I'm back!

The Atrium at Greyfriars Church has kindly asked me back to exhibit, but this time for Christmas. Art will be on display from the middle of November until the end of December, the perfect time to get all your presents in time for Christmas aka Jesus' Birth.

This time I have some new products including 2023 Calendars, plant pots and some well-loved notebooks but this time with some paper collage.

Please tell your friends and families about it, and bring them with you!

As part of my exhibition, I am running a bauble decorating workshop. It will be for two hours on Saturday 10th December 10 am-12 pm.  Book early to avoid disappointment as I have limited spaces.  

To book follow the link below:

Christmas Workshop (10-Dec-2022)

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Hope to see you there🎉

In March 2022 I had the opportunity to have a second exhibition that took place at The Atrium which is located at Greyfriars Church.

Having done one exhibition before I felt more prepared than before. This time I invested in packaging, making sure it was either biodegradable, recyclable or both.  I included some new products including hand painted notebooks and stickers, two of my favourite things.

I really enjoyed exhibiting at The Atrium, each time I went to visit I couldn't believe it was my art hanging for all to see. I had the most incredible support from family and friends who made such an effort to come and see it. The Atrium was a great venue to show people my art, grab a coffee and have a catch up with a friend. Sadly towards the end of my exhibition I caught COVID so I had to miss visiting with some friends. They were great at taking photos and videos for me to help me feel I wasn't missing out. Thankfully I was recovered just in time to take down my exhibition.

" Dearest Sophie, We have loved having you showcase your God-given creativity as our Artist of the Month! Wishing you the Lord's richest blessings for the future." The Atrium Team

I had a wonderful time being the 'Artist of the Month' at The Atrium in March and I hope one day I can come back again.

Thanks for having me.

Meet the Artist: 15th January 2022

On the 15th January I hosted a meet the artist evening to invite friends and family to come and experience my exhibition. It was an opportunity for people enjoy the display together and I was really encouraged by the turnout.

At the beginning, my wonderful Grandma welcomed and introduced the evening. We then watched a video of me painting, followed by an interview about Created by Meiyun and my story. It was filmed and produced by my friend Chrissie.

Throughout the evening I had a special discount on my products and refreshments, including homemade cinnamon buns, which were thoroughly enjoyed. During the evening I had a rolling series of videos of my art, which gave people a greater understanding of my process.

As a thank you to everyone for coming I made goodie bags for people to take home with them, inside I included: a  hand painted sticker, original painted magnet, pouch of loose leaf tea and a maom sweet.

Overall it was an encouraging evening and a joyful time celebrating creativity.

Below is a short video I made about the evening:

Thank you for everyone for coming to support my art, it was wonderful to see you all there.

Please leave some thoughts and encouragement in the comments, I would love to hear from you!

In December 2021, I put up my first exhibition at St Nicolas Church in Earley. I got this opportunity through my art mentor and friend  Emma. For a while now I've been growing my collection of paintings, some of which have been done during livestream evenings at Reading Burn 24/7 over the last couple of years.

I started to plan possible layouts of how the gallery space could look for the exhibition - arranging which painting would compliment and contrast with each other. I've been slowly growing in confidence with where my art journey is going and having this opportunity to display my art was one of those wow moments of seeing how far I've come.

I ordered some more products (including some new card designs) and preparations of the exhibition started to take place. I made a flyer to advertise my exhibition as well as planning a meet the artist evening, which took place in the middle of January 2022.

I hadn't had my collection of art displayed together before and they all look so different from being on the floor of my studio. Having an exhibition made me think about the last time my art was displayed, which was at college and how much has changed since then.

I created garlands to create a sensory experience as people walked through. I made the garland out of a painting I did at Reading Burn back in October 2021.

Have a watch of my video tour below:

Thank you St Nicolas Church for letting me use your space to exhibit is has been such a blessing to me.

Please leave some thoughts and encouragement in the comments, I would love to hear from you!

In July 2021 my friend Chrissie came to film me paint and interview me. It was a really fun process creating while she filmed. I appreciated the chance to be filmed while painting, I sometime film my process but this was so different to how I usually film. We then filmed a part two when she came over and interviewed me about my art.

I created a short video of the day which I filmed and  that you can watch below.

I started by taping sheets of manuscript paper down, slowly started to paint and add layers. Being filmed made me reflect and think more about what colours I was using and where they were being placed. After building layers, I decided it was time to play with splatters.

When I first started painting, a lot of my work had splatters because I love the unknown and unexpected effect it adds.  You don't know if it's going to go across the page or stay where you've intended it to be. I think there's something so beautiful about that.

I named the art Breathe because the process of creating felt like space to breath and relax.

Chrissie was amazing to collaborate with and I hope you enjoyed watching the video she produced.

Please leave some thoughts and encouragement in the comments, I would love to hear from you!

God is the ultimate creator.

I have been learning to let go of my past, where I felt I had to ‘follow rules’ to make art and start afresh.

I have learnt to be free in art and remember that there are no rules, giving me freedom to do whatever.

Making abstract paintings is something I enjoy doing; sweeping my brush across my page, not having to worry about making something that looks good. It's a way I like to express myself.

I have been reminded about how one needs to be like a child to be able to enter the kingdom of heaven:

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3

This challenged me. I felt as though I needed to learn how to trust my Father with my creativity, letting go of barriers I had put up where God had told me to knock them down.

This piece above was a response to a challenge to be free in my painting. I see this piece as the start of the new chapter of my creativity. Since then I have chosen to create with my Heavenly Father out of love and not fear.

Around the same time I was painting larger pieces and experimenting  with cutting them up to create new smaller compositions. On one of the smaller compositions, I chose to write the word 'Freedom' on it, influenced by

"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" Corinthians 3:17

I am so happy with how it turned out.

A few months later I decided to make some of my orginals into prints. For this, I chose to add My First Abstract Painting (the one above) and the Freedom painting to produce double sided prints.

After having these beautiful prints for a while, I have finally popped them up on Etsy with some help. I would love to bless whoever is reading this with this double sided abstract print, as a reminder that we have freedom in God. More information about these can be found on my Etsy shop.

A6 Double Sided Abstract Print | Etsy

This is a versatile double sided print so you can change it up as and when you like if you want to frame it for the wall. Also works great in an acrylic double sided display block for table presentation. The front side with the word ‘freedom’ is printed with a gloss finish, while the back has an ab…

Etsy

The lyrics to a song by Bright City called 'Colour' has helped me to know that I create best when I am creating with my Father.

“I’m full of colour when you’re with me, you are the artist and you’ve set me free. I’m still unfinished, you’re shaping my heart, you’ve caught every detail I’m your work of art”- Bright City

Have a watch of the video below. In the video there are paint splatters which speak to me of freedom. I am in awe of the symbolisim of our mess that God takes to create something stunning with our brokenness.

I hope and pray that you are blessed by this song.

Bright City is the worship movement of St Peter’s Brighton. Bright City leads the worship life of St Peter’s Brighton, an Anglican church planted from Holy Trinity Brompton in 2009, in one of the most iconic and recognised buildings in the heart of the city. Our purpose is to see revival in Brighton and as a community we write songs that we believe lead to change.

Refreshment.

Rejuvenate.

These are words I associate when I think about renewal.

In Romans 12:2 it says,

"Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes."

In this new season, let us spend time with God afresh, meditating on his word night and day.

Renewal makes me think about water as Jesus calls himself the living water, the Holy Spirit living within us. It says in John 7:38-39,

"Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them."

By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

I decided to make a visual piece of art to represent renewal. I thought about water as it symbolises new life. ‘Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old has gone and the new has come.’ (2 Corinthians 5:17) I loved seeing how the ink and the water would interact with one another. This is a technique that I haven't tried before but worked successfully creating subtle patterns.

As the deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you God. In this time of renewal, help me to refocus my mind and my heart. Focus on the things that are of you Lord, not of worldly things. May we be refreshed as we spend time in your presence.

Three ways to renew yourself in God:

1. Get in nature, go for a walk
2. Be still and take time to separate yourself from noise
3. Journal your thoughts and feelings, acknowledging how you are right now.

Here is a song which talks about renewal:

Whilst listening to this song, reflect on how you need to be renewed and refreshed in God.

‘You're making me new Lord’

Over the past couple of months I haven't been doing much creating, if any. I've been too busy/ lazy, they're just excuses. Each time I go a period of time without creating, I become less confident with my skills and sometimes doubt my ability. I know that practising my skill is so important to continue to grow and develop my craft. Part of me always feels like I have to justify doing art or creating, when I know that it is part of my calling in life. It is a privilege to share my journey with others.

'Create more than you consume' is something important for us all to remember, I spend far too much time scrolling on instagram when, that is valuable time I could be using to create.

I decided to create a creative response and a challenge to myself to live out what I believe. It's not the best piece I've ever done but the point of this is to create, even when the outcome may not be the finest and to help me break down barriers I may have.

Hopefully this is an encouragement for you to create more than you consume.

Creating in the everyday doesn't have to be fancy. Use what you have around you.

Pick up your pen or pencil and start today.

Mei Yun 美恩 is my middle name, which was given to me as I am half Chinese.

I’ve always wanted my middle name to be more than a formality. When I thought more about my creativity, I chose to use Mei Yun to represent my art. Mei 美 means beautiful and Yun 恩 means grace.

In 2017, I went to China as part of my gap year. While I was there, I wanted to get a stamp with my Chinese name on. On one of my day trips out, I explored a bustling market where I came across the perfect place. The shop was lined with every kind of stamp you could imagine, all shapes and sizes.

I chose a stone which I liked and watched the carving take place. Each stage of the process was fascinating! The stamp was formed from a piece of stone to a masterpiece in around 15 minutes.

Inspired by the stamp I wanted to capture the unique design in a digital version I could use as my logo. I decided to make my logo black and white, to contrast with my vibrant, colourful art.

I hope you have enjoyed learning about Created By Meiyun.

My friend Emma set me a challenge to create everyday for the month of December, even if the finished product didn’t look as I expected.

So for the month of December I wanted to create each day but in the end only managed two weeks. When it got closer to Christmas, I stopped. That little exercise taught me lots about pushing past creative blocks and using art as a way of expressing myself, regardless of the outcome.

At first, this was challenging for me as I sometimes overthink before I begin to create. I decided to leave all my paints and paper out on the table so I couldn’t make any excuses. I had some large pieces of paper, which I covered with ready mix paint straight out of the squeezy bottles. This formed fun patterns and lines weaving in and out. These were used at Church to decorate the building for Christmas. It was such a wonderful opportunity to share my art with others.

As part of my daily creativity, I was influenced by Eat Pray Pedal who create the most gorgeous baubles with abstract art on them. This inspired me to make my own. I did this with my friend Becky and we had the best time painting together. I especially love how colourful the baubles turned out, my personal favourites were the ones with splatters on.

After making larger paintings and baubles, I painted sticker as the next part of my daily creating. I composed a video capturing the stages of process, I was experimenting with different layers and colours. After layers of paint, the final effect of the stickers were all unique and showed different aspects of the printing. I would love to make more in the future.

Looking back at last year, I can see that creating daily in December formed and shaped me, affecting how I create now. I know my art has grown lots this year, which is mainly due to the lockdown that started back in March 2020. I wanted to utilise the time to create as often, creativity gets pushed aside even though it is an essential part of who I am.

Let me encourage you, as December 2020 Sophie, to take up creating. You will never know the full potential of your creativity unless you try. It’s never about the outcome, it is ALWAYS about the p r o c e s s.

Allow the process to develop, although it will be time consuming and it may be discouraging at times, but you will never know who you could bless by taking a risk.

You are Created to Create, so start today.

In July I did some painting on a live stream service with my church.

The idea behind this piece of art was to enjoy God leading and guiding as I painted. Whilst I was painting I had some words come to mind. Some of these included: Oceans, being free, dance, celebration, new lives being God’s masterpiece.

I said on the evening some words about my art. I started with purple colour and then blended into a swirl pattern. After I went in with splatters which sometimes feel scary as the unknown is there of what the creation will look like.

I went on to think about identity and freedom. Our identity in God, we can feel freedom, explore, create and not worry about what it looks like.

It’s more important to be on a journey with God, knowing He will be with us every step of the way.

I hope you have enjoyed looking and experiencing my art. Please feel free to leave comments of how this speaks to you.

I then had the privilege of my art being turned into a banner for 10 Days of Prayer and Music for Healing in Reading. I was so amazed by how it looked, I was so excited to see it in person. It was such a blessing to have my art being used in that way and to be on display for people to see. A big moment in my creative journey and what an honour for my art to be used to bring people to know Jesus. Looking back, it’s incredible how a piece of my artwork that was created on manuscript paper was chosen for Music for Healing – I love how it is all linked together!

For more information on 10 Days of Prayer: https://www.10daysofprayer.info/

The piece 'Boldness' came from a place of letting go in my technique where I started to experiment freely. The paper I used for this piece was manuscript paper from my grandparents which was going to be thrown out and I thought it would be an interesting background. I explain in the video my thought process when creating. I have been loving making process videos of my art as I find it amazing to see transformation in creativity. This has come out of my own  intrigue of learning how other artists create in their flow. In this piece I use acrylic and ready mix paint which complement each other.