And my title has Creative in it for a reason. I’m working on several projects that address one, or both, of two things:

1. How can we creatively tell big and small stories?

2. Where can we use the arts to find a hook with young people, and to give them a sense of purpose and power?

I look forward to sharing some of the ways we are doing this, and going to be doing this, over the next 12 months and beyond.

Freelance-y bits.

✨ I have the lovely pleasure of coaching artists, spending time with creatives in a 121 space problem problem-solving and strategising, and working through all the gritty bits of being an artist. I have one more space at the moment, so drop me a message on Insta if you think you might benefit from some extra support.

✨ I host the odd workshop, panel discussion, and Q&A all to bring people closer to art, by bringing the art closer to them. There’s an exhibition Q&A coming up this Saturday (20th Jan), reserve your free spot here and come into Soho at 2 pm for pastries, an exhibition walk around, and a Q&A with the artists.

✨ I write features and reviews for other people’s publications about art and artists. Here’s a recent one where I talk about the experience of having my portrait painted by the ineffable Morag Caister, where her work sits in the broader context and tradition of portraiture.

So that’s a recap of sorts. Do you feel recapped?

The Recs.

📚 Reading.

I’ve finished two books so far this year, and a few more are nearly done. The two fully absorbed are “The Undertaker’s Daughter” by Kate Mayfield, and “Termush” by Sven Holm. I recommend them both.

Mayfield’s memoir is very sweetly told, it’s full of curious characters, sense-heightening descriptions, and a smattering of late 20th-century Southern racism as recalled through the eyes of a child. It would be a very good book to study in school, lightly suggesting deeper consideration of lots of big themes (ritual, death, parenting, relationships, racism, sexism) rather than shoving them down your throat.

Holm’s teeny tiny just-over-100-pages book is brilliant. A slow, almost day-by-day, account of living in a custom-built bunker/hotel post-nuclear apocalypse told by one of the residents who have paid for the luxury of survival. First published in 1967, this could have been written last year. It has a touch of Orwell at points, and Atwood at others.

And I’ve been enjoying these Substacks amongst the deluge of other random articles I consume.

After Babel

Aiming to unravel the upheaval experienced since the early 2010s, attributing it to the impact of digital technology on both adolescent mental health and liberal democracy. Current focus: understanding the turmoil in adolescent mental health, particularly explored in their recent work, "The Anxious Generation."

Lexie

The lovely Lexie shares Pinterest mood boards, playlists, fashion, and lifestyle tidbits packaged with a digital silk pink bow. Every post feels like it was delivered with a hug and a whisper.

Catriona Innes

I have loved her writings for a long time, in this Katie writes about grief. In an all-encompassing way. Lots of beauty, lots of stings, lots of life.

Hector Campbell

This is a ‘can’t live without it if you’re in the art world’ newsletter, a concise and thoughtful selection of new exhibitions and artist opportunities. I scan every single one and value his judgment highly.

🎶 Listening to.

This interview with Emma Chamberlain is very good (“good creativity doesn’t need to beg for attention”, “TikTok is like a line of coke”) and it’s interesting whether or not you have a clue who she is (one of the most successful YouTuber’s and content creators ever). Then if you like her have a listen to her recent conversation about creative fulfilment with her painter dad.

🌱 Activist Mikaela Loach on Ways to Change the World w/ Krishnan Guru-Murthy discusses “active hope”.

🎥 Director Greta Gerwig on Desert Island Discs

📖 The author Ayanna Lloyd Banwo on The Granta Podcast

📺 Watching.

Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. It’s an excellent downtime TV option. I genuinely think I could run a successful restaurant now. But let’s not test it. Prawns served with a chocolate chilli sauce. Art? Thoughts?

🏊‍♀️ Doing.

Here’s a diagram that I have burned into my retinas. Your creativity increases by a whole lot when you replace sitting quietly with walking, of course only if you can.

I “do” Brain-Breaks. And I love them. Every hour or 90 minutes, or at the natural end of a task, I take a 5-15 min Brain Break, and I do one of the following:

🥰 Take a walk outside, just up and down the street, or around the block.

So the recommendation? Walk. Move in a way that feels great but on a basic level, walk. Get out for a walk during the day. Just one lap around the block. I do about 2 hours of exercise a day, and I still need to properly move every few hours during my working day because it is that important for stimulating my brain and clarifying my thoughts.

Take a pic on your Brain-Break walk and tag me.

Other Brain-Break ideas:

👀 Set a 5-minute timer for a scroll on social media. I set an intention “To find 3 things that I want to share” or “To find one person to connect with” and then I try and do it in 5 minutes. It feels good, I don’t get sucked in, and I satisfy the little part of my brain that likes the overstimulation of Instagram!

🐝 Every time I see a video, article, or podcast that looks interesting, or a link from an email that I want to look at, I save it onto a big list. On my Brain Breaks, I quickly choose something from the list, and usually, it means watching a 10-minute Ted Talk or reading an article about something unrelated to my work. Some light relief for my little brainy cells.

If you’re still with me comment below with a 🐞 emoji, because wow you have great stamina, and no need to worry about that attention span, you’re doing just fine.

This week I’m replacing the Review with the Reveal… going off-piste already, I’m a renegade it’s true.

The Reveal.

If you’re not an artist, skip ahead.

Hello artists!!

I want to spend time with you deep-diving into how to create and implement effective and enjoyable short-term and long-term strategies to help you achieve the most fulfilling outcome for your creative practice in the next 3, 6 and 12 months.

This comes in two sizes: Fancy a power hour online together? Or maybe a morning of pastries, pots of tea, planning and hanging out with me in real life?

Click the links below to see exactly what you can expect from both.

There are only 10 spaces at each because I want space for all our ideas, questions, and visions.

Come with your notepads, your brains, your visions and ideas, and a major growth mindset.

Oh, and you’ll also get a handbook with some tasty tips, tricks, and templates.

ok we made it.

Thanks for spending your time with me today! I’d love to know what you think about all the art we cannot see, my Oak tree analogy, Emma Chamberlain, or chocolate-covered prawns so do comment or DM me.

And I hope you’ll stick around, or at least lurk around, for what’s to come. Make sure to subscribe so that I drop into your inbox like magic ✨

Have a lovely day, Phoebe 🌻