Hi! I’m Charlie Kirkham, a UK based visual artist and this is my blog.
Since leaving Art School in 2014 I’ve navigated the art world taking part in prestigious Open Exhibitions such as the ING Discerning Eye at Mall Galleries, London and winning the Visions of Science Award 2018. I’ve done this while juggling jobs, being a parent and managing a pesky heart condition.
Leaving art school and working towards making a full-time living from your art is hard. There are around 45,500 artists working in the UK in 2022 that’s only around 0.7% of the population. No wonder it can feel lonely. I love to help others to feel the power of creativity. This blog shares some motivational tips (let’s do this together!), art product reviews, behind the scenes of making and artist life posts.
My Artist Journey
Creativity has always been a big part of my life, from drawing on the walls as a child (my mother encouraged freedom of expression), to taking and later teaching many courses as an adult. I’ve made so many mistakes along the way, from dropping out of art school (Bezalel) because I couldn’t hack criticism, to wasting opportunities with potential clients and galleries. It’s been a long journey and here I’ll share the lessons I’ve learned the hard way.
After dropping out of Bezalel I questioned my identity, wondering if I’d ever be a ‘real’ artist. From feeling guilty about not creating enough, to feeling guilty about not making enough money, there are so many pitfalls in trying to build a creative life. For a few years I worked different jobs and designed on the side, working with Tattoo Johnny in the US. In 2013 I enrolled on the Portrait Diploma at The Heatherley School of Fine Art, Chelsea. I waitressed alongside my studies and trained as an adult education tutor in art during the first year enabling me to teach adult and SEN art during my second year.
From then on, I’ve taught art, worked day jobs and created along the way. I’m a full member of the Society of Graphic Fine Art, the UK’s only society dedicated to drawing. I joined Eastside Projects EOP in 2022. I’m also an enthusiastic Create member at STEAMhouse, Birmingham.
It’s a struggle to become an artist and success looks different for everyone. For me, success is creating quality consistent work with regular showing and sales opportunities. It’s also important to me to support my artist colleagues and students with their own art journeys. For you, success can look totally different.
I’m excited to launch this blog and hope you’ll be a regular visitor 😊
To hear about the latest news join my MAILING LIST here
To see what happens in my studio follow me on Instagram HERE
REFERENCE LINKS
The Heatherley School of Fine Art
Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
The Society of Graphic Fine Art
How Many Artists are in the UK?
Housekeeping
I love to hear from you and welcome your thoughts. When you leave comments, please make sure they are respectful and of interest to other readers. Racial and ethnic slurs, profanity and hate speech won’t be tolerated and I will remove any offensive, irrelevant or disrespectful comments from this blog.
The views expressed in this blog represent my individual perspective on life.
Response times: juggling an artist life with a day job and a family means that it may take a few days to respond, please be patient.
Remember that this is a public website, don’t post it if it’s private. For sales or exhibition enquiries please use the CONTACT FORM found here.
Thank you so much!
Thank you for visiting, reading, commenting and contributing.
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Charlie Kirkham 