Life stilled: Tacita Dean at the National Gallery

Contemporary artist Tacita Dean takes on a well preserved and cemented genre in her refreshing new show. 'Tacita Dean: STILL LIFE' has a new exhibition at the National Gallery that promises to investigate the history of the genre by taking inspiration from the gallery's own collection, and interpreting it with a modern twist. Not only is…

Artist deadlines – March

Another month, another chance to get some valuable exposure for your work. We're 2 months into 2018, and it can be difficult to get going and find the time to motivate yourself to just create! Believe me, I know! Hopefully you can see this list as markers in your timeline - deadlines to work towards.…

What’s in a frame? Artist of the month: Holly Lane

How important are frames to artworks in the contemporary world? Can they add context  or meaning to the painting it surrounds? Well, artist Holly Lane repurposes religious items to create ornate and elaborate frames that envelop the artwork and helps give new meaning to an archaic, and somewhat dated practice.   When you visit an…

pink room

Artist deadlines – February

January has just flown by and here we are in February, ready to take on even more creative challenges. And there's plenty to be had! You still have time to enter the RA Summer Exhibit with the deadline for entries on 14 February. With the famously charismatic artist Grayson Perry helping to judge this year,…

Ilsa Brittain

Artist deadlines – January

Happy New Year peeps! And to my first blog post of 2018! I'm making a rule this year of not setting unrealistic goals and feeling, more than disappointed, when I don't achieve them by December. So instead, I'm just going to aim to do more of what I love: drawing and this blog! On that…

A tale of two Tates

Interactive playground installation and residual casted sculptures of the everyday. Both the Tate Modern and Tate Britain brings us a rare moment of joy and reflection. When you come to the City on your travels, you want to immerse yourself in a bit of culture. And London is the city for it. In fact, it's…

yuting wang painting

Artist deadlines – November/December

The end is nigh!...The end of the year that is! And your last chance to enter some fantastic prizes and competitions. One to set your reminder for, if you're living and working in London, is the Whitechapel London Open: The Whitechapel Gallery’s open submission exhibition was launched in 1932 as the East End Academy for…

Artist of the month – Mary Iverson

Escape into the dreamy, abstract worlds of Mary Iverson, where floating shapes rule all.   Of course, there's more to Mary Iverson's work than just floating shapes in picturesque landscapes (even though that alone would still be awesome for me). Her work is rich in traditional American landscape painting, and on the surface is both…

oliver beer

Rolling Deadlines – October

Plenty of opportunities to be had this month that you don't want to miss! With Frieze Art Fair just around the corner, October will be a creative hub of activity. My highlight for the month is the Daiwa Foundation Art Prize, for one simple reason - you get the chance to showcase your work in…

Jerwood Drawing Prize 2017

Another year, another inclusive mix of contemporary, multi-disciplined drawings that form the Jerwood Drawing prize. For me, there was a clear focus on processes and form from this year's selected artists' - geometric shapes and clear lines dominated the show. From the cubic, mountainous landscape made from carefully folded card, to intricate and mesmerising scratches…