Meet the Maker behind The Pale House
Meet Daniel Morley, the incredibly talented artist behind the ethereal Folksy shop – The Pale House. Here Daniel speaks with fellow Folksy maker Yuliya Miller about his self-taught artistic skills, his successful use of social media and how a trip to Iceland ultimately inspired the creation of The Pale House.
Treat yourself to 30% off The Pale House’s Folksy shop with code ‘February2025’ until the end of February 2025.
“It’s in the act of making where the best inspiration happens”
Hi Daniel! Could you introduce yourself and tell us what you do?
Hello there! I’m the artist behind The Pale House, a collection of multidisciplinary art taking inspiration from an imaginary house in a dream-like state where things aren’t quite what they seem. The project itself is still in the early stages and I have mostly focussed on sculpture up until now, although this year I’ll be spending more time on some of the other aspects I’d like to explore, these will include writing, sound, music and drawing.
How would you describe your work?
The work fits into the genre imaginary/magical realism where its not quite fully loaded fantasy with dragons and faeries but its also not real life. It sits somewhere in between the two, ambiguous but not too abstract with just enough strangeness and charm.
How did it all start? Have you always been creative?
I was always highly creative as a kid, always making stuff and having lots of wild ideas. I took art GCSE which was by far my favourite subject, I left school to work and it all took a back seat until my 30th Birthday. I travelled to Iceland and picked up a copy of International art magazine to read on the plane, it inspired me so much I said to myself there and then, that is what I wanted to do with my life. I looked into going to Florence Academy but quickly realised it was way out of my price range, so I settled for a couple of books that taught the traditional skills for drawing and painting. I spent around 2-3years practicing and ended up mostly painting realism – tiny still life and then moved on to outdoor scenes (you can see these works if you scroll right down on my instagram page, it’s quite different). After 6 years, the realism wasn’t quite doing it for me, my favourite part of creating is letting my imagination run wild and that is how I came to start The Pale House. Here I can explore all my strange ideas and just let loose, it’s quite exhilarating.
Who or what inspires you?
I am inspired by so many things, you’ll notice moths , keys, ivy and candles appear in my work a lot, it’s probably more about the symbolism that different objects or things can have. I tend to be drawn towards certain things so I include them in my work and try not to think about the reasons why too much. I’m always constantly inspired by other artists and makers, the wealth of talent and ideas is breath taking. I think subconsciously, anything that you have seen or heard that you connect with, filters through in some way, it may not be directly obvious but things always find a way in.
How do you approach a new piece? What’s your creative process?
If it’s a completely new idea then I usually start of with a vague concept, nothing too concrete, I think about what materials I might use and how I might achieve it. I tend not to be to worried about having a fully polished image in my head, I find this can lead to frustration and disappointment as things don’t always come out the way you think. It’s best just to work through and see what happens, everything starts as an experiment, that way there isn’t any pressure, just play and exploration and let the materials and process guide you in decision making. This approach will always lead to other ideas, threads that you can follow, which lead to other ideas and concepts for other things. It’s in the act of making where the best inspiration happens!
Is there a piece you’re particularly proud of?
I’m particular fond of some of the larger scale work I have done, as well as the first artist book I have made – Ghosts Vol 1. I have some ideas for some really big work but they will have to wait for now. I’m actually proud of all the work I do, you have to be. I love seeing it all on display too, there is something different about seeing in the studio compared to seeing it on the wall of a gallery.
If you could give any of your work to a famous public figure who would that be, what would you give and why?
That’s quite a tricky question, I honestly don’t know who I’d give it to. I think I would rather give my work to some of the people who really connect with it that have supported me with their many likes and comments on social media and shown a genuine interest in my work, that way I know it will truly be appreciated.
Is there any part of the artistic process (or the marketing/selling process) that you don’t like and would gladly delegate to someone else?
Yes! Definitely the selling and marketing part, I always struggle with it mentally and I find Instagram is getting more and more frustrating with it’s algorithms and what-not. I’d love to just make and hide away in my studio, but that’s not really an option for most of us. I’d love one day to perhaps have a studio hand, some of the processes can be quite laborious such as casting and cleaning all the resin wings, it would be great to delegate that to someone else so I can focus on the more fun stuff! It’s good to dream..
Your social media is great! How do you do it? Do you plan out your content?
Thanks! I don’t really plan too much, most of the time I just make things up. I started to do more videos due to Instagram pushing reels more, and wanted it to be a mixture of organic and highly stylised posts. It took me a little while to get over filming myself talking, it feels a bit weird at first, but now I don’t even think about it. I might do a few takes just to get the words more concise, someone said to me that no-one cares how you sound, they are just interested in what your talking about, makes a lot of sense! I started playing around making videos using my work alongside writing and music as a different way to communicate ideas.
If you weren’t an artist, what would you be doing?
Probably something to do with science, or vegetables, or looking after dogs.
Treat yourself to 30% off everything in The Pale House’s Folksy shop with code ‘February2025’ until the end of February 2025
Meet the Interviewer
The maker asking the questions this time is Yuliya Miller, a Manchester based crochet artist originally from Belarus.
Read more about Emma here https://blog.folksy.com/2025/01/01/meet-yuliya-miller
Shop Yuliya Miller on Folksy – https://folksy.com/shops/yuliyamiller
