Fashions come and go! But naked is always in fashion! Or is it? Well, for one person I recently got the chance to collaborate with, it most definitely is! They’ve made a successful career out of it! International NFT selling, art nude model, Rebecca Perry (https://www.rebeccaperry.net/).

They say that ‘collaboration is key’ and that ‘two heads are better than one’. I think ‘they’, whoever ‘they’ are, might be right! Collaborating with others can offer up new perspectives or ideas and can help push a project to another level. A level that perhaps you wouldn't have thought of if you only ever work independently. When you find the right people to collaborate with it can be incredibly inspiring, open new doors and maybe push you out of some of your comfort zones. And, that’s exactly what happened to me when I was approached about a visual collaboration by, up and coming, Bristol-based DJ and music producer, JJODA.

‘Not Safe for Work!’ Now, I ummed and ahhed about whether to even put the ‘NSFW’ label on this blog because, realistically, this post is more about celebrating a win as an artist rather than the shock and awe, of some, to the naked body. Trust me you’ll find far worse scrolling on social media that could possibly be ‘NSFW’ than what you’re about to see and read here. Call it a polite warning though? But now I’ve got that out of the way and got your attention let’s get back to the win that I was talking about.

Life can be weird sometimes! You can go from being complete strangers with a person, to being friends, to perhaps being more than friends, to being complete strangers again, in what can feel like a blink of an eye. Don’t get me wrong in some cases, it’s important for that person to become a stranger so that we can learn and grow as people and in other cases, you can feel like you’ve lost something important that might never be replaced. The connections we make with our fellow humans can shape our lives in many ways and I’m sure we all have ‘strangers’ who we wish we still had in our lives as well as ‘strangers’ who we are more than happy to leave in the past. We can learn from all of them!

How are you feeling? It’s a big question that’s often greeted with a quick response of ‘Fine!’, or some other generic comment and then we move on. But seriously, ‘How are you actually feeling? Are you really ‘fine’? I genuinely hope that you are and everything is going well in your life. But, even if it is, how often are you checking in with yourself and your own mental health and how honest are you being about it, not just with people around you but more importantly with yourself?

Melancholia is defined as a feeling of great sadness. It’s an old fashioned word but, interestingly, and maybe worryingly, one that seems to have been coming back into fashion in recent times. It’s 2021 and over the last year, I’m sure everyone reading this has experienced their own forms of melancholia, in some form or another, big or small. Whether that’s having your normal routines taken away from you, being cut off from friends or family during lockdown, business and financial worries, relationship struggles the list goes on. Whatever the cause I think we can all agree that it’s been a difficult time. We’ve all had to find ways of dealing with these feelings and everyone, I’m sure, has different methods that work for them. For me, my therapy comes in the form of creating. So, with a little inspiration from one of my favourite photographers, I got my head down and started to create in an attempt to address some of my own feelings of melancholia.

When you see yourself, what do you see? Is the person looking back at you the person you want to be and living the life you want to live, if not, why not? Do you see yourself as a monster or a masterpiece? Sometimes we have to take the time to look a little bit deeper at our lives and, in some cases, be brutally honest to answer some of those heavy existential questions.

In these times of huge division in the world we all, including me, need to educate ourselves on the problems and struggles that exist for people from all different walks of life not just our own. Race, class, religion, politics and the list goes on in terms of the things used to fit us into defined boxes. All that does, in my eyes, is create more division between us by highlighting our differences.

‘In a world devoid of colour and expression there comes a time when you stop and look around and realise that your life is lacking something! It’s that expression or application of human creative skill and imagination…Art!’ Nominated for countless accolades and winner of, not one but three prestigious GAR BAGÉ Awards, ‘ART HOUSE’ provides the perfect antidote to that overwhelming sense of lacking and, trust me when I say that your life will never be the same once you see it! It’s the blog post that inspired one courageous artist to…