Episodes on Art Against Mental Illness

Alex finds a joyous bubble of spring in within the roiling, tempestuous Scottish April weather and ponders the tension created by the man-made wonder of farmland vs the chaos of nature, and how that helps inform the artist's vision.

Alex needs your help.

Alex welcomes back artist Caitlin Hanna to talk about the role of emotions in art, both from the perspective of the artist and the viewer. They discuss their own work and experiences as well as that of well known artists from various fields.

Alex talks to artist Caitlin Hanna, about grief, mental health, and neurodiversity. Caitlin discusses their art as therapy, creating zines, and the challenges of emotional expression in art.

Join Alex walking up a long hill as he wheezes out his thoughts on the body-image crushing nature of making video of yourself, and reflects on the importance of having the right tools for the job at hand.

Alex wonders some woodland pondering on his recent artistic productivity and how this is, in part, down to his new found ability to know when to stop. A flock of sheep make it known that they think otherwise.

Alex revisits this 2024 episode where he takes aim at the evils and excesses of art speak via Tolstoy, Artificial Intelligence, and the science of Bullshit.

Alex talks about his passion for art books and the acquisition thereof, and introduces a series of episodes that showcase some of his book collection, starting with tomes on the artists Boris Vallejo and Jenny Saville.

In a first-time cross-over with his other podcast, The Confusion Matrix, Alex and TCM co-host Pete Hodge discuss how they use Generative AI in their creative escapades, why this creates some ethical dilemmas and how they reconcile these (or not). It all gets a bit confusing and Alex decides he's just self-flagellating and ends up more confused than when he started. Life's never simple, is it?

Alex is still creatively constipated and he's not happy about it. In an effort to get to the bottom of what's going on he conducts a deep dive into what causes performance pressure, some famous cases of it, and tries to counsel himself, in real time.

Alex spirals through creative paralysis, unable to feel the vibe for any episode on his list. Eventually he just starts writing about not being able to write, discovering that sometimes you've got to create something—anything—to break through the blockage. Process over product, always. Plus: why AI-generated creativity is fundamentally bollocks.

Alex talks from his cold, damp studio about constraints and how they can help drive creativity

Alex finds a quiet spot in his local woods and ponders the nature of feeling calm and how it's more important than ever before to find your clam, happy space.

Alex talks to multi award-winning and bestselling author of children’s picture books and romance-led emotional suspense for adults, Paula Tait, about the differences between writing for adults and kids, coaching children's authors, working with illustrators and how she managed to carve a synergistic niche writing for such distinct audiences.

Alex talks to Poet Ann MacKinnon about helping others discover poetry, how anyone can do it, and the lyrical wonder of the Scots language.

Alex talks to nature writer Keith Broomfield, author of countless books about Scottish cities and countryside, about finding nature everywhere and finding inspiration anywhere.

Alex talks to George Paterson author of The Girl, The Crow, The Writer And The Fighter and Westerwick about the love of the process of writing and his passion for the written word.

Alex interviews Val Penny a Scottish crime author known for the Hunter Wilson and Jane Renwick crime thrillers.

Alex kicks off his series of interviews with published authors with a highlights reel.

Alex revisits his 2024 episode about the role of art in society, politics and protest giving his thoughts about its increasing relevance given the events of the intervening year.

Alex kicks off his miniseries on the written word as a form of therapy by recounting his own troubled relationship and history with words, and makes an impassioned plea for valuing creativity over technical perfection, particularly in the young.

Alex talks about the role of stories in how humans perceive the world and the role that art plays within this. He explains, using stories, how an artist encodes their story into every artwork, often in a non-linear fashion. Alex also talks about how autistic people feel compelled to tell their stories as a way of empathising with other people.

Alex returns to the thorny subject of generative AI and creativity reiterating his case for AI as a valid part of the creative process, but acknowledging the ethical and moral dilemmas it poses. He discusses the current, precarious state of the AI industry and speculates of what's to come as the AI bubble is stretched to its limits.

Alex finally presents long awaited third part of his How to be Creative series, in which he takes us on a journey through the magical and maligned world of outsider art, takes aim the art 'establishment' and makes a case for having a 'just do it' attitude to creativity.

It's been exactly 1 year since I published the second part of my stuttering but stunning How to Be Creative series and I've _finally_ got round to making part 3. That's still in production, and will be with you soon, I promise! But in the meantime here's the first 2 parts neatly packaged for your listening pleasure.

Hear Alex's soothing and perhaps magical tones as he walks through some woods in the dark. Warning: this episode may contain bats and sheep!

By way of Aesop's fable, The Ass and the Lion's Skin, Alex explores the nature of identity, and how we all, especially autistics, wear a mask from time to time to hide our true selves. He discusses the indelible marks that doing so imposes on our future selves, how this leaks out into our art, and why donkeys are awesome.

Alex chats with Owen Moxey about the dauntingly wide world, both fantasy and real-life, of table top gaming, and how rediscovering Warhammer miniature painting helped him navigate the physical and psychological challenges of successive diagnoses of Functional neurological disorder, autism and ADHD.

Alex wonders the Scottish countryside and laments the lack of recognition for illustrators and fantastical artists, despite their significant contributions to art and culture.

Alex christens a new type of episodes called 'Walking Therapy', despite the fact that several episodes of the kind have already been published. In this episode he discusses the wide range of styles and approaches to drawing he observed in a workshop for kids, and ponders why this early diversity doesn't seem to carry through to the commercial art world.

Alex takes a dreamy stroll through the woods and discusses how listening to challenging music like Bach's Well Tempered Clavier can be beneficial to creativity, why finishing things is not that important, and why your destination is not the point of your journey.

Alex pays tribute to the legend that was Ozzy Osbourne and the lessons that we can learn from his incredible life and work in our journey of creativity and mental wellness.

Alex reads his short book of art and verse, 'The Fall', a raw depiction of a recent mental health crisis and its effect on him and those around him. Content warning: this episode contains references to depression, anxiety, panic, autistic meltdowns and shutdown, suicide, and likely some other mental illness related stuff, and in a higher dose than usual. Consider yourself warned.

In stark contrast to the barely controlled chaos of part 1, Alex gets chill and takes us on a windy wonder through the Scottish countryside and extols the virtues of getting away from your daily grind, freeing your mind and finding new stimulus to fuel your creative journey. Be forewarned, the sound quality on some of this is a bit rough, so apologies in advance!

Alex recounts a recent experience where the appearance of a honey bee swarm lead to the sale of an artwork.

Alex chats to Tom Langlands and Lesley Buchan Donald about their ambitious projects to get the Perthshire public creating, writing and performing. We hear the story of how they found each other and forged their creative partnership, engaging and energising the community to help them deliver their stunning theatre shows, and giving a platform to all ages and abilities to share their creative outpourings. Lesley discusses using the power of creativity as a therapy for Parkinson's and as a welcome alternative to her prior, stressed out vet's existence, and we discuss using Auchterarder's rich history to bind it all together.

Alex has been distracted, _big time_. This is the story of failing to get things done, getting insulted by a belligerent AI, and having to set priorities or risk total logjam. Part one is a noirish parable of fall from grace. Coming soon, part two is all about redemption.

Alex talks to Peter Laisen, founder of the charity Auchterarder Picturehouse CREW, about creativity in the community, inspiring the young and old to get involved, the challenges and motivations of restoring an Art Deco period cinema, and how to make a big difference from small starts.

Alex recounts his recent life changes, muses on hope, change and laptop stands all while tussles with a malignant, omniscient AI Alex. Spooky!

Alex introduces his new cover image and intro track and takes us on a journey through their creation, meandering through the creative commons, via the enchanted lands of the Amen Break before falling into the foetid swamp of copyright to learn that sharing is indeed caring. Amen!

Alex goes deep, discussing the role of novelty and scarcity in art, how beauty emerges from complexity, and how diversity is essential for creativity to exist. The question is, how does all that relate to Lego, James Joyce, sports cars, John Carpenter's The Thing, and perms.

Alex introduces his new podcast Creative Squares where he and Mark Burden discuss the intersection between art, science, maths and technology. In episode 1 they discuss the fascinating concept of the Golden Ratio, exploring its significance in art, nature, and mathematics. They delve into the Fibonacci sequence and its relationship to the Golden Ratio, questioning whether these compositional paradigms represent a true aesthetic beauty or merely a conformity that limits creativity.

Alex discusses how attention is the most valuable commodity in the world and asks whether you are using yours wisely.

Alex talks to comedy improv artist Jen DeHaan about the transformative power of improvisational comedy

From his studio Alex discusses the importance of understanding your own learning style and recounts his own experiences of learning how to learn.

Alex, while discovering he's really not a closet fan of romance literature, finds that there is a certain magic to doing one thing really well, through a journey via identity crisis and Barbara Cartland.

Alex talks to artist Caitlin Hanna, about grief, mental health, and neurodiversity. Caitlin discusses her art as therapy, creating zines, and the challenges of emotional expression in art.

Alex discusses his approach to 2025 and most definitely doesn't make any New Year's resolutions. He rants quite a lot but also says lots of nice, calming things too.

Alex talks to Rob Parkinson aka The Painting Nomad about his epic artistic odysseys across the UK, flat horizon deficiently, the healing powers of the great outdoors, and using art to fund the nomadic lifestyle.

Alex revisits the first 6 months, 25 episodes and 495 minutes of the podcast. In part 2 Alex recaps and remembers the remaining episodes of 2024 and tells us of his outlook for 2025.