All posts tagged: inspiration

It’s been a few years…

Published by

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 …

Evolution of my Flamingos / Katy Jade Dobson

Published by

Did anyone else laugh at the flamingos on Planet Earth II? It is obvious then as an animal lover and colour lover combined, that flamingos would come up throughout my portfolio of work. In fact, they come up much further back than I remembered from the top of my head. Sifting through my past paintings I found a set of similar works that have evolved over time and gown in my experience. It appears that I loved flamingos just as much in 2012. Sitting these paintings side by side will always be inspirational to me, to show myself just how far I can push my work if I want to. Working on your art, or anything at all, can take years of daily dedication and pure hard work. I have applied this to my art with patience and looseness to help me grow. I have let my gut instinct walk me, and through that I have taught myself to paint images as I want them to be seen and will continue to grow further. Please …

New Release – Sea Life and Majestic Mammals

Published by

I am so excited to be donating a percentage of profits from my new sea life themed release to the Marine Conservation Society. They work hard to protect our living seas and the wildlife in them by keeping shores clean of litter, tackling overfishing of important species and offering marine life animal adoption schemes. Keeping our oceans clean and healthy for the environment and its inhabitants is invaluable work. I love what they do to proudly protect our sea life and I am thrilled to be working with them. These 2 original paintings are particular favourites of mine, for reasons in that portraying sea life is a different challenge altogether. I had never painted turtles before working on these sea turtles which shows them swimming amongst a midst of intricate colours and textures. I had watched videos of these serene creatures on YouTube before deciding the way in which I wanted to depict them. When working on forming a mammal painting there is a logic to consider when building the subject. The light source will highlight features and …

Courty – The Godfather of Neon

Published by

‘There’s red neon gas running through my veins.’ Much like the bold and commanding nature of neon art, Courty himself radiates a parallel presence that you simply couldn’t ignore if you tried. As an artist who has immersed himself into almost 3 decades of fine tuning his skill in the art of neon, Robert Court respectfully demands your attention through his use of light, colour and the written word. Robert Court began his career in 1987. His rich portfolio of work and achievements have illuminated a pathway towards being one of the most prominant neon artists of proud London origin. His bold work has featured in film and tv sets, theatre, books, and businesses, as well as prestigious galleries and events. Courty is signed by Wishbone Publishing (the wonderful team who also represent my work) this has awarded me the privilege of seeing Courty’s work emblazoning gallery walls in all their brilliant glory. His work is hand made with pure passion and enthusiasm, distincly obvious from the emanating love shown in his fantastic artist interview, …

Laura Jones / Still Life Artist / Inspiration

Published by

An artist I have admired for around 6 months via the stalking platform of Instagram, is Australian painter Laura Jones. I stumbled upon her Instagram page (@_laura_jones_ ) and immediately followed. With a meaty backlog of exhibitions, shows, awards and residencies her accomplishments have been as full as her engaging artwork. Although I love her whole back catalog of work including a portrait series titled ‘I woke up like this’ my favourite is her recent ‘Wildflower’ work which emphasises an expression of Australian identity. I find her work so warm and peaceful. The colour patterns are incredibly earthy while retaining the brightness of the flowers and vases. They are full and bold in application but soft by nature. I identify most to the tactful naivety of the brush strokes as well as the simplicity of the visuals. I very much hope to own one of these originals! This is the kind of artwork that I feel doesn’t need discussing at great length, it should be looked at and examine how you feel when you see it above dissecting …

Virtue – A painting ensouled

Published by

It has so  far been rare that I connect to a painting that I produced quite as much as I did with Virtue: a light and ethereal take on a flock of doves. I enjoy working on every painting, some I would keep for myself and some I couldn’t wait to show the world and allow someone else to connect. Hoping for others to connect with your artwork is a pointless effort, it can only really be seen as you would like, if you paint with the intentions of making yourself feel a certain way. Only then, maybe someone else can channel into its meaning or create their own. I love this about art. Production based from feelings gives a timeless result to the artist. ‘Virtue’ came together incredibly fast for a painting of its vast size but tricky and slight proportions. It is often the case that when working so close to a large scale painting, you can become lost in the finer details, only to be surprised by what you produced when stepping away. It can …

Exhibiting at Robertson Fine Art Gallery

Published by

In the heart of Edinburgh, in the wonderful Robertson Fine Art Gallery I had the privilege of exhibiting my new collection of oil paintings. I had been working on this group of paintings throughout early 2016 and became quickly engrossed in the collection as a whole. I tailed off into new sections, irrelevant subjects that still laced in throughout the main body of work and played around with more muted palettes and ideas alongside hugely embellished subjects . To see more of The 21 Grams Collection, see the work and read about its origin – click here. I was incredibly nervous to be showing this work. It had been months of dedication, hoping to put my best foot forward to prove to myself that I can challenge my own techniques and build on what I already know about painting to create the marks and flourishes that I needed. I taught myself new approaches through trial and error and got lost in a concept of building continuously until I had reached the desired effect. So much so, …

Frequently Asked Questions

Published by

I get asked a lot of questions at exhibitions or through social media. Although I try to catch up on responding to comments, there is currently a lag. As a way of answering some of the very commonly asked questions regarding me and my work, I have compiled a list of FAQs to answer some! What materials do you use? I paint in oil paints. A few years ago I tried my hand at mixed media work, and have also dabbled with watercolours. Aside from my sketches (which are mostly charcoal or graphite) I work exclusively in oil paints. Oil paints are given a stigma for being difficult to use. Too thick, too hard to use, too long to dry… etc. This depends on how you paint and use your materials. For me, oil paints were the only option in moving forwards with my work, the traditional and classic tools for painting. (In my opinion) Because I had my heart set on painting with oils, I figured out how to make the material work for …

New Collection / Spring 2016

Published by

One of the most beneficial ways for me to work, on a personal level, is to produce a ‘body of work.’ It has been a while since I have worked solidly on a collection of paintings. The Phosphenes Collection was released in spring 2015, which led to a period of being inundated with commission requests, following on from Phosphenes and the Spectrum Collection. (Released Oct 2014) In between this influx of work I have managed to work on subjects and styles that I couldn’t hold back on trying in order to keep up my own personal rate of progression and creativity,  peppering small boutique collections of Limited Edition prints throughout the year. With commission waiting lists reaching up to 12 months for an original, it can become increasingly hard to expand and grow with your style and improve on your talent. Commissions can hold a different type of creative beauty in having a framework to adjust to make your own. If the subject is chosen, or a certain size or shape canvas is necessary, then working to fit these …

Ali Cavanaugh – Watercolour Artist

Published by

Out of so many artists whose work I find so compelling and inspiring, the watercolours of Ali Cavanaugh are one of my favourites.  One particular subject will always remain on my agenda because of what it means to get that subject right. This is figurative and portraiture. As humans we connect easily with a face, much like facial recognition technology, our brains similarly make connections and readings when we see a face. Faces are something we are almost too familiar with and in art if there is a mistake proportionately then it is clear to an onlooker in an instant. Proportion isn’t always the aim, abstraction artists often paint portraiture, there is so much to read that doesn’t always have to transfer immaculately across as clear as a photograph. Abstraction in portraiture can still capture other things,  we can gauge moods and emotions from slight turns in the many muscles that support the face. Whatever the style of work or agenda, with faces, something has to be ‘right’ for us to be able to relate. Portraits …