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Emma Scattergood

@emmascattergood_

1.3K
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Artist • Writer • Mentor •
Exploring land and life •
Fuelled by nuts •
Dorset/Somerset ☘️🌱🌳
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If you are drawn to the wild and windswept, then you are my type of person! I love walking in rugged places with the wind in my hair. Recently I seem especially drawn to the weathered trees one sees in such places too. My sketch book, camera roll and paintings are full of leaning trees, bent out of shape by the elements. I also don’t feel entirely happy in the art shed until I can run my hand over a painting’s surface and feel a weathered surface of layers and textures. Feel all the places where I’ve painted and rubbed back, and where the story has been developed along the way. As a mid-life woman, a painter exploring my experiences and emotions through landscape, I guess none of this is surprising. But I think I’ve always found the rugged and imperfect more interesting. And I’d far rather have an honest conversation about the grittiness of real life than superficial chit chat about the gloss. If this sounds like you, and you fancy chatting about any of the above - and more - I’m putting together a schedule of free Wild Permission creative walks/gatherings in the Sherborne and Corton Denham area. Please drop me a line if you’d like to come along. Weathering. Wintering. Walking. Midlife. Landscape art. Returning to creativity. Abandoning perfectionism. Grounded by @emmascattergood_
13
6 months ago
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Oliver Burkeman wrote a great piece about resolutions in The Guardian on Saturday: ‘This year,’ he said, ‘Give yourself permission to prioritise pleasure.’ I couldn’t agree more. ‘Make time for art or writing or music, for community activism or exhilarating escapes into the wild.’ I did exactly that three years ago, and it turned my life around. Those of you following me here since then will have seen it play out. Thank you for all the encouragement you’ve given me along the way. I hope I can inspire a few more people to do the same. As Oliver says, ‘It’s not clear what life is really for, if it isn’t for doing more of whatever makes you feel most alive’ #thecreativepath #walktosee #onelifeliveit by @emmascattergood_
51
9 months ago
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A R T T R I B E NB - Link now live in my bio Recently I had a thought-provoking morning being interviewed by the lovely @traycitompkins from Art Tribe about my creative journey on the SW coast path and how it brought me back to ‘myself’ following burnout and loss. Trayci is such an insightful and generous interviewer that we quickly went deep into the nitty gritty of how art helped me (re)find my voice after losing it in the maelstrom of work/family/caring/grief. And how art (and especially art in nature) has the power to transform lives, if we give it the space to do so. I have a LOT to thank Art Tribe for. If you are aren’t aware of it, it’s a rich resource and community for artists run by the inspirational @louisefletcher_art who builds confidence in everyone who follows her on YouTube, signs up to her courses or listens to Art Juice, the podcast that she hosts with @alicesheridanstudio. I honestly doubt that my exhibition this summer would have come together in time without all the tips and support I gathered from Louise and the Art Tribe members over the past year, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a valuable, confidence-building online resource/community. PS I should maybe add that I’m not being recompensed in any way to shout about this!! #arttribe #thecreativepath #walktosee #50picturesfor50years #caring #grief #burnout by @emmascattergood_
15
2 years ago
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by @emmascattergood_
13
2 months ago
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Yesterday we lost all power. The men laying fibre optic cabling in the fields behind the cottage accidentally sliced through our electricity line and - bang - everything stopped. Phone. Internet. Kettle. But, actually, it made little difference to me. I lost my energy weeks ago. My brain, tired of my constant creative enthusiasm, has demanded - forced - a break. So, yesterday’s enforced silence actually suited me rather well. I went up to my abandoned Art Shed, sat and surveyed its post-exhibition chaos for a bit then slowly cleared the cardboard boxes, made space for a desk with a view and found a tiny kettle. I fetched tea and my favourite mug then, finally, unrolled my yoga mat in the middle of the floor, stretched out and simply listened to the gentle hum of life beyond. It felt wonderful. There’s a tendency to judge creative “success” by output, but we are not a production line. We are human. Life ebbs and flows and, although I know I feel better if I feed and water my creativity, I’ve learned that, like the fields around me, it’s also ok to have a quiet day, month, season - or even a year. So I didn’t start a painting or write a chapter in the Shed yesterday, I made a space in which it’s ok to press pause. A space in which I can play, abandon perfectionism and do what feels good. A space in which to drink tea and ponder new ideas. A space in which to pick up a pen and simply see what happens. A space in which there are no expectations. Electricity was finally returned to the cottage last night. Our appliances fired noisily back into action - and so did my phone. But I think I’ll pretend it hasn’t. I want to hang out in my slow living Shed a little bit longer. #slowliving #burnout #overwhelm #midlife by @emmascattergood_
23
2 months ago
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I’m not sure, exactly, why I’m sharing this with you. Especially as I am sure everyone I know on here is already feeling the same sadness, anxiety, concern and anger about what’s happening to our environment - and about the lack of action from those who could make a difference. I suppose I’m sharing these words and pictures because words and pictures are all I know and because waking up each day to an increasingly parched, fractured, silent and energy-sapped land is heartbreaking. Because I feel at a loss. We support various charities, sign various petitions, and do our best to nourish and protect the wildlife on our patch. But what can I do, can we do, that would really make a difference? If you have any thoughts please share them. 💚💚💚 #somersetnature #dorsetnature #climatechange #dorsetwildlife by @emmascattergood_
53
2 months ago
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Where has this year gone?! It’s my birthday (again?!) tomorrow which has made me pause to look back at what must have been my wildest, busiest and yet most utterly wonderful year yet. ☀️ Here’s a glimpse of some highs, lows, behind-the-scenes mess, and the things that kept me smiling. If you’d told me this time last year that I’d not only move to the country/renovate a cottage but also have two exhibitions, host two retreats and workshops, learn a bit about growing veg AND write a book, I’d have laughed in your face - or run for the hills. But here I am, on the other side. A bit weathered, significantly more textured and with a few lessons learned, but also feeling incredibly grateful. Nature doesn’t usually bloom all year, but somehow this past lap around the sun was constantly full of new branches and sprouts. Thank you to everyone who helped make it bloom or held my hand - and here’s to (maybe) taking a slower, quieter road on my next lap! 🥂👩‍🎨🌿” by @emmascattergood_
41
2 months ago
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Living on the Dorset/Somerset border, near Sherborne, I’m lucky to be surrounded by the most beautiful wildlife, hills and views - which inevitably reappear when I pick up a brush. Often regardless of my intentions! High ridges, weathered trees, country lanes, furrowed fields, rusty gates, bright colours and textures galore are all there - in front of my nose and under my feet. We are what we expose our senses to (and the extent to which we pause and notice) but I certainly have rich pickings to pause for here. Let me know if you’d like to join me sometime! #landart #walkingart #walktosee #somersetart #wildsketching by @emmascattergood_
6
5 months ago
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Many years ago, when Claire Fuller and I first met, I doubt either of us could have predicted there would come day when she would take a little break from the promotional tour for her sixth brilliant novel in order to collect a painting from me - bought at my last exhibition! I guess we are both testament to what joyful and remarkable things can happen if you just ‘have a go’ at something new in your mid life years. Even more strange and wonderful maybe is that, when she bought the painting, she didn’t know it was called Settled Ground - an uncannily similar title to her Costa Novel Award winning book, Unsettled Ground. It was the one painting that didn’t yet have a label on it when Claire came to view the exhibition on day one - because I’d only finished painting it the night before 😅! Sometimes, maybe, things are just meant to be? #midlifecreativity #clairefuller #hungerandthirst #midlifetransition by @emmascattergood_
13
4 months ago
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This is what it’s all about, really. Wild drawing. The joy of taking a pen and paper out for a walk and stopping to look around. It started a while ago when (grieving, burned out and feeling lost) I decided on a whim to walk and draw a national trail in my spare time. What wild drawing did (and continues to do) for my mental health was so remarkable, that I do all I can now to encourage others to head out with a pen or pencil in their pocket too. That’s what my current exhibition, Grounded, is all about. And the little book that I’ve written too. If you are Dorset way, and would like to know more, I’m reading from the book and talking about my work/experiences on Bank Holiday Monday at Durlston Country Park, Swanage - and on Sunday 10th too. It’s all FREE and you would be SO welcome. Returning to creativity • finding your voice • midlife creatives • taken in Dorset by @emmascattergood_
3
6 months ago
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Do you find space of your own in which to create, against the odds? After visiting Virginia Woolf’s house again recently, I’ve been thinking about “A Room of One’s Own”; the seasons when we have space and time - and those when we don’t. For many years as a mother, lecturer and care-giver, I didn’t. Taking it felt impossible and selfish. Now, I feel rather differently - but it remains a difficult, sensitive topic. I’d love to hear from those of you who have (and haven’t) managed to carve out creative time/space for yourself during difficult times. And how it has felt to do so - or not feel able to. Please do DM me if you prefer - and feel free to tag/share if you think this might resonate with someone you know. 😊✍️🎨 Photos show the creative spaces enjoyed by Virginia (and Leonard), Vita Sackville West, Barbara Hepworth and - now - me! Including @stivespainting and @brisons_veor @sissinghurstcastlegardennt @tatestives @monkshousent @ourcottageinlulworth #CreativeWellbeing #WomenWhoCreate #MakeSpace #EverydayCreativity #thecreativepath #creatingspace #finelines #spaceofonesown #caregiving by @emmascattergood_
20
a year ago
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My week in Dorset, Somerset and Sussex: 1) The inspiring exhibition about The Hogarth Press at Charleston Firle (more on that another day) 2 Watching the land around my art shed pale and crack 3. Mini islands and an early breakfast at Bracklesham Bay 4. Camouflaged sheep on our walk to the local 5. Bright light and a cool breeze in the kitchen 6. Beauty and solitude in the garden at Charleston House @charlestontrust 7. Imagining what Virginia Woolf may have read here, @monkshousent 8. A view of Virginia’s writing room from a shady deckchair 9. Possibly regretting wearing jeans 10. Spent a long time enjoying this piece by Keith Vaughn - a day to myself @pallanthousegallery 11. Popped into Chichester Cathedral for the glorious Piper tapestry and Chagall window 12. A trip to Swanage to mark the end of Breathing Land, my exhibition there with Jessamy Hawke. Thank you to everyone for bringing it to life. #dorsetart #somersetart #sussexart #writers by @emmascattergood_
8
3 months ago
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