Trying to Make Art While Herding Cats and making chalk drawings with kids

98 days. It’s getting real. Weekly Art Practice, issue 72 | The Outsider Artist known as SLART.

NEW HERE? WHAT'S THIS WEEKLY ART PRACTICE ALL ABOUT?

Every Saturday, I share my art practice. I'm captivated by the process, not just the finished pieces but everything from influences to materials. It's like getting a behind-the-scenes peek at an artist's world.

[If this masterpiece is too long for email, you can read Cream of the Crop in Substack. Or download the Substack app.]

As of today, Saturday, May 31, 2025, there are 98 days until September 6, 2025, Memento Vivere opening night.

This week’s been a bit up and down. I had a funding application rejected, one of my pieces wasn’t accepted for my Art BRUT show (too graphic), and I’ve been trying to get artists to send me their work for an exhibition. But there were also a few good moments that reminded me why I do this.

In fact, these two…

The DYCP Knockback

I got a fast reply from the Developing Your Creative Practice grant, and it wasn’t good news.

I applied on 21 May, and when I checked the response this week, it was a flat no. No feedback. Just a line about my application not going forward because of some checks for fraudulent activity. It felt off, like they’d barely looked at it. And worse, because this was my second time applying, I can’t reapply for quite a while. A couple of years, I think.

Honestly, I was fucking pissed off. It’s a gut punch. I’ve emailed them to appeal it, but who knows what’ll come of that. It’s the kind of thing that makes you question what the hell you’re doing all this for.

Herding Cats for Art Brut

On top of that, I’ve been herding cats trying to pull together work from artists for the upcoming Art Brut exhibition. Chasing replies, nudging people, dealing with last-minute dropouts and vague maybes. It’s like organising a wedding with a bunch of people who don’t believe in calendars. I say this tongue-in-cheek as I’m a scatterbrain myself!

And just to round it off, one of my own pieces got rejected from the show because it featured a gun in someone’s mouth. It was too much apparently, which is… ironic, considering the spirit of Art Brut. But hey, I’m still inviting every Tom, Dick and Harry to the opening on 16 June. It’s going to be a great way to spend a Monday evening!!!.

Chalk Dust and Small Sparks

I spent some time with my niece and daughter (and nephews oh and another two nieces), just messing around, drawing with chalk on the patio. No plan, no pressure. Just colours and some fun scribbles, concrete and a bit of Kent sunshine.

What I didn’t expect was that it would spark something. My niece, who’s only four, started drawing loads of faces afterwards. My sister sent me pictures of her work, and they’re brilliant. Genuinely. She’s not copying anyone. She’s just doing it.

Cool aren’t they?

And it reminded me: you don’t always see the impact your work has. You just have to keep going. Someone’s watching. Someone’s being moved, inspired or nudged into creativity by what you do, even if you never know about it.

Studio Conversations

Later in the week, I popped into a studio near mine and had a chat with another artist. He told me that his son really likes my work, that he’s even been copying it and sketching it at home. That moved me, but little ones are so impressionable that any kind of nudging or encouraging can go a long long long way!!!

Again, you don’t always know who you’re influencing. But that influence is real. That ripple is out there.

Final Thoughts

So yes, the DYCP knockback stung. And chasing artists for Art Brut while getting my own work censored didn’t exactly lighten the mood. But this week reminded me that the real stuff, the good stuff, doesn’t always come from institutions or approval emails. Sometimes it comes from a chalk drawing on a patio, or a kid who sees something in your work that lights a fire.

Thanks for reading. Let me know if you’ve had one of those weeks, the kind that bruises and surprises all at once. I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Keep going. Keep making, is my message to you. You don’t know who’s watching!

Oh yea, and before I forget, I’ve signed up to

DAN KOE

’s little branding course. It’s not the perfect topic for me but I really love how he shares so openly and he’s a master of AI prompts, so I’m sure I can learn a lot from him!

ah and the legend legendary outsider artist Bob Osbourne will be part of the Art Brut show!!

Have a good week.

Take care,

Memento Vivere: Remember to Live.

Best wishes,

SLART.

P.S. One more thing, could you please leave a 4 or 5-star (Hopefully not 1,2 or 3) review on my SLART Google page? Just trying to level up my online game and get my art in front of more eyes, and this small, straightforward, and swift action would be immensely beneficial. Cheers!