Tracey Elizabeth Downing Artist

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It's that time of year when there's a flurry of open calls - it's good to get motivated to apply for some but not all of them. Here's one I'm submitting for a group show

I thought I'd be at home preparing food for Christmas but I needed to get here this morning. If I use my energy up too early non the day for drawing or painting then it doesn't happen.
So I allowed myself a couple of hours and quickly diverged from my plan and this happened.
No matter what I think it say to myself - the same imagery keeps coming so I owe it to myself to keep going.
Finding one's honest voice takes time and holding onto it is hard, but I know that what I do doesn't only resonate with me which is heartening. I may have a small audience who 'get me' and buy my work and love it but that's enough.
See my stories for very preliminary works in progress. I'll be choosing what to upload soon as I'm enrolled on the PG1 with which starts in January. I'm constantly pushing forwards to work out what it's all about.
Loved working on velour paper with blue and yellow this morning - not sure it it's finished but it's caught my interest.
Wishing you peace this Christmas and thank you so much for following, reading, liking, and purchasing my work and coaching, you know who you are and it all helps tremendously.







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Had a pleasant afternoon in the studio working on some pastel drawings whilst the big paintings dried. Loved listening to various episodes of including which was fab.
One of these has already sold (on the left )and one is still available (on the right) £60 free p&p as I can't guarantee delivery by Christmas - Just DM me - A3 size will fit in ready made frames if the cost of framing is prohibitive for you 🥰

On a roll updating my grid with shows I'm pleased to have work in 🥰


Painting Open
Swipe for opening times and to see my painting Pillow Talk

A few wonderful photos of Winter Group Show Deal, Kent. Show continues until 27th January 2024 so plenty of time to visit - I'm hoping to go again with and after Christmas 🤍

Thanks to for all their work presenting the works on paper for this years 'Precious Postcards' exhibition - open today only Bristol and then online on the website - swipe to see my four selected postcard sized pastel drawings - all just £50 each with 20% going straight to charity.

Really excited to be on my way to Deal in Kent for the opening of Winter Group Show.
It's a big deal for me after lots of submissions and rather few acceptances - this is a lesson to myself to keep on going regardless, to continue in my commitment to my work and learn to love what I make because it's mine.
My painting 'Lemon Drops' is one of my personal favourites; evocative of the constraints and freedom of working with memory and the imagery that bubbles up in the studio.
I'm also excited to see the rest of the show and meeting other Artists, many whom I probably follow and esteem.
I'll try and remember to take some photos.
I hope today is a warm day for you and if you're feeling discouraged in your Art practice it IS a rollercoaster at times, hold on tight.
Ps I'm terrified of rollercoasters 🎢- ask my kids - I even get scared on the toddler size one 🤣

This morning has been a time for experimentation and discovery 💡
I'm not sure if watching Lessons in Chemistry 🧪 on 🍏 tv 📺 which is great, has influenced me but the results care clear to me.
Clockwise we have pastel on pastel card, velour paper, Fabriano pastelle paper and the inside of a coco-pops box.
I know which feels right and which lends itself beautifully to the medium. Do you ?
Clue 🕵️‍♀️ it's the most expensive option 😳
Thought I'd explore the lemon 🍋 theme further - it's not soured yet.

Had a pleasant time in the studio this morning finishing these small pastel drawings and listening to a great discussion on Philip Guston's chapter on drawing in the book 'I paint what I want to see'.
I love this list of drawing tips from too that I have pinned up on the wall...
Tomorrow I'm going to make 4 more smalls...
These pastel drawings are coming on nicely - they're a response to a series of charcoal drawings I have on the wall and will inform my next group of paintings - I think I'll put them away though and draw upon the memory and experience of making them.
Do you draw before painting ? Or is it a separate practice for you?
I'll be adding these to a page of Drawings on my website soon but if you're drawn to any let me know - I'm happy to sell them for not too much. 2 are already reserved 🥰

Today I took Mila to the studio - after a run around the park playing catch the ball she was such a good girl. From a young pup I've taught her to chill with me on days I need to take her.
Two drawings is what I'm making each time I visit - that's enough. I enjoyed listening to the talk on colour featuring my friend and others - the link is in her bio.
I'm pleased with these - pastel made in response to charcoal drawings of plant life in Spain 🇪🇸

Very pleased with myself.
Got a nice haircut and made it to the studio to make 2 more in my series of 12 (that's how many sheets of this gorgeous pastello pamper I have).
Some of the original charcoals won't make the Final Cut but I have more than enough as source for development.
How wonderfully easy it is to focus here 💭
I've not thought of titles yet - those are incubating.

I'm still recovering from covid and getting back to my normal will take a while. The fatigue is heavy!
Yesterday I got to my studio which I was SO pleased about - you know when you've been in bed a week and wonder if life will feel normal again?
I've been collecting and collating charcoal drawings made over the last month and began responding to them in colour using pastels which are gorgeously comforting to use.
A friend asked me to make a post because she likes these drawings so much - that's really kind and encouraging.
Small steps - I can feel my painting vibe returning 🩷

I'm back in my new studio ! Yay ! Just for a little while to put the drawings taken down from my bedroom wall on the walls in here.
It's so good to be here after so many other happenings good and not so...
That's enough for today.
I'm taking my time looking at these drawings before I get back to painting.
Those that resonate are making themselves known. It's a slow process but well worth taking the time.
It's so quiet and calm in here I'm very grateful.

This fab show is on tomorrow - last day !

Good morning.
Bedship log - day 7
So I've had a lot of time to think 💭🧠 this last week and have been reading the statements in the wonderful HOME exhibition catalogue - link in my story.
I've also been pouring over a sumptuous book of the paintings of .cranston who I came across on the page.
He writes beautifully about his paintings in a poetic and inchoate way in as much as one is left wanting more whilst at the same time satisfied.
Anyway my point? I think my statement (swipe) rather generic - I mean it's true and unchanged for the catalogue because it's what my work evolves around but I thought I'd write a bit more...
A friend showed me a bar of lemon soap 🍋a while back and the touch and smell of it took me back to another place - like Mr Ben but blindfolded. I couldn't locate the time or location but felt as though I was about 8. Growing up I moved from different relatives - mum, nan, auntie and uncle, I didn't have any choice in the matter but I adapted. The fuchsia pink in this painting is evocative of a dressing gown I'd grown attached to - a kind of transitional object that belonged to my Dad who I barely knew. It's also the colour of the flowers I made into ballerinas and the paper my mum wrote letters on. I think this is a bathroom/kitchen scene - places of domesticity comfort and connection. I was living with my Nan and Grandad when I was 8. I didn't learn to swim until I was 13 and I love being in water - my Nan's bathroom had turquoise wallpaper with pink flamingos 🦩 and lily pads. I love swimming now and I love lemony things.🍋
Smell is a powerful sense - for dogs - they rely on it to seek and search and sometimes to find their way home. Touch and smell connect infants to their mothers - I was in a nursery for days - I must have felt quite lost in the world.
HOME is on this weekend downstairs at the Department Store Brixton.

Spot the Difference.
Remember those magazines with seemingly identical pictures in that one had to pour over to spot the differences? Or Where's Wally?
Bedship log day 6 - Mission Recovery - Destination Outdoors - anywhere outdoors.
The red line it still be strong.
Amusing myself with Star Trek and Yoda language amongst other things - noticing that my diffuser has a setting that changes from colour to colour, the light on the walls, odd dreams. The snap crackle and pop of my regressive breakfast bowl.
The couple on the plane who I was sitting next to - hemmed in to my pre-chosen window seat (always on the right side because I'm a bit deaf on the left so it's quieter then) were wearing super Storm Trooper face masks because they had "colds" I think they had covid and the masks didn't work.
Anyway nice couple - we had a muffled chat and they too work in the creative industry - no hard feelings - what can you do if you've had a nice holiday then have to catch your flight home. I have felt dreadful though - beginning to feel a bit better and my legs still work. I am immensely grateful for lovely family and friends who have kept me sane in my cell. It does draw my thoughts to those who literally are incarcerated - held in - held hostage - held up. My days here have been luxury with some discomfort. So many artists I know have been grappling with how to respond to what's going on the world. Im not going to steal their words but share their view that it's important to continue creating beauty.
It's been so long since I painted I'm scared to start again but I can't so the paradox grows the yearning.
Yesterday I put these drawings on my shelf to watch - I won't do charcoal with white bed linen but I might start some small drawings or watercolours in a contained way - as I am contained.
Thanks to Mr P for these flowers 💐 and to my lovelies who have been sending messages care boxes and art books to read 🙏🏼

Come and hear some of the outstanding Ukrainian musicians among us on Saturday 11th November at Epsom Methodist Church. Starting with a social gathering at 6pm with food and drink (please bring a small plate to share) followed by a concert at 7pm. 
Entry is FREE. we look forward to seeing you there. 

So pleased to be exhibiting in this fabulous show HOME at The Department Store - Brixton, beautifully curated by .eveson and
Swipe to see details of Artist talks and my painting 'Lemon Soap' 🍋

Yesterday I joined online for one of her Tuesday drawing meditation sessions.
The subject was food, recipe books and collage.
The activity took me down a path of remembering a blue enamel coffee pot that lived on a high shelf, of lemons and white wine syllabub, of gingham which was used on tea tables and for pinafore dresses. It all sounds very nostalgic.
Art connects me to myself - the self that was meant to be and helps me make sense of where I came from.
It is powerful and positive.
Yesterday someone I barely know here was interested to ask me whether Artists are born Artists or whether they learn how to be one. It made me think a lot. My answer was that Art was one of the things I was good enough at during high school years to be noticed by a teacher who urged me to go to Art college. So I did even though it wasn't deemed the best choice back then and that drawing and writing helped me express what I couldn't put into words. Art can be a forever friend.
I'm still grateful to that teacher Angela Beresford who I've tried to trace with no joy. I wanted to say thank you.
My daughter is a teacher now and one of my son's is currently a teaching assistant. I know they'll make a difference to those they meet as my other children do in different ways... I guess that's why I eventually trained in Art Psychotherapy and now coach Artists too, as well as developing my own practice.
Thanks to Katie for being a great Artist and Teacher.
Check out her weekly drawing meditations via her profile and website
I'm excited to get back to Studio 6 to start some new paintings.
Art matters ❤️‍🩹

Love this

Jean Brusselmans
North Sea
1952

Not sleeping again so I thought I'd maybe do some drawing. Many artists through history and present day have turned to art in insomnia. Interesting things can happen in the small hours.
First I thought I'd lay the drawings so far on the floor to see them all together. I think I like the small squares best.
It was interesting laying them out, like those category games, moving them about, seeing what works best.
I didn't draw today but instead finished reading by Ann Patchett. Such a resonant read about house that struggles to become a home, a mother who leaves, siblings, journeys, memories.
Then I took a long walk through scrubland to find my way back, saw some pertinent things along the way. I saw some big butterflies, and a small white one that seemed to be leading the way, I heard cicadas (right name?) jumping from plant to plant and shoals of small fish gently disturbing the water's surface. A grounded boat that looked too old to sail named 'Independent'.
Having the time to notice is a gift I'm grateful for and I feel helpless to comment about the ugliness in the world right now.










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Morning .... one of those days when I wake very early - not on purpose but it's good to see the light grow.
Yesterday I drove to swap paintings with a friend who has some on loan - it's a lovely thing to do when I know my work is so appreciated.
This year I've tenaciously applied for many of the open calls and opportunities we artists get flooded with. It's hard not to as fomo is fearful in the art world. Yesterday I was chatting with my friend and patron and purchaser about what Artists did before social media?
I'm unsure because I was preoccupied with work and family back then.
Now being an Artist is my life - I'm passionate about it - I'll never retire because it means too much.
Yet still there are knock backs and questions around why things happen or don't happen. I hold onto things lightly now to avoid disappointment and the pull of a quiet studio is stronger than big time recognition.
It's still a boost to be among the chosen and I've taken to using the word 'unchosen' it's more gentle than rejection.
Anyway these 2 small paintings were submitted for the Discerning Eye open call but shan't be in the exhibition. I still love them because they have important meanings for me.
There're on my website - link in bio £125 each.
15cm x 15cm plus nice frame.
I called them 'Follow' and 'Pillow Talk'.
I'm blessed to have friends who support when things don't go my way and they know how it feels too. It's no biggie really but if you're in the same place and space, keep going don't give up - it's the Art that matters most and your relationship to it 💙

I haven't written on here for ages, having enjoyed time by the sea 🌊 even though I'm angry it's too polluted to swim in!
I popped into my new studio - recently repainted by me, to deliver a table, a chair, a blind and a lamp.
I couldn't set the table up because the fixtures weren't in my bag.
I couldn't put the blind up as it's too long and needs cutting down.
It's a slow start in here due to essential trips away but that's ok.
I've been reading a lot, mostly the journals of sculptor which have had a profound effect on me. I'm elated that the fourth and final diary has come in time for me to read along the way for the next week.
Sometimes less is best and time away from making big work is necessary.
I'm itching to get back to painting in here even though I've had another bout of whose style is mine anyway - consultations with artist friends are always wonderfully grounding and helpful. told me to from stuff and was affirming today as we shared our recent sketchbooks with each other.
I'll take a sketch book and some felt pens away and take photographs of what interests me.
Looking forward to seeing some of the paintings I studied at 6th form a long time ago such as by Vermeer.
I might do a few stories or a reel.
I've not watched tv - no none for 10 days now and have loved the quietness.
Thanks for following along - I'll share some new work as it begins to unfold.

Room without a view - but see what's over the road literally !
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I'm away for a while and going to be away from social media too.
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I'm calling it Analogue & Art with Reading & Relaxation time. Much needed after such a busy summer with events and peoply places.
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Anyway I'm off for a swim now.
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I might take some pictures but plan to use my sketchbook more than my camera 🩵
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Hope all is well with you # # #
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On Sunday I went to with Mr P - he saw the and (I've already seen it and it was very peoply).
I took myself off to look at and paintings - then went to the shop and felt compelled to buy these postcards and 4 new pens - it felt like an Artist's Date - something encouraged by in her books. It was a date with Mr P too of course and we had a nice cup of tea 🫖.
I'm interested in the relationship between these paintings and what I feel most drawn to about them.
Clockwise from left .
I'm not usually enthralled by Turner paintings but I've been thinking about the light and space in them and looking forward to a talk by Art Historian Nicola Moorby on Thursday eve on zoom.. see my stories to sign up.
For now I'm going to make my own responses in my sketchbook 💙💚💜💛

It's been ages since I've been in my studio.
When this happens I often get stuck and feel frozen at what on Earth to do !
I've been reading a lot - plus novels.
I'm holding onto the 'not thinking about the audience' mentality that enables creativity to flow and flourish.
I see what other people are doing and often like it better than what I am doing or not doing.
When people think being an Artist is pure joy and fun - depending on one's internal narrative this can be so far from the truth.
Today I did something - anything - then tore it up and rearranged the fragments - I am finding this interesting. That is good 😊
Just keep going - from me to me and to you 🥰
Not bothering with anymore hashtags today.
Thanks for reading 🙏🏼

This looks fun if you have little people 🥰

Music for Toddlers (Together with Irani Family Music) Songs and movement for little ones. A selection of songs and stories for children, performed by Irani Grecco. Stand up and sing along!