MELODY VAUGHAN
*please be aware that many of the older posts have formatting issues due to the migration from my old Squarespace website to here. I am slowly updating things but it could take me some time.
I haven’t felt so great today, so I’ve not written a new blog post. Instead I spent a bit of time re-reading old notes, searching for snippets of ideas in things discarded. I’m not sure I found what I was looking for, but this entry from 5th November 2018 reminds me how circular time is, how perennial my struggle to
I set myself the challenge to write a blog post each day this month because I know how useful I find it to have daily practices. Anchor points in my day that offer me moments of stillness or movement, of contemplation or escape. These routines, once I can get them established, help me to navigate uncertain times or dips in
Once I’d decided that I was going to challenge myself to write each day, the scale of it made me pause. Am I up to writing a whole blog post every single day, when I’ve barely had the mental bandwidth or energy to write once a month for the past 10 months? Wouldn’t I be better off with something a
Where to start? Already this morning thoughts of what I might write have been pulling my focus away from my quiet breakfast in the SAD lamp glare, from the energising wind on my daily walk, from my breath on my mat. In the shower ideas started to come together and I could feel the tangle of threads begin to separate
November is NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month. Since it began in 1999, aspiring novel writers from all over the world set themselves the challenge of writing 50 000 words in the month towards a novel. That’s approximately 1667 words a day. Last year almost half a million people gave it a go. I was not one of them. And
Way back in February, when the world was a different place, I was interviewed by Deborah Parkes at Clayhill Arts for their podcast ’In the Studio’. She asked me about my curatorial and mentoring practice, the work I do with makers. We also discussed my (then) new Sustainability Audit and my interest in responsible/ethical making practices. This interview gave me
Every month I wrestle with words, trying to articulate things in my head and my heart, to share with you. A reaching out, a need for connection and the start of a conversation. This month it’s been harder for me to know where to begin, but I trust in this relationship we have been building here, as a community of
I didn’t send out a newsletter in April as I was ill. Although I’m on the mend now, I’ve been putting off writing anything because I just didn’t know what to say, or I felt that I had too much to say (like this week when the anger at our government is overwhelming) and felt uncomfortable venting all of
The blog turned 3 in March so I thought it would be fun to see which posts have been most popular in that time. Interestingly the top 2 posts (by a huge margin) are the ones about writing your Artist’s Statement. But after that it seems you are all widely interested in different aspects of creative practices – understanding why
I started the year with the intention of slowing down and taking my time deciding what to do with my creative practice (currently my curatorial practice). I had made arrangements and come to terms with the fact that I was going to be doing less in my creative consultancy business – fewer client sessions, teaching and events – for a
This week is the equinox – a moment of balance, the beginning of spring and the return of the light. If you’ve been reading this newsletter or my blog for a while you’ll know that this is a key seasonal moment for me. But this spring doesn’t feel like others. There is no denying that the usual optimism of
In these first few months of the year it feels like our focus is on what’s ahead – onwards and upwards! It’s a time of optimism and high hopes, of reaching up and dreaming big. It’s a time of setting goals, setting up expectations and trusting we can do it. These are not intrinsically bad things. I don’t have a
As it often does, January got away from me a bit this year and I found myself almost at the end of the month without having had time for my year review and plan. Some unexpected work and the winter blues meant that I haven’t been feeling in the right headspace this month for clearing some time to reflect.
January is the natural time to look ahead. Unlike the rest of the year, when it can be hard to carve out time to reflect once we are caught up in work and projects, this quiet month is perfect for slowing things right down. We can benefit from the end of another year, another decade, as the memories
With the solstice only days away, we’re right in the middle of the darkest part of the year and also the busiest. It’s a combination that can easily lead to feeling over-stimulated and over-tired, the adrenaline of trying to get it all done matched with the lack of time we give ourselves to rest or go slowly. So it may
For the last couple of years I’ve been using the seasonal markers of the equinoxes and the solstices to remind me to review the previous three months. These points of change and balance feel right for noticing how things are going with my creative and personal endeavours. But, I’ve also noticed something else happening when I slow down
September is the time of year for getting back to things (work, school, the routine of our daily lives) after the summer break. The French call this time of year La Rentrée – the return – and it affects everyone, not just workers and students. I like to think of this time of year as the Creative Return – where
September is the time of year for getting back to things (work, school, the routine of our daily lives) after the summer break. The French call this time of year La Rentrée – the return – and it affects everyone, not just workers and students. I like to think of this time of year as the Creative Return – where
Hello! Welcome to the last week of the #sparksummerschool. This week we are going to be spending time Connecting with Others. Last week we explored the world outside us, finding sources of wonder in our surroundings, paying attention to the ordinary and extraordinary in our urban or rural everyday lives. Hopefully you noticed what sorts of places fire up your
Hello! Welcome to week 3 of the #sparksummerschool. This week we are going to be spending time Looking Outside. Last week’s focus was on Looking Inside as a way to re-consider what it is that drives our own creativity. We spent some time thinking about the nature of creativity itself, how it manifests in so many ways and areas of
Hello! Welcome to week 2 of the #sparksummerschool. This week we are going to be spending time looking Inside. Last week’s focus on Play was an opportunity to take a break from ‘work as usual’ and to create a little distance between our thinking, over-analytical minds and our creative impulses. I hope you managed to find a bit of space
Hello! It’s the first week of the #sparksummerschool and we’re going to be looking at the theme of Play. When I devised this course I had considered starting with ‘Looking Inside’ as it always feels most natural for me to start with a bit of introspection, but then I realised that a real issue for me, when it comes to
Join me as I share things I’ve found helpful for exploring and understanding your creativity – things to read, watch and listen to. There will be activities lead by guest tutors and a chance for you to share your own go-to sources of inspiration. #sparksummerschool 4 weeks devoted to re-igniting your creativity: week 1 – Play Mon 5 – Sun
Something that comes up again, and again, for me when I review the state of things in my practice, is the need for me to take quality time to do creative things that are not work-related and that nourish me. So often we hear about the need to ‘feed the well’ of creativity if we are to draw
Finds excavated at Babylon between 1902 and 1914 in Berlin (British Museum) I have talked before, in this space and more widely, about how I am a maker who does not make things. For a number of years, it has been a sort of existential issue for me, especially since I spend my time surrounded by makers and other creatives.
Having started up the blog again, at a really busy time of year, I find myself on ‘blog day’ with barely enough time to eat lunch, let alone write a post. So, friends, I’m going to dial it in today and leave you in the capable hands of another Stoic – Seneca.
I’ve been reading Seneca’s ‘Letters from
Tomorrow is my last day teaching 3rd year students at Nottingham Trent University. We’ve been working towards building their confidence in communicating about their work, especially in written form. We’ve been thinking about the essentials of communication – understanding your values, your audience, the context of your work – and we’ve delved into the wonderful world of words and
At the moment I am coordinating an Arts Council funded project called Makers & Tools. I thought it might be interesting to share the ideas behind the project and how it has developed in the last couple of years. [This text was originally written during the pilot project in 2017 but I’ve expanded it to reflect what I learnt
This week, in my role as Trustee at New Brewery Arts in Cirencester, I went on a three day training course. In many ways I was happy to go – I was looking forward to getting to know the senior management team better, to understand the challenges facing the organisation and to be as useful as I could in
I’m returning to this space after a bit of a break. I’m not entirely sure I feel ready, but I think it’s right to come back and start again when there are new buds on the trees and flowers starting to bloom in gardens. Writing regularly, and sharing my ideas on creativity with a wider audience, is important to
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