Mel Ford

BFA

If art making is an open ended question, then I reckon my personal creative mantra might go along the lines of, “I wonder what would happen if...?”

Part mad scientist, part obsessive compulsive, my art making is all about the exploration of an idea, a concept and a material. The potential of something includes its limitations. The more you play with something the more you know about it. Doing is indeed thinking and knowing is frequently arrived at after a mistake or three.

It is through repetition that I can be free to explore. It is through repetition that I can know, see and think through an idea. By keeping my hands busy there is a letting go of all that precious finickiness that can so often paralyse creative thought and process.

There is a time and a place to let our inner critic loose. There is also a time to reflect on the work and to plot the next move.

I enjoy working part time as an on-site tutor at TLC, because I am constantly exposed to new creative problem solving challenges as I assist students to explore their own creative projects. I too, am constantly learning. It is also rewarding to watch others begin to trust their own intuition and allow their own creative processes to unfold.