I’m going to be using art as a metaphor here. And yes, it’s a metaphor for life. For the real world. For being scared and growing up. To me, the ultimate is doing what you love everyday. There is no point doing what you are doing if you are burdened by it. Of course, we all have those days where we wonder ‘what the hell is going on here?!’ What am I doing with all this crap in my studio?!’ Well, us art folk wonder that. Sometimes though you need those days. Yes, they are pretty shit and I drink even more tea then I normally do, but at the same time they act as a turning point. They really make you sit back and think about what it is you are trying to articulate in your work. Stale periods force you to step outside of yourself for once and I think that’s a really healthy thing. Sometimes you can get so carried away in the making of an artwork that the momentum sweeps you off your feet and leaves you to fall hard on your bum! 

Falling flat on your ass is all part of the learning experience though. You fail at something, but you learn and something else comes from that. This kind of thing doesn’t apply just to making artwork, but to life and everyday. We have bad days, we have Mondays and we have good days. And it all balances out. Sometimes I have inspiration dry spells that last two weeks! Trying to get an idea out is life trying to squeeze water from a rock! It’s tough, but once you get over that milestone, you have the world at your feet! And once you are at that stage, the fun begins! A fun day for me getting messy in the studio. If I leave for the day with ink stains on my hands and charcoal smeared across my face I am happy. It will have been a good one. 

A lot of the time I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t have a plan. Things just happen. I experiment. Accidents occur. Paint tubes explode in my face and all over my clothes. I say this mostly in reference to art, but as with all my art, a lot of it translates into real life. Who knows where you are going to be in five years, ten years? Who cares? Do we really need to pinpoint every single thing? Personally, no. If I can apply an art metaphor again here, I would far rather mix two colours together and see what happens when I apply them to canvas!