In this episode, Katie Treggiden speaks with Kirsty Tanner, a Scottish multi-disciplinary artist, designer and maker, living in Liverpool. She runs design studio Tom Pigeon alongside her personal practice working across paint, textiles and collage. Kirsty's childhood in rural Scotland meets her love of Modernist design and Brutalist architecture, combining abstract expressions of nature with strong architectural line and negative space. Kirsty has worked on collaborative collections with clients including Tate Modern, The Barbican, V&A and Team GB. When not in the studio Kirsty can usually be found in the garden, at a flea market or in the sea! 

“I love my brain. It goes in all these different directions. I'm not going to beat myself up about it anymore. This is just the way I am.”

“I crave being by the water... There is something special about the way you see the land when you're in the water. There's a sense of isolation, a disconnection that I absolutely love.”

“My own creativity is giving me joy and hope. The new relationship is exciting. There are possibilities.”

"Curiosity is the antidote to hopelessness."

What we cover:

– Kirsty discusses her childhood growing up in a small town in rural Scotland

– What led Kirsty to start exploring painting and the draw to have your hands in nature

– The Call of the Wild, when mid-life is cracking you wide open – we reflect on the challenges and opportunities of navigating midlife transitions, including coming to terms with neurodivergent traits, and the creative strengths that a non-linear thinking style can drive

– The importance of self-compassion and finding ways to reconnect with nature and creativity.

– The power of artist residencies - carving out time and immersing yourself in unfamiliar spaces and locations

– Strategies for finding hope and optimism in difficult times, including the power of small daily pleasures.

More from Kirsty:

Website:  https://www.kirstytanner.com/ and https://www.tompigeon.com/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/kirstytanner_studio

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tompigeonstudio

Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/tompigeonstudio/

More from Katie:

Instagram: @katietreggiden.1

Website: https://katietreggiden.com/

Blue Health Coaching: https://makingdesigncircular.org/

Nature-inspired poetry: https://brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/

Resources mentioned:

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Wyl Menmuir – multi award winning author based in Cornwall

Bio-Leadership Fellowship

Cards for Life by Thomas Mansfield / Pale Blue https://paleblueperspective.com/cards-for-life

The Lengths / @thelengths_studio – Where Kirsty did her residency in the Highlands 

What next?

If all this talk of defiant hope has got you wondering where you can find some, I have something for you. Cultivating Hope is my three-part mini-course and it’s the three steps I move through whenever I start to feel despair tugging at my edges.

You will move out of ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode and into a calm and connected state, reconnect with nature, and find aligned actions that you can take now to keep you to remind you that you can make a difference.

In the current climate, hope is an act of defiance, and it’s one I hope you’ll take with me.

Click here to find out more and pre-order

 

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