Samantha Humphreys

Art, Photography, Inspiration & Education

Category: Anxiety

Miles, Minutes & Steps

Creativity takes courage. ”Henri Matisse”

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I have started a new job this week, I am going to be learning how to translate what I have learned as a University College lecturer into what is required of me to teach in a school. It is a lot to learn, I will have to think quicker and ‘do’ faster and If that isnt scary enough, I was used to a wellbeing routine, early morning walks full of rich green-ness and tranquility that started my day off whatever lay ahead. That has all turned a little chaotic and I need to find a way to develop a new routine, I need that walk infused into the start of the day. I already wake at the crack of dawn and I find that while I’m thinking all this, inside my head is like a roladex that flips round and round and I can’t quite grasp the visual and exciting ideas that whizz past at too fast a pace….Breathe…

…Today, I decided that what I must do, while my routine develops organically, I will take every chance i get to ‘bank’ wellbeing miles, minutes, steps-whatever I can to keep my mind healthy. So today I banked some, stopping (inside, I was annoyed that I kept on doing this) to take photos of the familiar route I have been craving all week, which had a newness to it, as though its a metaphor for the new eyes nature of my new role.

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The Wood Melick brushes that delicately protrude from the side of my path and then once onto the newly mown and difficult to walk on fieds, the purple Orchard Grass catches my eye in the thick patches of wild that have been left.

Then there are my favourite trees, well, some of my favourite trees, I have several…I’ll stop now.

Nine minutes Past Eight

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Nine Minutes Past Eight, (2019) Mixed media on plywood.

At nine minutes past eight just a few days ago I asked my friends a question ‘what does coffee mean to you?’ I received mainly one word answers immediately and I have presented them as miniature artworks, some inspired by the friend, others by the response given. As an artist I largely examine the boundaries between the digital and online presence and how it impacts our identity. Here I am focussing on how social media remains a useful tool for socialising and how Facebook, enables immediate social interaction bringing friends together within a digital environment, as coffee, in a physical space.

Change and Waiting

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Spiraling (2018) Wax on paper

The medium of wax has recently become incredibly important to my work, the texture and varying levels of control I can have over it are more important to me than the visual outcome. I am able to rework initial mark making until I am satisfied that I have a finished piece.

I am in a Room…

 

 

I am in a room. The room is a small part of something much bigger, it feels very comfortless. I am overwhelmed for a moment and need to sit down, there is a sense of loss. I feel the mind mutations minute by minute. I feel inspired, then those feelings are squashed by the imposed  limitations. All in the space of a minute.

Troubled Water

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Thinking (2018) Wax on paper

The varied states of mind and elements that contribute to these changes is something I am interested in trying to demonstrate using visual pieces of work. My recent experiments with wax feel to me to be an appropriate medium (albeit quite literal).

The wax solidifies immediately as it hits the surface and becomes unmovable. You can then manipulate the solid wax with heat over and over again, changing the texture and the aesthetic of the piece.

Anxy Birds (with unnecessary drama )

anyxbirdsdramaA story of life as part of a bird family…

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Untitled Dry point Etching on Paper

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I should have seen it coming back then, how could I not have?