All posts filed under: Personal

It’s been a few years…

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What has happened since 2020? That was the year the world stopped, and for me writing blog posts stopped entirely. My last post on this blog was back in 2020, the year I took myself from being a managed artists to an independent one. Following almost a decade of blogging my art journey, after initially setting up this page as part of a university project, I then an almost 3 year hiatus from writing. Why did I stop and what’s been happening since?? One reason I stopped writing blog posts was because of taking on the management side of my artwork and how it meant that I immediately wore every hat that the business entailed. I went from working with a large team, to deciding to work alone! I wasn’t just the painter and artist anymore, I was the admin, the technician, the graphic designer, the packer and shipper. The other reasons is the slow, painful death of blogging! It pained me to watch the social media landscape turn away from blogging, (and pained me …

My Decade in Review!

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I took this time to reflect on the past 10 years, and I started writing about it privately, and thought what the hell, share it with the world! So here are the last 10 year in almost Tolkein-esque like detail (minus the elves) Enjoy! 2010 I was 21. This was the year I graduated with a BA Honours in Fine Art. A course that has incredibly little to do with what I do now, but probably valuable in terms of the theoretical side of art, which I excelled at for the essays. Ironically, studio time and physically creating the art was not my forte on this course. I completed the final half of my final year at University, a 10 000 word dissertation on how the studio environment affects the outcome of the art. I also struggled with crippling anxiety, panic attacks almost on a weekly, sometimes daily basis, and the impending dread of post-university life. Once graduated I got a job back in my hometown, and would get the train on weekends to visit …

2020 Announcement!

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If you’ve been following my work all this time (and it has been a while now since I started this blog) and you have kept up to do date recently on my artwork, then you may have noticed a bit of a change. After 5 great years with Wishbone Publishing I will be changing direction and working and trading as an independent artist. This has been a couple of months in the works in order to keep the transition as smooth as possible! Joining Wishbone was life changing for me and my work, I had hustled and grafted for almost 2 years before reaching out to Wishbone for representation, and the way they managed my work for the next few years was life altering. Alongside this fantastic opportunity they became family. Jack began working there around the same time that I signed, and he is now one of my best friends and stuck with me for life. (Sorry Jack.) As 2019 began to draw to a close I knew that a change was in order …

Working from home with a baby/toddler – Adapting.

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As a little human moves from infant, to baby to toddler, the way you parent changes and adapts alongside. Fitting in work alongside this is quite the juggle and means your work life is also under the same pressure to adapt. Only the adaptable survive according to Darwin, and at times I didn’t think my career could survive. It wasn’t until I let go of structure (something that would always be a challenge for me) and expectations, and more importantly, my previous style of working. I have been self employed and working from home since my early twenties. Before this I worked in bars/restaurants/office/warehouse/shop fronts and back. This level of freedom was something I had aimed for, worked for and achieved with many sacrifices along the way and I appreciated every second of it, and enjoyed each day of feeling free. So when a baby came along this freedom was gone. In Reuben’s case he did not want to sleep. He has been a curious, energised and spirited soul right from being an infant, one …

Lets stay connected

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Lets stay connected. You and I have been connected for a little while. You actually see into every corner of my soul, if you do in fact look at my artwork. Scary. Sharing my sacred art space has been something I have felt more strongly towards for a long time now! From starting communities on FaceBook to trying to share more information on the how behind my artwork, for anyone interested in the creating side of my art. Whilst also adding additional information for the people who just enjoy the viewing or the more theoretical side. I know from my own experience that when I had made the decision to make my art more of a prominent feature in my life, the social media profiles of other artists were my biggest source of inspiration and drive. I waited for their next post, and I hoped for more information of the how. Be it how they created, how they marketed, anything! Because of the ever changing social media landscape and the difficulty staying connected to the …

Lately…

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It has been such a long time since I last wrote a blog post (1 year in fact) and I thought I would revive and refresh with a few teaser close ups of my newest collection that I’ve been working so hard on. But first allow me to explain my absence from writing (one of my favourite forms of expression alongside painting) and what I have coming up that warrants a blog post or two! The last blog post I wrote, I typed with a sleeping baby strapped to me in a baby sling, who had been walked around the kitchen table over and over whilst I sang Bohemian Rhapsody (not sure why, but this method seemed to work occasionally) until he fell asleep and freed up my hands somewhat. I could have cooked, but this was too loud or messy. I could have painted but the arm movements seemed to disturb him. So typing it was! Fast forward a year and the tiny sleeping baby is a walking, babbling, giggling, dancing and relentlessly curious …

How I began selling my Art

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Selling artwork is not always an artist’s perogative. However not everyone has the luxury of creating for the joy. Of course that is where it has stemmed from for me, but in my early painting days getting the money for materials to work with was an important factor in actually being able to leisurely produce the work I was so inspired to do. I was working in a small coffee shop when I picked up on painting for the first time in years. University had left me a trembling mess of an artist, the soul crushing deadlines and inspiration stifling guidelines to follow for your work to be valid within the perimeters of that semester’s course had left me not wanting to even look at a paintbrush again. I loved working at the coffee shop and had the opportunity to talk to so many people on laid back shifts or quiet mornings. I had talked at length to a regular about art which left me wanting to use what little money I had left that …

Social Media, Art and where I have been!

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The past year for me has meant a slight distance from painting for the best reason. In 2018 I spent a vast majority of the year working on something that in the end, I didn’t feel was good enough to release as a collection. This work has stayed private and ongoing, and hopefully one day I will be able to call it complete. For now, it is one of the first times I have felt that I couldn’t quite meet the challenge that I had set for myself. I took this quite hard, as I have always stepped up to my own personal goals with painting, however it is good to know there is still so much to improve upon and aspire towards. I did manage to work on a collection named Dawn Chorus based on bird species from around the world, this made my heart glow and reinstalled my love for painting. Just after finishing this collection, I had my son Reuben. I continued to paint in small doses to ease myself back into …

2017 / Katy Jade Dobson

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It is always exciting for me to reflect not only back on the previous year, but to look forwards at the opportunities and challenges and watching them become real.  Currently I am working on a new collection. Much like early last year, I am working hard on a full set of oil paintings that are interlinked, their concept is laced throughout the collection and their visuals are woven together. Working on a full set together is a piece of time that eventually reflects directly into a real, tangible ‘thing.’ I have often talked about pockets of time being mirrored in a painting, but a collection evokes both a memory of a period of time, or a feeling of de ja vu. This particular collection is exciting for me, and always, is an effort to push forward with my craft, honing, building on, and learning new skills. As well as an impending new collection, I have other very exciting things going on this year, which I will certainly be notifying anyone interested, though this website, my …

My 2016 in summery

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Although on the broader spectrum of things, 2016 has been a tough year for so many people in many places, on a smaller and more personal scale I have known people to have had a great year, filled with personal achievements and good times. Early last year I worked solidly on a collection named The 21 Grams Collection. (See in full here) which was a great achievement for me. It was a body of work, full to the brim with enthusiasm and everything I had gained in knowledge and skill of art and my craft in order to create it. It was a personal highlight and achievement for me. This collection was shown in its entirety at Robertson Fine Art Gallery in Edinburgh, a place so stunning that I ventured back for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival later that year. Amongst this show, I visited some other beautiful galleries throughout the year to showcase new originals and prints. A standout for me was Eye Like Gallery in Beaconsfield. A wonderful gallery full of life and enthusiasm for …