I’ve been going to the CamCreatives free monthly meetup since it started over 15 years ago by my dear friend and ex-colleague Paul Smith. CamCreatives is a vibrant and inclusive community bringing together diverse interests across design, arts, media, literature, publishing, photography, multimedia, performing arts, education and culture.
In February 2025 CamCreatives were given a shop for a week in Cambridge Grand Arcade to showcase the talent from the group – it has 4500 artist members, so choosing what went in was a challenge! The Artist Showcase was called by many ‘a mini RA Summer Exhibition’, because Cambridgeshire has a phenomenal amount of talent.
I was over the moon to have my ‘o-Hara‘ painting in the show, which I now offer as a Giclee print. It’s a conscious swirl of scarlet, reds and pinks – named after Scarlett O’Hara from the movie ‘Gone with the wind’, because Scarlett channels female passion, defiance and vulnerability. The sweeping gestures in crimson and magenta evoke intensity – of being both wounded and unbreakable, driven by survival yet haunted by desire. The darkened strokes suggest the weight of loss and pride, while the luminous pinks cut through with resilience, echoing a refusal to be defeated. O-Hara is not a portrait but an atmosphere — a storm of willpower, longing, and the relentless flame of every woman who embodies both fragility and ferocity. There’s a little bit of o-Hara in all of us.
I was interviewed as part of the talking about my painting on Cambridge 105 and where ‘o-Hara’ was being exhibited – find me at about 41 mins in!