Perfection doesn't exist...

Onwards, forwards and upwards | Projekt Rattloch — Week 14 🐀🕳️

Sep 29, 2025

Forget perfect. It doesn’t exist. After two years of sheer procrastination, my new (imperfect) online art shop is live! You can find beautiful canvas prints of my art right here:

www.outsiderslart.com 👈

It’s a work in progress, but I’ll be adding new art every day.

It’s been a fantastic, no, phenomenal few weeks with Memento Vivere (6th-18th Sept). I’m sad that it’s over but I’m ready for for the next chapter.

Let’s get down to brass tacks (or is it tacs, like Tic Tacs? fuc knows). This project was about getting my name out there in the so called ‘art world’, but also about selling my work. In reality, though, I didn’t sell any paintings from the exhibition, as yet.

There were a few enquiries. One patron was considering two pieces, but after a follow-up they told me they still hadn’t decided. It doesn’t feel right to push again, so I’ve left it to the wind. A friend who helped set up the show said he wanted to buy the main piece called Memento Vivere, though I’ve not heard back yet. And there was a lovely woman I gave a tour to on the closing night. My curator Maria followed up, but nothing came of it.

In the past, not selling work would have left me feeling gutted. This time it hasn’t.

Why?

Because I know this exhibition moved people. It reinforced my place as an artist. It showed me I’m on the right path. There’s no way I’m stopping now. The exhibition inspired people from all over the world, people who stumbled across this random crypt below a Central London church.

So what’s next?

I’ve still got catalogues from Memento Vivere and I’m sending them to galleries with covering letters requesting representation. One is already heading to Unit London. Someone at the opening told me they’re down to earth and genuinely supportive of artists, unlike some other commercial galleries. I’ve got nothing to lose. A physical letter feels more likely to catch attention than yet another email in one’s overloaded inbox.

I’m also starting a documentary. I say that flippantly and a bit too quickly, as if it’s and easy task, though I know it’s not. Maybe my naivety is useful here. The idea is to tell my story: living with kidney failure, transforming that experience into art, and sharing it with the world. It might sound egotistical, but I see it as something I have the desire to create, something I’ll enjoy, and a fitting follow-on from the exhibition. It will be raw, authentic, and I hope it creates awareness around organ donation too.

Last week I said I’d write a full reflection on Memento Vivere, but honestly, I don’t have anything more to add. That chapter feels closed. It’s time to move on. I’ve learned not to dwell on successes. Celebrate them, yes, but keep creating straight after. I am yet to read the physical comments book from the exhibition, but it will feature in the documentary, so watch this space.

Also, right now, I’m working on 45 new A3 paintings. They’re inspired by Gina Bold and her Arlington house series, and will come together as a larger work. Five rows of nine pieces, taken from people who’ve had kidney failure, past and present. I’m excited.

Thank you for all your support. Let’s keep moving forward (and upwards) together.