It was a nice sunny evening at the train station in Wakefield; the kind of romantic spring light that gives every place the elegance it deserves. But just as I began to feel a mental ease from knowing that my day had gone well, it was interrupted by an angry-sounding commotion in the station’s somewhatContinue reading “Hope against an undercurrent of rage”
Tag Archives: Mental health
New line of prints
Really happy to share that I’ve now got these limited edition signed A1 prints for sale. They do great justice to two of my most cherished works. I am doing an edition of just 7 of each – I prefer odd numbers. They are £55 (including p&p) each. Comment or DM me if you’re interested Continue reading “New line of prints”
‘NEW BRUTALITY’ (2024, mixed media on paper)
This is ‘NEW BRUTALITY’ Sorry for being trapped in the 20th century dealing with the 21st. And sorry for being unable to make any sense whatsoever – locked as we are inside the maddening house, where a ‘just do it’ Californian approach to life has left us all burnt out people on a burning planet. DeepContinue reading “‘NEW BRUTALITY’ (2024, mixed media on paper)”
The Mental Health Strike ’24
On 6 March 2024 the world’s first Mental Health Strike brought normal life to a near-total stand-still. One after another, people from many walks of life bridged the deep social divides, by publicly declaring that they could no longer maintain good mental health under contemporary work/life conditions. The Mental Health Strike initially began as aContinue reading “The Mental Health Strike ’24”
Looking back 6 years
The mental health strike. A strike that I posited happened in an alternate reality in late January (the week always desrcibed as the most depressing) in 2018. We do live in a very different reality now, though. A very unexpected one, still confused and defined by a vague sense of dislocation, after a pandemic nobodyContinue reading “Looking back 6 years”
Living with self-hatred: 2024
The fact that I feel pressed to make disclaimers about what I do or don’t say on my own blog already reveals the presence of a dominant inner critic. It thinks it is protecting me from damaging any reputation I may give off for having artistic ‘professionalism’. And indeed I feel I must impress theContinue reading “Living with self-hatred: 2024”
Edging out to the vanishing point
The late John Berger suggested that the body of work of an artist could only be completed by death. When talking about the 20th century artist Giacometti he suggested the artist’s ” …act of looking was like a form of prayer …a way of approaching but never being able to grasp an absolute”. Giacometti’s sculptures,Continue reading “Edging out to the vanishing point”
The failure of ‘the politicisation of mental health’
I admit it surprised me recently to hear Keir Starmer speak about the ‘collective trauma’ of the recent decade, and of a society of people who no longer feel like they have a future’. I know that nothing coming from the mouth piece for a mere electioneering PR exercise should surprise me. But I wasn’tContinue reading “The failure of ‘the politicisation of mental health’”
A life through walking
Neither the crucial role walking has had in my adult life, nor my acute psychogeographical knowledge of a certain clump of land in Northern England are things I instantly associate with pride and personal qualities. None of my walking has ever required metal sticks, flasks or waterproofs, the kind of walking you organise beforehand, norContinue reading “A life through walking”
John B Ledger 