Seeing my Art in the Mall Galleries

Earlier this year I was thrilled to have my gouache painting 'Nourishing Summer Evening' accepted into the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. 

It was a painting I was particularly proud of, though not for the reasons you may expect. It did have more objects depicted, and more detail than a few of my previous work, but what really made me pleased was the fact that I had almost given up on it months prior. 

As an artist with ADHD, I find creating a constant juggling act of finding ways to keep things novel and exciting while still maintaining a consistency in my art practice. 

Some ways I do this involve having multiple works on the go, or allowing myself to invest time and money into learning an entirely new skill that could inform my creative process in new and interesting ways. 

This painting was one example of a piece that very easily could have stayed in the dreaded work-in-progress pile that remains unfinished. There's a phase in every single painting I've made where the piece looks worse than its sketch, and definitely worse than what I am aiming for - it's natural and normal. The problem is that knowing this doesn't prevent the lack of motivation there is for continuing it to the finish line. 

The only reason this piece was ever finished was actually because I was having bad sales days at markets in Autumn of 2025. On a busy day you'll find me chatting endlessly all day with other vendors and customers, but on a slow day I find myself so antsy and restless, trying to find distractions from the truth that it just won't be a great day for profit. 

I started to paint at markets because of this. It started with creating new smaller works on the spot, then I decided it was worth bringing along works-in-progress that were being left untouched. 

I was scared to bring this one along to Old Spitalfields Market, because it required a lot of focus, but in a rush I had no other project I could pack quickly to bring along with me, and so it was chosen. 

Within a few hours on a slower day at my stall I had finished the piece! It worked as a great conversation starter because people could actually see with their own eyes my process behind the works I enjoyed creating the most - ones about food and human connection and warm memories. 

Thanks so much Mall Galleries!