THE ARTIST'S WRITING COACH: supporting professional, creative and reflective writing for visual artists

  • Develop your writing and develop through writing

    I can help you gently challenge yourself, learn and grow creatively through thoughtful, regular written correspondence clarify and articulate your...
    I can help you

     

    • gently challenge yourself, learn and grow creatively through thoughtful, regular written correspondence
    • clarify and articulate your creative ideas so you can share them effectively
    • build a reflective writing habit that sustains you creatively and deepens your art practice
    • discover how you might use writing as part of your creative practice.
    • write persuasive funding applications and proposals
    • find a structure for a book you’ve been noodling around with for ages, so you can make real progress.
    • explore ways to use writing to find and connect with 'your' people, through, for example, a newsletter or blog

     

     I offer an initial free session to get to know each other a little and explore how we might work together before we commit to each other.

     

    WANT TO TALK? BOOK A FREE DISCOVERY CALL

  • MENTORING And Creative Coaching in the slow lane

    TRAVEL WITH ME AT THE GENTLE PACE OF WRITTEN CORRESPONDENCE.
    I offer one-to-one mentoring as a way to give my focused attention to those who want to grow creatively as...

    I offer one-to-one mentoring as a way to give my focused attention to those who want to grow creatively as artists and writers. I work with visual artists and writers of memoir and narrative non-fiction, as creative mentor, book coach and developmental editor. 

     

    My approach to mentoring has developed over decades, shaped by a commitment to learning as a continuous, gentle nudging at my own ‘growth edge’ and an acceptance of my introvert nature. I have blended my many learnings from a creative practice spanning 35 years: drawing, creative, academic and reflective writing, environmental philosophy, meditation practice, educational research, teaching in universities and art schools, doctoral supervision, and used this to develop my approach to facilitating the creative lives of others.

     

    You will have my full attention, warm support, wide experience and gentle encouragement for as long as you feel you need it. It’s a work of careful listening, gentle encouragement and quiet challenge, helping you deepen the questions you bring to your work. 

  • STEP INTO THE SLOW COACH WITH ME, FOR A THOUGHTFUL, SUPPORTIVE EXCHANGE OF IDEAS

    STEP INTO THE SLOW COACH WITH ME

    FOR A THOUGHTFUL, SUPPORTIVE EXCHANGE OF IDEAS

    Wondering if those scraps of writing in your sketchbooks could become an extension of your art practice? Interested to see how reflective writing can deepen your art practice and grow your confidence? Curious to see how your writing might develop? Got an idea for a book that's been percolating for years?

     

    I can offer you one-to-one coaching and support, editorial feedback and publishing advice that's specific to your questions and ambitions.

     

    Creative and professional mentoring that unfolds at the gentle pace of written correspondence, with detailed feedback on work-in-progress. For visual artists, writers, and those who do both.

     

    Price: £225 per month

  • "It's such a curiously powerful way of working, a quiet creep of ideas percolating and threads coming together. I'm more accepting of the pace of things and allowing stuff to evolve. We've all got so many plates to spin and responsibilities to shoulder - that it's far kinder to focus on valuing commitment and not giving up, rather than berating ourselves for what we haven't done"

     

    LIZ MCQUEEN

    VISUAL ARTIST

  • THE 'SLOW COACH' ETHOS Creative work is slow work. To create something new takes deep reflection and careful thought. It...
    THE 'SLOW COACH' ETHOS

     

    Creative work is slow work. To create something new takes deep reflection and careful thought.

     

    It takes patience, persistence and perseverance. 

     

    All of this goes against the grain of our extravert, 24-7, busy work, full-volume culture.

     

    In the "Slow Coach" we unfold a written correspondence over 12 months, as we gently explore the questions, concerns and ambitions you hold for your creative work. Whether that's your visual art practice, a writing project, or a combination of both, I can offer gentle accountability, honest critique, and a supportive structure to propel your work forward. 

     

     

  • "“It’s been an absolute joy to work with Sam! Her thoughtful feedback and support has given me so much confidence and actionable ideas to help propel my project forward."

     

    CAMI FLAKE

    PHOTOGRAPHER AND MULTIMEDIA STORYTELLER

  • WHY USE THE WRITTEN WORD? Mentoring and coaching through written correspondence offers us a slow, reflective pace. It's like taking...
    WHY USE THE WRITTEN WORD?

     

    Mentoring and coaching through written correspondence offers us a slow, reflective pace.

     

    It's like taking your seat in the quiet coach of the train and setting your notebook on the table in front of you to gather your thoughts while the landscape glides by.

     

    There's time and peace on this written journey to think, plan and create.

     

    It's completely flexible and doesn't require you to be 'on' at any specific time. Work to your own schedule. 

     

    The act of writing is itself clarifying. It creates a written record you can refer back to and make use of later.

  • WHY WORK WITH ME?

    • I'm a visual artist with 35+ years of experience across a broad range of practices and contexts

    • I'm a published author with Hachette, one of the ‘big four’ publishers

    • I'm author of a featured Substack newsletter with thousands of subscribers 

    • I have a PhD in creative writing from the University of St Andrews

    • I have a Masters in environmental philosophy, and have studied Tibetan Buddhist texts at Samye Ling Kagyu monastery

    • I have decades of teaching experience at UK Art Schools and Universities and research into learning and teaching in creative disciplines

    • I have many years’ experience mentoring mid-career artists and helping memoir and narrative nonfiction authors write their books

    • I'm an island-dweller, vegetable grower, sea swimmer, book lover, chicken keeper and obsessive drawer…

  • You will get

    An initial questionnaire to gather your thoughts and share them with me so we begin with a clear understanding of...

    • An initial questionnaire to gather your thoughts and share them with me so we begin with a clear understanding of our work together and what you hope to achieve from it.

     

    • Detailed written feedback on your creative work and editorial suggestions on your writing, where appropriate. 

     

    • Bespoke responses written just for you, in which I can draw on decades of experience in my own practice and my many years of teaching. I can also offer you links and reading suggestions that I think will stimulate you. 

     

    • Structure to keep you going and gentle accountability to help you achieve your creative aspirations.

     

    ENQUIRE ABOUT 'SLOW COACHING'

  • TESTIMONIALS, hear from more happy clients

    TESTIMONIALS

    hear from more happy clients
     

     

     

    “It was fantastic to have the full attention of someone who was able to pull together such a detailed, holistic overview and give such good advice.


    It's given me lots to think about and I've found it has functioned like a call to action. It’s been transformative, and I don’t say that lightly. 

     

    The method of writing to and fro has been amazing. Having someone walking alongside you and encouraging you has been brilliant.”

     

     

    HILARY NICOLL

    ARTIST, CURATOR, ACADEMIC

     

  • “Working with Sam over the last few months has been one of the best investments I have made in my...

    “Working with Sam over the last few months has been one of the best investments I have made in my art practice. I’ve enjoyed the slower pace of e-mail correspondence and it’s enabled a rich and detailed conversation between us.  The advice, prompts and resources in Sam’s emails are becoming a valuable record for me to refer to.

     

    Sam is perceptive, knowledgeable, supportive and encouraging and I appreciate her gentle sense of humour and her care. I value the safe, non judgemental space that she creates for me to unravel and resolve issues about my art and over the months that we’ve been working together I’ve begun to develop a clearer understanding of my art practice and of myself as an artist.”

     


    ANDREA BUTLER

    VISUAL ARTIST

  • “I contacted Sam for coaching because I had reached an impasse with a book I’ve been working on for a...

    “I contacted Sam for coaching because I had reached an impasse with a book I’ve been working on for a while. The feedback I received has surpassed anything I’d imagined coaching could offer. Her reading of the work showed a deep perceptiveness, as well as invaluable knowledge and understanding of the written word and its potential. Sam’s insightful comments and suggestions offered me the solutions and inspiration I needed to proceed, and much more. If you are looking for someone who can offer guidance and inspiration, you won’t find anyone better than Sam. I consider myself very fortunate to have found her.”

     


    ANGIE ATHANASSIADES

    WRITER

  • “If you are a visual artist or writer and need first rate creative coaching look no further than Sam. She...

    “If you are a visual artist or writer and need first rate creative coaching look no further than Sam. She has the depth of experience, and the skill to support and stimulate your creativity; she can help you reflect constructively on your work, develop an existing project or consider a fresh start. Sam is a scholar within her areas of expertise, and in parallel her practical on-point advice is valuable and thought-provoking for those she works with.”

     


    MARY WALTHAM

    VISUAL ARTIST

  • “It's crazy how much progress I've made with all your incredible support and belief in me! I feel like I’ve...

    “It's crazy how much progress I've made with all your incredible support and belief in me! 

     

    I feel like I’ve gone supersonic! I see you as a gatherer of loose threads from seemingly random pieces, finding fascinating and insightful connections, and re-presenting them to me as a coherent narrative. It's teaching me to keep stepping back and re-evaluate my work as a whole. The brainstorming and clarification, the in-depth questionnaires, as well as recommendations for resources to use or artists to research or books to read, have been hugely invaluable.”

     

    MORAG MERRIMAN

    VISUAL ARTIST