Thinking, talking and doing

Deadlines are a messy business; hunt down your idea, wrestle its wriggling form onto paper, then clean all the blood and sweat from it for market.

Messy and noisy.

It is really rare for me to get the opportunity to develop my ideas and artwork quietly. 'Thinking' becomes a shameful word, like 'procrastinating' and 'stagnating'

antonym: 'working'.

Being at Temple Newsam is reminding me of the value that thinking has within my creative process. I think that I exchanged thinking for doing without realising what I was sacrificing.

Not only thinking; talking.

Exploring ideas through discussing, brainstorming, listening, and looking.

Talking 'round an idea, until a funny little tangent introduces itself.

I have been talking with Shelley about this a lot. We are collaborating on workshops for children and adults at TN at the moment. We talk about the work that we are doing. We both want to know everything about the other's work, so that we can find connections to link themes together. As we talk, you can see our ideas galloping around us, intertwining and looping together - the words curling and sparking into life.

When the conversation ends it feels like waking up, and I am scribbling notes to remember the dream.