No 1.
September 2026

A warm place with no memory

I’m celebrating the launch of my new website josheridanart.co.uk.

This is a big step for me because before you create an artists website, you first have to believe that you are in fact an artist. This is not as easy as you might at first think.
I have been many different things in my adult life: geographer, saleswoman, traveller, land surveyor, sort-of academic, wife, professional trainer, mother, company director, enterprise educator, academic practice practitioner… and all of those identities were easier to assimilate and carry than this idea of being an “Artist”…

… and I think I know why.

There is nothing else that compares to the process of creating something that we call Art. It leaves you exposed to judgement and critique. All errors and flaws are on display for all to see and the thing is – there is no comfort in the security of knowing that a painting is “right” – because that is a concept you leave outside at the door before you step into the studio.

I knew I wanted to learn to draw and paint after seeing sketches created by John Howe and Alan Lee that they produced as part of the world-building process behind The Lord of the Rings films. These are images you simply can’t just look at, you have to try and recreate them. A few months in, I realised I had dipped my toe into a new world that was as wide and deep as the Pacific Ocean. Far from being intimidated by this, I was instead absolutely inspired and comforted by this as a place to immerse myself.

I am reminded of that lovely line in the film “The Shawshank Redemption” when Andy Dufresne is speaking to Red about his hopes of one day living by the Pacific Ocean – a “warm place” that the Mexicans say “has no memory” – the space that surrounds you when you are drawing or painting does not care what you were doing before you picked up your paintbrush, it doesn’t care whether you are 18 or 88 but simply rewards you day after day simply because you choose to try to create, try to improve and try to create something that you want to share with others.

This website is fundamentally the showcase for my best pieces that I am happy to sell to people who would want to share in my artistic experiences. I am trying to get my work into galleries, and would like this to be the focus of my artistic endeavours – but for me, the main aim is to build my craft so that I can produce art that I judge myself to be gallery-worthy, regardless what happens outside of my studio.

Thank you for reading this and hopefully for signing up to my mailing list, so that when I next find something to say I can send it directly to you.

Jo x