A Client’s Reflection There’s always a moment, just before a painting leaves the studio, where I pause a little longer than usual. Delivering a commissioned piece is a strange mix of emotions—real excitement to see it go to its rightful home, and a quiet sense of loss in letting go of something I’ve spent so many hours with. You come to know every detail, every brushstroke, and in a way, it becomes part of your own story for a time. And then, of course, it’s gone; hung somewhere new,...

There is a particular kind of silence that exists between an artist and a blank canvas. Not a peaceful silence. The kind that feels like being assessed. Judged. Measured. I sat staring at the insurmountable and the insurmountable, in the form of a blank canvas, stared right back. After an all-knowing inhale, it explained exactly why I shouldn’t even bother trying. “Because you haven’t painted in so long, you’ll be back to square one. Not rusty; worse than rusty. More amnesiac than that. Like...

Well, that’s the last of it; brushes, paints and canvases all packed away. The studio is not a studio anymore. Bare walls and cold concrete floor say so little of what used to happen here. Maybe no art will ever be made in here again. There’s a strange atmosphere that’s created shutting down my studio. A mixture of wistful nostalgia, pride and not knowing what’s next. I’m proud of what’s been created, all that’s been achieved and the progress I’ve made. Proud too this art studio helped me...