In our series Behind the Scenes, artists answer questions about their creative process, philosophy, and more. This instalment features Jordan Bolton, a mixed-media artist from Britain who specialises in creating digital collages. See his newest series of Meural exclusives, Jordan Bolton’s Flowers. (Read our other exclusive interviews with artists here.)

What’s an image that makes you want to work for hours on end?

What decade or era would you most like to live in?

I think now is the best time to be alive. It’s easy to look at now and be pessimistic for a variety of reasons, but if you look at any past decades, they seem to have had it worse. Also, some could argue that a lot of current problems are caused by people looking at the past with rose-coloured glasses.

Would you rather have not enough to do with your day or too much?

Not enough. Every day I’ll usually make at least one thing that’s completely new, so I like to have time to work on it a bit more and see where it goes.

What’s an image of an artwork that you hated 10 years ago but now love?

How do you know when a work is finished?

It’s a gut feeling, really. I’ll often have something that looks finished but I know isn’t, and then I might make a small change, and to the outsider, it will look no different, but for me, it becomes complete. I’ve never really figured it out.

Do you like to talk about your own art when it’s in progress?

No, I usually won’t even let people know what I’m working on until it’s done. It’s not that I don’t want anyone’s opinion. It’s more that when I’m working on something, I have a very specific idea in my head of what it should look like and I want to make sure I complete that before I start hearing other people’s opinions about it. That way, the original idea isn’t interrupted by anything else.

What’s one of your favourite works of all time?

What do you consume to help fuel your work?

I’ll usually listen to something while I work, like a podcast or music. Usually, it will be something linked to the artwork I’m working on, for example, with these flowers portraits, I would listen to documentaries about the artist I was working on. I’ve also got a long list of albums I’ve been meaning to listen to from start to finish, so if there’s nothing relevant to listen to, I’ll listen to one of those.

Do you prefer to work on an empty stomach or a full one?

Full. Once I start working, I usually get into the frame of mind and don’t want anything to interrupt that, so I always make sure I’ve eaten before I start.

What would you do if you weren’t an artist?

Probably a musician. That’s what I was doing before art. I always thought a tower crane driver looked like a great job though.

What’s an image that makes you feel at home?

What is your favourite movie of all time?

The film ‘Edvard Munch’ (1974) by Peter Watkins. It plays with time and memory in a way that I have never seen done before or since. It’s probably the only film I’ve seen that I can say, without a doubt, that I’ve never seen anything like it. It is filmed like a documentary but in the 1800s, with a narrator and characters who speak to the camera. I’m not particularly interested in Edvard Munch and don’t think you have to be to love the film. It’s simply a unique way of showing a life and the passage of time.

What will make you feel successful?

Feeling excited about what I’m working on. The work in process is usually much more rewarding than when it is done, even though that’s what I am working towards.

What advice do you wish you could have given yourself 10 years ago?

Start making art. It’s really fun and, despite what people say, it’s possible to make a living from it.

How much of your work is accidental?

I guess every idea is sort of accidental. You come across something by chance and it sets off an idea, and then that idea sets off all these other ideas and options. It’s as if all the time spent not having ideas there are little workers in your mind working on something else, and all it takes is one small image or sound and suddenly a fully formed idea pops into your head.

What’s a work that you loved 10 years ago but now hate?

What do you feel when you look at your past work?

I find it strange how nicely everything fits next to each other, from my early posters for gigs in Manchester to these flower portraits. I feel like there are elements which you can see in those early work that I have expanded on.

I had a solo exhibition last year at the Royal Albert Hall in London, so I had to go back over everything and pick out what I thought my best work was, and there was some stuff from very early that I actually thought was okay. I think a lot of it was not great, but if anything, that comforted me because it shows that I’ve steadily been getting better over the years. It would be pretty depressing if I went through my early work and thought it was my best stuff.

Is it better for an artist to take himself too seriously or not seriously enough?

Probably slightly leaning towards not seriously enough. You should take yourself seriously in the sense that you should work hard and care about what you do, but at the same time, taking yourself too seriously can mean that you don’t finish anything because unless it’s the greatest piece of art ever made, you will be disappointed.

Before I made art, I made music and I think I had such a desire to be unlike anyone else that I ended up sabotaging my own music for the sake of it being different, when all I had done was take a good song and make it sound unique but also the kind of thing that nobody would listen to.

I realise now that breakthroughs are worked towards rather than achieved overnight, and it’s a constant process that I am gradually getting nearer to, and that is okay as long as I enjoy what I’m doing.

What were the last 5 songs you listened to?

‘Big Yellow Taxi’ by Joni Mitchell

‘California’ by Joni Mitchell

‘Train in Vain’ by The Clash

‘Heaven’s On Fire’ by The Radio Dept

‘Rock Me Gently’ by Andy Kim