Between 2019-2021, I blogged about the creative process and the business of being an artist. I did my best to cram-jam my posts filled with useful tools, tips and hacks and straight-up honesty from my own point of view.
My focus was figuring out how we can overcome our creative blocks, actually finish our projects and earn money from our art. I also shared the work of Black and Global Majority artists.
Take a look around or see the posts by categories: creative process, self-producing, artist life hacks, artist series. I hope you find something useful here.
I hate asking for help. I get tense and uncomfortable. Not only do I not like to admit my own fallibility, I struggle to trust anyone else to do what I want, how I want.
This mindset makes life (ostensibly) more in my control, but getting sh*t done is slow, arduous and overwhelming.
A little real-talk from behind the scenes over here at Haley McGee Industries. I am addicted to piling my plate too full.
It felt like I should begin today with the “back to school” energy January brings – for me it’s always a time of beginning again.
Read MoreBefore I moved to the UK I was seriously burnt out. I’d been gigging as a theatre actor almost non-stop for a couple years. Truly, living the dream I’d held for myself while I was in acting school. But I was exhausted.
And (perhaps more disturbingly) it struck me that I didn’t have much juice to bring to my work when the bulk of my time was spent in theatres, rehearsing and performing. I was lacking new outside experiences to draw inspiration from.
Read MoreAre you fatigued? The experts are saying, the collective adrenaline has worn off and now we’re all just wiped. I feel it myself.
There is grief happening in the arts community; we are grieving our industry as we knew it. If you’re feeling really sad, you’re not crazy.
Read MoreWhat to do when the blush is off the rose & you no longer care for the thing you’re creating?
Today I want to discuss that moment in our creative lives when we fall out of love with a project. I think of creative projects as entities unto themselves, and as a result, we are in relationships with them.
Read MoreGiven our social distancing and the forecasted economic future, I want to stay on my soap box, singing the virtues of creating a solo show.
In my last post on this topic, I wrote about how solo shows give us agency, allow us total creative control and freedom and are a cheap conduit to international touring.
This week, I want to touch on three more ways going solo can benefit you as an artist and business person.
Isabel Adomakoh Young is an actor, writer and activist. She regularly performs at with Pecs, an all-female/non-binary Drag King troupe who create shows for the LGBTQ+ community (I’m a HUGE fan) and Shotgun Carousel, a London-based, female led production company and performance collective.
Read MoreBased on what I learned working on my book, I’m offering you 5 hot tips for editing your writing.
Maybe you've just completed my 14-Day Creative Quarantine Challenge and you want to begin shaping your raw material? Maybe you’re about to start a second pass on a script or a story?
Or maybe you’ve got to write a funding application? Or you’re refreshing all the copy on your website?
These tips can be applied to creative or professional writing.
Over the last decade I have toured my various solo shows to 36 venues in 11 countries around the world. My solos have led to international collaborations, new opportunities as an actor and writer, including a book deal (!!), and expanded my artistic practice exponentially.
Although making a one-person show can be a lonely process, involving quite a lot of admin and self-producing work, there are some awesome payoffs that can make all that worth it.
I could wax on and on about their virtues of solos, but today I offer you 3 reasons to embark on your own thrilling solo show journey.
As a recovering self-critical perfectionist — also a Virgo Ox — I work hard, I pride myself on my attention to detail and I find making mistakes really embarrassing.
While I was chastising myself about a mistake I’d made with my mailing list, I realised this might be a useful thing to talk about.
How do we acknowledge our mistakes, take responsibility and move on?
Read MoreIn my journey to become a better ally and anti-racist, in part I have been learning about the work of BIPOC artists in my communities and sharing their work with my readers.
Today, I’m excited to share the work of Simeilia Hodge-Dallaway, a Black play specialist, theatre director, dramaturg, teacher/facilitator, audience development officer and author.
