Gwen Turner Creative work, writing and projects from Gwen

Gwen Turner

Creative work, writing and projects from Gwen

Latest Articles

The Frame Comes Second: Learning to Finish Drawings With Other People’s Cast-Offs
Creative Notebook

The Frame Comes Second: Learning to Finish Drawings With Other People’s Cast-Offs

For years my finished drawings lived in a drawer because framing felt like a luxury I kept postponing. In May 2026 I started buying frames from charity shops, car boot sales and the occasional skip, and by November 2026 the work — and the way buyers saw it — had changed. This is what six months of secondhand framing actually cost, taught and complicated.
The Polite No: What Twelve Months of Declining Free Work Did to My Income and My Nerves
Opinion

The Polite No: What Twelve Months of Declining Free Work Did to My Income and My Nerves

A candid look at a year of turning down exposure-only requests, vague collaborations and free artwork asks. Gwen shares the scripts she used, the alternatives she offered, and a practical UK pricing checklist.
The Paper Trail: Thirty Days of Drawing Every Receipt I Was Handed
Creative Notebook

The Paper Trail: Thirty Days of Drawing Every Receipt I Was Handed

For one month I kept every receipt — corner shop, post office, the lot — and drew each one by hand. It became a strange, tender archive of ordinary spending, and a reminder that creative material is often already in your pocket.
Paint, Brass and Parcel Tape: A Month of Drawing the Doors on My Road
Creative Notebook

Paint, Brass and Parcel Tape: A Month of Drawing the Doors on My Road

I spent four weeks drawing one front door a day on my street, from peeling Victorian panels to new-build chrome. What began as a sketching exercise turned into a quiet record of how we live behind the letterbox in 2026.
The Bus Stop as Studio: Four Weeks of Drawing Route 42
Creative Notebook

The Bus Stop as Studio: Four Weeks of Drawing Route 42

For a month I turned up at the same ordinary bus stop with a sketchbook and no real plan. Drawing the number 42 at different times of day taught me more about consistency, noticing and making work from what is already in front of me than any grand project could have done.
The Envelope Test: Six Weeks of Trusting Strangers With My Small Prints
Creative Notebook

The Envelope Test: Six Weeks of Trusting Strangers With My Small Prints

I put a flyer in two local shops offering a small print or zine to anyone who covered postage. Forty-one people said yes. Six weeks, one lost parcel and several bent corners later, here is what Royal Mail taught me about sending work into the world one envelope at a time.
Small Change, Wet Cardboard: A Month of Selling From My Front Wall
Creative Notebook

Small Change, Wet Cardboard: A Month of Selling From My Front Wall

For a month I ran a tiny honesty-box shelf outside my house, stocked with handmade bits and a tin for payment. Here’s what footfall, drizzle, neighbourly notes and a tub of coins taught me about pricing, weather and trust.
What Happened When I Left My Spare Art Supplies by the Gate
Creative Notebook

What Happened When I Left My Spare Art Supplies by the Gate

A year ago I put a weatherproof box of half-used paints, spare tools and oddments by my front gate. It was meant to clear a shelf. It became a small, awkward, unexpectedly generous neighbourhood institution — and it changed how I make work in 2026.
One Street, Twenty-Four Pages: A Weekend Zine Made on the Pavement
Creative Notebook

One Street, Twenty-Four Pages: A Weekend Zine Made on the Pavement

A wet November weekend, a borrowed long-arm stapler and a pile of A5 pages about one ordinary UK street. This is what happened when I stopped making things for a feed and made something for the neighbours instead.
Pinned, Ripped, Remembered: Six Months of Testing My Work on Village Noticeboards
Creative Notebook

Pinned, Ripped, Remembered: Six Months of Testing My Work on Village Noticeboards

For half a year I promoted small creative projects the old-fashioned way: laminating flyers and pinning them around one UK town. The boards taught me more about audience than any analytics dashboard — mostly because they are completely unbothered by my feelings.
The Awkward Invoice: What Three Friend Commissions Taught Me About Paying Properly
Opinion

The Awkward Invoice: What Three Friend Commissions Taught Me About Paying Properly

I asked a potter, an illustrator and a bookbinder I know to make me small things, then wrote down every brief, budget and cringe-inducing email. Paying friends isn’t the end of intimacy — it’s often the beginning of a clearer kind of respect.
Book the Hall, Borrow the Lights: Staging a One-Day Show for Under Fifty Quid
Creative Notebook

Book the Hall, Borrow the Lights: Staging a One-Day Show for Under Fifty Quid

A candid, step-by-step account of putting on a one-day exhibition in a borrowed village hall — what it really costs, what you can scrounge, and how to make a draughty room feel deliberate. Written for anyone who has quietly decided that showing work in public is for other people.
Six Chairs and a Kettle: Why the Kitchen Table Still Outperforms the Feed
Opinion

Six Chairs and a Kettle: Why the Kitchen Table Still Outperforms the Feed

Likes are not feedback and reach is not an audience. An argument for the monthly, face-to-face critique night — plus a sensible format, some ground rules, and what to do when somebody's feelings get bruised.
What We Wish We’d Kept: Ten UK Makers on the Work They Let Go
Creative Notebook

What We Wish We’d Kept: Ten UK Makers on the Work They Let Go

A rolling public project in which Gwen Turner asks ten UK makers one question: what creative object or piece of work do you wish you had kept? Their answers become a quiet essay about memory, materials and the rough versions we undervalue.
The Shelf of Almosts: Why Failed Makes Deserve to Stay
Opinion

The Shelf of Almosts: Why Failed Makes Deserve to Stay

Gwen Turner argues that abandoned creative projects are useful records rather than embarrassments. Part personal essay, part gentle anti-perfectionist guide, this is a practical look at how to review, reuse or retire old work without shame.
What a Tenner Buys: Five Small Makes From One Charity-Shop Sprint
Creative Notebook

What a Tenner Buys: Five Small Makes From One Charity-Shop Sprint

A £10 charity-shop haul, one damp Saturday, and five small projects with honest notes on what worked and what absolutely did not. This is budget creativity with a British high street wobble.
The Front Room, Unfinished: Notes From a Tiny Open Studio
Opinion

The Front Room, Unfinished: Notes From a Tiny Open Studio

I invited strangers into my front room to look at unfinished work, rough drafts and all. It was awkward, warm, and surprisingly useful — here is what happened and how you could try a smaller version.
The Quiet Power of a Personal Website in a Platform-Weary 2026
Opinion

The Quiet Power of a Personal Website in a Platform-Weary 2026

Social platforms are faster, louder and more exhausting than ever. A personal-name site like gwenturner.co.uk offers something different: a calm, owned home for writing, projects and identity. Here is what belongs there, what does not, and why UK creatives should keep one.
After the Clocks Go Back: Seven Gentle Ways to Make Something Before 2026 Ends
Creative Notebook

After the Clocks Go Back: Seven Gentle Ways to Make Something Before 2026 Ends

When the UK daylight shrinks to a sliver by four o'clock, making anything can feel like a stretch. These seven small rituals from Gwen Turner's desk are designed for dark evenings, low energy and the quiet stretch between November and the new year.