Just before Christmas I had the privilege of being invited to do an interview with Matt Tommey for his podcast 'The Thriving Christian Artist' and it was published this week!

Click on the picture for a link to listen to my interview.

I've received a fair number of new subscribers to my mailing list (welcome, if you are one of them!), new social media followers and some really lovely responses from individuals reaching out to me after hearing my story.

In preparation for the interview I was asked to consider a handful of questions:

• How did you first get started on your artistic journey?
• What’s been your biggest challenge in pursuing art and how are you working overcome it
• What has been the most fruitful habit you have employed in your life to help you thrive as an artist?
• What does thriving as an artist mean to you and what advice would you give artists out there who are wanting to go from surviving to really thriving as a creative?
• How do your relationship with God impact your creative process?

I didn't get to answer all these questions, you never know what tangent this sort of conversation will go off along! I found it a really helpful exercise at this stage in my journey just to stop and consider these things.

I must emphasise that Matt selects people to do his podcast that are at different stages of their artistic journey and business development. His heart is to bring encouragement and inspiration to those getting started.
How would you answer if you were asked these questions? Don't discount yourself and where you are at on your journey. Everyone has a story to tell, we all have people that we are a few steps ahead of, we all have something to share.

For those of you who don't know him, Matt Tommey is a sculptor, weaver, musician, author and speaker, he also runs a mentoring programme called 'Created to Thrive' which I joined January 2018, with over 1000 members now in our closed Facebook group. He has a public Facebook page 'Thriving Christian Artists' with around 10,000 members and he's written some fantastic books: Crafting your brand, Creativity according to the Kingdom, Unlocking the heart of the artist & Created to Thrive.

I've visited a number of noteworthy exhibitions this year. Some that included my own artwork and some that didn't, some local and some further afield. I'm always fascinated by what art draws and resonates with different people. I am repeatedly surprised how often the pieces I love are not necessarily the ones that other people are enthusing about and win the prizes, and how disinterested I am with the ones that excite the crowds!

There is so much wealth of inspiration within an art exhibition from colour choices, subject matter, materials and techniques, size, texture and style. My favourites are always the more contemporary ones – give me a degree show over a 'museumy' art gallery any day! Those undiscovered and emerging over the old masters... am I allowed to say that?!
Here are some of my favourites from 2018:

I wonder what new talent and inspiration 2019 will hold.

I'm someone who is always looking ahead and making plans. Dreaming and scheming of what I'd like to try next, what I'd like to improve on and grow in. BUT I feel it's right and appropriate to just stop for a minute and reflect, with gratitude, on what an awesome year it's been!

I've created 63 pieces of art this year, plus over 80 miniature paintings on baubles and mini canvases.
38 pictures have been painted as live art in 11 different places, including…

I have taken part in 12 exhibitions this year, including...

I've given a number of talks and been interviewed on several occasions this year – for blog posts, a live-streamed event, radio shows, magazines and for a podcast.

I've enjoyed designing a new range of fine art products this year which have been very well received.

After 5 years I've changed my business name from Flourish and Fly to Kate Green ART with a plan to rebrand and revamp in the new year.

I'm pleased to say that I've developed a new work/life pattern this year, including having a day off each week, which is doing me so much good!

Whether I know you locally or from the wonderful world of social media, whether it's recently or I've known you for years, I really really appreciate your interest in my work. I LOVE being an artist and am so thrilled that my colours, circles and splats are something that you love too!

Have a fabulously wonderful Christmas and here's to 2019 being even more incredible!!

Last month I had the opportunity to do a radio interview with Cambridge 105 which was broadcast on the Suzie Thorpe morning show, and I thought you'd like to have a listen!
The lovely Louise Wilson came to meet me in my garden studio as part of the promotion for the Histon Handmade Christmas Fair that I was exhibiting in, but it ended up becoming much more than an advert for the fair. I got to share quite a bit about my work, with questions about working from home, work/life balance, my art process and more. 
Click this link for the 15 minute podcast:

Last weekend was my 'one night only' Christmas Open Studio and I thought I'd put together some pictures and a little video for those of you who weren't able to make it.

I like to make sure each time I exhibit that there is fresh, unseen work for people to see, some of which only got finished in the final days leading up to my event

And then I was ready. Here are some photos and the little video I took on the night – enjoy!

As part of promoting the event I volunteered to be interviewed on the radio. Live on BBC Cambridgeshire with Jeremy Sallis, and in my art studio for the Suzy Thorpe programme on Cambridge 105. All great experience.

Here is a video of my little Kate Green ART pop up shop. I was the first table inside the door of the main hall and was really pleased to hear people's reactions as they entered and saw my colourful products. I had my ipad playing videos of my art process which drew a lot of attention, and I wore my dress printed with one of my pictures, both of these proved good conversation starters.

I was really pleased with how the day went, although I was a little exhausted afterwards. I sold a pleasing number of items – my cushions, notebooks and calendars were the top sellers on this occasion and I made some great new contacts, including a local gallery interested in exhibiting my work.
It was the first outing of my new SUMUP card reader, which is a fabulous tool I'd recommend to anyone. Not only allowing easy card payments and receipts, but also keeping record of cash payments so I didn't have to write anything down and wasn't worried about how much change to give people!

On top of everything else this event was also worth doing because of the new and continuing friendships I'm building with other local artists. Inspiration, encouragement, ideas and support – from seeing how others display their wares, to social media sharing, to people carrying my many boxes to my car at the end of a long day. Being an artist can be quite an isolated existence and it's good to make new friends!

I've been thinking creatively about how to present my art in ways that suit every budget and fit every stocking, as this year I'm taking part in 3 Christmas events.

Some of the work this little elf has been doing is mostly screen based. Research of companies for products - the right quality, style and price etc; time spent on design tasks within Photoshop, uploading images to various websites, spending a LOT of money hoping I've bought just the right quantities, and then the exciting day it all arrives in the post, when you get to see your art on different items that you hope will make extra special, unique gifts to be treasured and enjoyed!
Then there's the photography, the advertising both locally and on social media, packaging and display design (how to turn a 5 foot table into a shop that everyone want to buy from).

I've really enjoyed developing my new products and I think they're pretty cool – if I do say so myself!

But this little elf hasn't completely stayed out of her art studio, because I've also been making some original handpainted Christmas treats: fine art baubles and Christmas tree decorations!
This news is so hot off the press that they're not actually finished yet, but....  here's a photo of my protypes created (AND SOLD!) in July. And would you like a little peek behind the scenes of the work in progress?... 
I thought so!

If you're not able to make it to one of the above Christmas events but would like to fill your Christmas stockings with some of these fine art gifts then please get in touch.

I've been an admirer of the all singing, all dancing Artristic easel for a while, ever since I started following Sarah Rowan Dahl (a very successful Australian performance painter) on social media and saw her using one of these clever easels.

As my live art bookings become more frequent and take me further afield, I've been struggling more and more to physically carry my equipment to each event. Balancing my wooden easel on my shoulder whilst riding buses and the London underground might have got me noticed but also got me bruises!

It was time to take the plunge and make the investment. When I sent an enquiry to www.artristic.com asking whether they shipped from Oz to the UK, I was delighted to hear they were right at the start of a launch into the UK and the easels were already on their way over here!

As you may have seen in my social media posts I was particularly blessed to find that the box I received was amazingly one of only 3 GOLDEN easels the company had packaged randomly worldwide to celebrate their new series of easel and so my gorgeous easel was actually FREE!

I've been promising a video to lots of you, so yesterday I finally put one together – a little demo of how to use the easel (rotating, angling and turning) and also a glimpse at some of the variety of options it offers (different shapes and sizes of canvas and board, even fitting 2 at a time) whilst also being wonderfully portable. The video concludes with some footage of my new easel in action, being put through it's paces at a festival I painted at in the summer.

I mentioned to the guys at Artristic that I would be writing a blog about my new easel and they have kindly given me a special coupon code to share with you. So if you are interested in buying one of these babies yourself use the code: KATEGEASEL and you'll get 5% discount at their website www.artristic.com

A couple of weeks ago I took part in the Cambridge Open Art Exhibition at Swavesey Village College. We each had to submit 3 paintings for display and 2 'unframed' pieces. These were my contributions:

I was very pleased to sell Forage #2 during the weekend.

As an exhibiting artist I was invited along to the Preview Night. I found a selection of pieces that I was really drawn to and inspired by, that I wanted to share with you.

It was my first time exhibiting at this show and I was thrilled to have my artwork on display alongside some really fantastic local talent.

This book houses over 60 pieces of original art that were entered into the Chaiya Art Awards exhibition this year at the OXO Gallery, London. Each artist searching for a way to reply to this challenging title, telling their unique visual story, making their own observations and response. As the blurb on the back of the book says:
“Don't expect answers but rather a multitude of original and provocative responses that will draw you further into the mystery of just where is God in our 21st -century world.”

If you are interested in applying for the next Chaiya Art Awards competition, they will be announcing the theme  in Easter 2019 and then the competition exhibition will be held Easter 2020. Please sign up to their website if you want to be kept informed.

This blog post is written as part of a blog tour, marking the official launch of this stunning art book by Ann Clifford, “Where is God in our 21st century world?”, recently published by Instant Apostle. See links to the other posts on the Chaiya Art Awards Twitter Page.
#IsGod21