SLART November 2023 Retrospective
Notable Notions from an Artist's November Noticings
SLART Note: Do you ever have the feeling that you’ve been unproductive? I get this all the time. This is why reflection is so important, you get to go through what you’ve done in a month, and say, well I did do some cool stuff. I hope you enjoy this month’s reflection!
November 1
I’ve made up my own SLARTvember drawing challenge and asked my mate Chad GPT to create the prompts.
Harvest - Westcountry inspired.
November 2
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this day.
I had a lovely 15-minute sketch session after my morning dog walk and before work, the fire was on, Bruno was snuggled and I proceeded to sketch the wonderful Marc Randolph and Julia Sweeney.
Defo grateful for this free chicken burger at lunch, not the best photo but it was pretty tasty.
When I got home, I was so happy to see my baby daughter’s first piece of art:
November 3
The SLARTVEMBER piece was created in the toilet today. Notice that I said ‘in’ not ‘on’ like Tabitha Blair quipped 😊
I posted my ‘Stack à propos de Jerry Saltz…
SLART Critique by Jerry Saltz
SLART Note: I had high hopes for GPT this morning. I had a great idea, to feed GPT all of my previous Substack posts so far, then I could take advantage of its great intelligence to write a post in the SLART style, and perhaps, do something interesting with its newfound knowledge of SLART.
I went to visit family in Margate, the weather was torrential rain, but it’s that time of year when you just cosy up inside instead. I also made some accidental art in the lens of my spectacles.
November 4
Speaking of cosy…
We went to a garden centre and they had tonnes of Christmas decorations. Check out this work of art, a miniature Christmas Town!
November 5
Remember, remember the fifth of November, it’s fireworks night.
We have a small baby and an even smaller dog so this year, It’s just as lovely viewing the fireworks out of the window, in the warmth of my home!
We had a lovely roast dinner at a pub in Beltinge, Kent. Succulent beef brisket, but sadly the Yorkshire pudding was burnt!
When we got home, in the evening I caught myself on the baby camera and I noticed that I’d put on a tonne of weight. Day to day I am quite unaware of my body as I’m quite insular, so it’s a shock to see myself like this. I had the idea of making this into a small painting, watch this space. I was going to print this out to stop me from eating so much.
November 6
I went to a podiatry appointment after work and had my baby daughter with me. When we left to go home, the lift was out of order. I was outraged! I really wanted to write a letter to the local council about this, but swiftly forgot a day later. The thing is, fortunately, I am strong enough to carry my baby and pram down one flight of stairs, but what if it was a wheelchair user or a person with twins and a buggy? How would they get down?
Well, I can’t really remember anything else from that day. So let’s move on to the Tuesday :-)
November 7
My daughter painted a cool fireworks pic.
My sister announced that she was pregnant! So so over the moon for her and her partner!
I drew a picture of Thomas Berryman ready for the podcast coming on the 8th Nov!
November 8
The interview. Thomas is such a cool guy would love to chat with him more often.
#6 Art, 90s Hip hop music & the Tao te ching
Thomas Berryman TV is the video interviewer version of a Substack writer. He has a small, dedicated audience on YouTube. He’s interviewed really niche people from ex-cons who have made a full 360 and turned their life around, to lesser-known rappers like
I created a short photo montage of a mural I worked on with Harrie Dearing, bigging her up!
I started looking into Tom Kerridge's recipes. He lost 12 stone eating hearty meals which he called “The Dopemine Diet”. So tasty! I don’t like the word ‘diet’ but the recipes make you feel like you’re not dieting.
November 9
My baby did Baby Sensory, the theme was space! Wish I could’ve been there. That’s one of the downsides of full-time employment.
…Reminded me of this, Tim Curry is a legend.
November 10
I did a quick sketch of Brian Reindel 👾⚔️ and used Runway to create a cool video from it.
I found myself insta-scrolling today, but this was so true.
November 11
Remembrance Day and the 5th anniversary of my mother’s passing.
Remembering loved ones on 11/11
Author’s note: My mother passed away on 11/11/2018, peacefully, after suffering from COPD for many years. This is in memory of her, and my father who passed away on 03/04/2020. Even more apt, is the significance of 11/11: Armistice Day “At the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month – we will remember them. The Armistice, an agreement to end the fighting of the First World War as a prelude to peace negotiations, began at 11am on 11 November 1918. Armistice is Latin for to stand (still) arms.”
November 12
It was a chilled Sunday, no drawing today, just a relaxed day with my family. Baby’s bath time and an early night.
I stopped SLARTvember today, I wasn’t particularly enjoying it like it did Inktober. I’ll still try and draw daily though!
November 13
The art exhibition at work started today. About 6 weeks ago, I had the idea of an autumn art exhibition at my workplace. If I ever get overwhelmed in hosting events, I just take it one step at a time, the first step, in this case, was to get permission to display the work, and then book the dates. The permission took a while as it took a while to hear back from the estates team.
I sent comms out via our work newsletter and 30 artists submitted their amazing work and the rest was history! Check out the video tour below:
November 14
What a lovely start to the day, seeing that the legend that is DuVay Knox had recommended my Subtack! Thank you, bro!
I love this sketch of Elle Griffin I did today.
I took a panoramic image of the art exhibition. You can see my Hulk Hogan piece on the far left. Cool space isn’t it? Can you see the Concorde Engine in the background? (Not part of the exhibit).
I did a quick sketch of Amrita Roy who was recently crowned Substack Featured Publication 2023. I’m not too happy with this one, but hey, as Warhol said “Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.”
I read a bit of ‘100 Ways to Create Wealth’ today and this quote stood out. I often intend to ‘get quiet’ and do some hand-written reflection, but when I’m wound up for an evening, I’ll either sketch, play with my daughter or watch Succession on TV. I think I need to take heed and carve some time to do nothing and ponder.
T’was a long day, I enjoyed one of those meals from the Tom Kerridge cookbook and had a pint of Rosè and Lemonade.
November 15
My late mother’s birthday today, she would have been 76 today. I published this ‘Stack:
#7 Finding Peace Through Art: A Journey Beyond Chronic Illness
A conversation that takes a deep dive into how we see ourselves, unleashing our passion and how to live with illness that is at the forefront of your life. Listen in for a great chat with Artist Steve Light AKA SLART and Janis Hough. “I believe that we should all seek to be our raw, naked, honest truth, perfectly imperfect and fuck what other people think. Dare to be your most vulnerable self. Live life on your terms.”
I submitted a request to work from home on Fridays, this will give me a bit of headspace and one day per week with no commute if the request is granted!
November 16
My old colleague Nick popped over as he was buying a framed, signed print from me.
Thanks, Nick! It was the Memento Vivere Print.
It was my wife’s birthday today, so we decided to have a quiet night in and get takeaway burgers!
November 17
Saw this today, it’s true.
I downloaded Marlee Grace offline practice (I hope you don’t mind the share), but didn’t get around to doing it, so I’ll print it out now!
No drawings today, but I did order this cool SLART tape.
November 18
Not a lot to report today, but I did publish my ‘stack.
The time will pass anyway.
MEMENTO VIVERE There’s nothing new in these words, but they come from an almost universal dissatisfaction, a search for something more than a 9-5 existence. It’s a dichotomy. You should be grateful for having a job, right? Yet you can’t help this dissatisfaction that you feel, right?
November 19
Little SLART sketch of Allison Epstein check out her work! This is part of a new note, let’s see how long the chain will go!
Rachel Katz shared a photo of herself, previously she had been writing under Rae Katz with a different profile pic. I just love it when people do courageous acts like this. Her stack is wonderful, so check it out!
I just love it when you get unexpected time to finish an art project, it feels indulgent to me. Sadly, my wife was in bed with a cold, so I took my daughter downstairs to play. A while later, she was happy watching Ms Rachel while I spent a solid hour finishing this piece of Jeanne S. I’m pleased with how it turned out. You can see it’s my signature SLART style, it radiates joy. Once completed, I spent 10 minutes staring at her face on the sketch pad. Sounds weird I know, but you really can lose yourself by looking at a portrait. Or any art for that matter.
Afterwards, I opened up a fresh, new canvas pad and created a quick art piece of Super Hans from Peep Show. I’ll be displaying this in my next exhibition.
November 20
I joined Arnold’s Pump Club, a newsletter where he shares tips on fitness, motivation, wellbeing etc…
Adam and I had some photos taken outside our favourite meeting place, Made in Bahia for our upcoming exhibition on the 9th of December. The owner, Gerson, gave us free chicken wings, he’s such a gem.
November 21
Not a lot happened today, I did plan a bit for 2024 with an art exhibition request.
22 November
I released a 2021 interview with two wonderful France-based Artists.
My SLART sketch of the day was of the fab Sarah Miller!
November 23
I got a lovely Teams message from a work colleague (I haven’t met them) regarding my artwork at the exhibition I set up at work.
24 November
Love these two Tabitha Blair and DuVay Knox they inspire me to be better, do better, to be more myself. Thank you. I created a little graphic and a note to show my appreciation.
I have been pondering on this for a few months, how cool would it be to break a Guinness World Record? I took the first step to creating The World’s Deepest Art Exhibition.
25 November
Published my stack on needing permission to do your thing, and asking others how to do it.
“How do I…? “ Really means “Can I have permission to…?”
As I enjoyed my sausage, mash, peas and onion gravy on my own during my 30-minute lunch break, I thought about how often I’ve asked someone else ‘how to’ do something. But what was I really asking? In 2021, I emailed legendary Swindon muralist, Ken White and asked him “How do I start painting murals?”.
My memento mori coin arrived today. It’s a reminder of our mortality that I keep in my pocket.
November 26
This little comment made my day, thanks Miguel Clark Mallet.
November 27
Grateful for Tabitha Blair sharing this. I do have movements of big thinking but I often doubt myself. How cool would it be to broaden your horizons and open up a new reality?
November 28
It was the birthday of Alex Dobrenko` today. Check out his ‘stack. He’s brilliant!
In my new sketch thread, I drew Laura Sackton today, check her writing out too!
November 29
Published my podcast, an interview with Ruby Wax back in 2008.
#9 A bold, vulnerable conversation with Ruby Wax on Social Anxiety
SLART Note: This recording was created before SLART existed, but these events have been undeniably formative in the creation of my art. In 2008 I had come a long way in terms of overcoming crippling shyness (social anxiety). One fateful Wednesday, I got an email from an associate, a man I looked up to called Stefano. He asked me if I would like to go and speak to Ruby Wax about social anxiety for the BBC tomorrow (Stefano couldn’t go, so he kindly thought of me). Everything about the request instilled fear in me.
November 30
Last day of the month, the work exhibition is closing, what an event!
I got this message from a friend, which I REALLY needed to hear!
I was testing out a Zoom call and I looked like this! Looking cute, might paint it later!
Thanks for reflecting with me on November 2023. Best wishes to you.
Love this! Meanwhile you got me craving a double burger now at midnight and I too am tryna lose a tonne of weight so I’m just going to dream of burgers and chips.
Thank U SLART....Im still diggin into dis joint. I preshate ya werk.