Welcome to the Art Date podcast

Join us on our bi-weekly Art Date where we collaborate on artistic creations and develop a professional art career while juggling the challenges of family life.

11/4/20232 min read

Hello and welcome to the Art Date podcast blog. Aimee and I are super excited to be starting on this adventure with you and seeing where it leads us. What are we aiming for? Free-flowing and open-minded conversation about our journey to developing a robust artistic practice and Aimee trying to re-establish her career as a professional artist while juggling the trials and challenges of parenthood and family life.

Aimee and I have actually been having ‘art dates’ for a little while now, ever since I started working flexible hours and earmarked every other Tuesday as a day for making. With Aimee already working on reigniting her art practice from home, these Tuesdays have become a ‘date’ — in the sense that they’re about dedicating time, enjoying, listening and supporting each other. I love it.

Aimee and I live near a beautiful old cemetery in Norwich with graves dating back to the early 19th century. It’s wild, overgrown and feels to me like an ancient and sometimes mysterious forest. Squirrels and birds abound but, a while ago, I was surprised to see a small deer dart out from the undergrowth. I’ve since learned that the cemetery is home to a group of ‘muntjac’ deer — knee-high creatures with russet-brown fur, whose almost comically oversized, pear-shaped ears prick up when disturbed. They seem to hide in the undergrowth and so it’s always a thrill to spot one, although they’re easily startled and you’re most likely to see the bright white underside of a stiff upright little tail bounding away from you.

Aimee’s intrigued by the gravestones — the names and the stories they conjure up. In late summer, shafts of warm sunlight split through the treetops and illuminate those ancient memorials like spotlights creating an almost overtly-theatrical quality. Aimee has some ideas around using all of these elements as inspiration for a series of artworks which has, in turn, also given me some exciting ideas to create a collaborative piece that fuses her incredible attention to detail with my expressive natural style.

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