By Mim Robson
I’ve been a self-employed artist and creative workshop facilitator for over 10 years. I call myself multi-disciplinary because I like to work in lots of different mediums. I do a bit of textiles, printmaking, ceramics,photography, writing, illustration, and anything else that takes my fancy.
In an effort to focus on one thing at a time, and to get some new work made, I have undertaken a project called 100 Days of Little Stories. The idea of a 100 Day Project is that you commit to doing something on a particular theme for 100 days in a row. I started on the 1st of Nov and have been making new little stories of all kinds, and sharing past work too, on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. As I write this now, I am on day 17… just over two weeks into what I have realised is a fourteen week project! It is at times a little overwhelming to come up with new ideas, make them and share them each day, but it is has been great to finally tick things off my ideas list, or finish things that have been on hold for too long. I’ve made new and unexpected work too. It has pushed me do other things I’ve put off for a while too, like finally setting up my shop on my website, and signing up to take my work to some fairs and markets.
Having a creative career isn’t always straightforward and much like my art-making, my career has taken on many forms and guises. My degree was in Creative Expressive Therapies, and I have generally pursued working creatively with people in ways that aims to improve or support wellbeing, encourage imagination, play and develop creative expression. This has taken me to work in hospitals, on beaches, in cafes, in woodlands, holiday camps, stately homes, churches, festivals, gardens, in many a community centre, and even on a barge. This work is fulfilling, fascinating and has meant that I have met and worked with many wonderful,inspiring and sometimes brilliantly eccentric people.
The downfall of doing lots of this ever-interesting work has been that I have been so absorbed in engaging other people in creativity, I have not always given as much focus to my own projects as I would have liked. So this year, I decided it was time to refocus my on my art-making, and create some new work. It’s easy to lose confidence in your own creative practice, and in your ability to finish things, if you haven’t attended to it very consistently for a while, and I think that is part of the challenge. So I hope that by the end of these 100 days I will finish with a sense of achievement, a load of new work, and a bit of renewed confidence going forwards in my next ventures.
If you would like to see more or follow my work, you can follow me on @mimrobsonartist on all the platforms I’ve mentioned – but I use Instagram the
most. If you would like occasional updates on new work/events/general arty chat, you can sign up to my mailing list on the contact page of my website. I sell my work on my website too, visit the shop at mimrobson.com – and I will have a stall at the North Shields Creatives Christmas Market at the Salt Market Social on Dec 5th 6-9pm. It looks it should be a great event, hope to see you there!
