What happens when your art wants something new?

I had a quiet but powerful realisation recently: My process no longer works.

Not because I’m doing it “wrong,” or because something’s broken. It no longer works because my ideas have shifted — and I can feel that the way I’ve always worked is no longer quite aligned with what I want to express.

For years, I’ve built paintings through thick layers. I've added paint intuitively and then sanded or scraped back to reveal texture and interest, before continuing to add paint, and then more removal ... it's a slow, physical process that meanders and shifts as I go, and it's an approach that has served me well. It has definitely helped shape my voice, and it brought me to where I am now.

But lately, I’ve felt the pull of something different. My goals and intentions for my art have shifted - initially I was interested in expressing my deep feelings of connection to my local landscape. Those feelings remained as solid and stable as the landscape itself - I am rooted here as firmly as any long-established tree. 

Over time, my interests have shifted. I'm now far more drawn to expressing the now — the emotional truth of the present moment, and how it echoes or collides with my past.

That might sound introspective — and it is — but for me, it’s rooted in something much bigger. I’ve always been drawn to the idea of women’s authentic expression. I believe we’ve lost so much through the long history of silenced voices, softened truths, and quiet self-erasure.

So this shift in my work feels like part of a larger reclamation — a way to explore and express my voice more clearly, more honestly, and without apology.

Somehow, the slow, layered process I’ve used for years now feels like the opposite of what I’m trying to reach. In a way, the constant editing — adding, covering, adjusting — mirrors how I’ve edited my own thoughts and feelings over the years. Softening the truth. Saying what was easier for others to hear.

And so, I find myself craving something different. Something quicker. More raw. More honest.

The word that keeps coming to mind is immediacy — a kind of directness in the work that bypasses the filter and gets straight to the heart of what I want to say.

And so I’ve started experimenting.

I’ve been playing with monoprinting, collage, and working on paper — materials and methods that ask for different things from me. The pace is different. The gestures are different. The outcomes are wildly unpredictable. And honestly? I don’t know where it’s leading.

But I’m showing up with curiosity and with a quiet confidence that my intuition knows where to lead.

The wall in my studio currently looks like this ...

Who knows where any of that is leading but the search feels like such a joy. There is a relief in letting go and a fascination with what might come next.

And what I've realised is this: when your vision changes, your process might need to change too.

We often cling to what we know - we get attached to the rituals, the tools, and the rhythm we’ve grown comfortable with. But if your process no longer matches your creative needs — if it’s holding you in an old place — it might be time to loosen your grip.

I've come to realise that my process is NOT my artistic identity. It's just one possible means of expression. If the expression needs to shift, so must the means.

I don’t know what my new way looks like yet — not fully. But I’m trying things. I’m testing tools. I’m paying attention to what resonates. I’m asking myself: what does this moment in my life want to express? And how can I let the work lead me there?

I’m also sharing a full behind-the-scenes look at all these new developments — including materials, studies, and what I’m learning — inside Art Tribe this July. So if you're a member, keep an eye out for that. I’m excited to show you the mess and the breakthroughs.

So if you’ve been feeling unsettled in your work lately, I just wanted to say you’re not failing - you're just growing. And growth often begins with discomfort, or even boredom.

So if this resonates, here’s something you might explore. Ask yourself:

• What part of my current creative process feels tired, restricted, or too familiar?

• What might I try — even just once — that could invite something new in?

Wherever you are right now, I hope you honour what’s shifting. You don’t have to know where it’s going. You just have to be willing to follow the thread :)