The view from Richmond Hill over Petersham Meadow…
Sketching Midwinter
Advent Drawings
It has been a quiet week. School is out for the holidays, and we have intentionally slowed down. We are reading books, doing crafts, and getting the house ready for Christmas. And taking lots of naps.
one dust ball at a time
Today has been a day for sorting, organizing and cleaning. I have made lists of things to do my studio. I have made lists of dreams for the coming year. And I have cleaned in preparation for a house guest. It’s amazing how putting things in order in the house can also help one’s mind feel more at ease as well!
Winter Sunrise....
This morning the sunrise was like jewels sparkling on the horizon. It was a moment of beauty in a week of storms.
And I realized that I have been painting these winter sunrises for three years in a row, always at the beginning of December!
Reading is Everything
I have taken a long break from all social media and immersed myself in books. Reading them. Writing them. Dreaming about them.
Now that I’ve finished the draft of a big project, I’m back to playing in my studio. I’m ripping up pages of an old Shakespeare study book and painting over them… whatever emerges from my imagination. It is soul restoring.
I haven’t sent out an inspiration newsletter for a while, but I feel one brewing… make sure you sign up!
My Week in Drawings #33
Water Colour Sketch of the London Sunrise
My Week In Drawings #32
Drawings and paintings from my sketchbook. A sketchbook tour. Watercolour of the sunrise and pen and ink drawings. Daily drawings. Sketchbook ideas. Illustration.
Read MoreA lockdown sketchbook
Time shrinks and expands in lockdown. Some days fly by quickly. Some days languish forever, and by mid-afternoon I’m asking my family, “is it still Tuesday?” Yes, yes, it is, and tomorrow will still be Wednesday.
I have been forgetting to do daily drawings, simply because each day is so much the same that I don’t know what to draw! Monotony does not inspire creativity.
Here are a few of the drawings I managed to do in the past few months. Enjoy!
Seeing them collected on one blog post inspires me to do more!
My Week in Drawings #31
For some reason, during lockdown, I switched from drinking decaf coffee to herbal tea.
I think this pandemic has transformed us all in deep and meaningful ways, and also in more superficial ways. Becoming a tea drinker was one of those more insignificant changes.
Why did I change? Does it even matter? I don’t really have the answer.
But there you go... now I drink herbal tea.
Have you noticed small changes as well?
What are they?
My Week in Drawings #30
Quiet moments in the morning; hugs and cuddles before the rush of the day starts.
I’m making lists and envisioning new projects. Sometimes this time at the beginning of a project doesn’t feel productive. But all that foundation building pays off when the momentum picks up.
I just love watching my daughter dance: her moves are so energetic and joyful.
I just love seeing my daughter’s playful joy in the autumn. She throws leaves like confetti and laughs with abandon. It’s these small moments that make life worthwhile at the moment. The joy in the little things. The fresh air. The turning colours and the early morning mist. My daughter is changing before my eyes and I want to savour each moment.
My week in drawings #29
The past few weeks we have been nestling in our house: cuddling, reading stories, preparing for the start of school; and I’ve been working every other minute towards a big deadline.
Now, my book is submitted, and my daughter has started year one…
I took a week to do nothing; to let the dust motes settle in the beams of sunshine while I readjusted to life without the urgency of deadlines.
And now that I’m ready to return to daily drawings, I am exploring the faces around me. There is so much beauty in every face.
Leonardo da Vinci used to fill sketchbook margins with random faces before he started his “real” work of fine art and scientific research. I often wonder if those faces gave him perspective, if he could see his projects and problems from their perspective, and if it helped him approach ideas from different points of view. Or perhaps it was simply “doing scales” as I call it. I used to play piano regularly, and playing scales kept my fingers limber and ready. Drawing faces is a bit like that as well; each face trains my hand to draw individuality rather than someone more generic.
So here they are… the most recent faces.
Next week I’ll get back to more personal diary drawings.
And if you fancy getting your face drawn, why not get in touch? I need more faces!
My week in drawings #28
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My Week in Drawings #27 (A catch up)
I have gone a bit quiet in the last few weeks, as I have been sprinting to finish a large illustration project. I’m trying to get as much of it done as I can before my daughter finishes school on Friday. We are looking forward to summer holidays: leisurely days, reading books, going for nature walks, eating ice cream, making crafts… but in the midst of all that, I’m not sure how much work I will be able to get done. (Though my daughter has promised, “I won’t interruct you, Mommy!” Her word for “interrupt.”)
These are the “daily” drawings I’ve done in the past month. Mostly of my daughter, because she is such a willing and inspiring subject. :-)
Ice cream treats for a stellar report card!
Lounging after a hot afternoon running through the sprinkler!
Climbing the ancient olive tree in the courtyard of the church across the street.
Going back to school after lockdown with excitement and nerves!
Quarantine style!
I have transitioned from doing my daily drawings in Moleskine sketchbooks to doing them on pre-cut pieces of drawing or watercolour paper. This allows me more flexibility. Right now I am keeping them in an old sunglasses box, which is the perfect size for the small drawings. I think I might need to invest in a system of archival art storage soon!
My Week in Drawings #26
The evening view from our new attic room is always breath taking in the evening. It gives me so much joy to snuggle under my duvet with a book and this sky.
It has been a good week. We spent most of our time outside, enjoying the roses and peonies in our garden.
Our daughter returns to school on Monday, in a modified classroom and with smaller “bubbles” instead of classes. She is so excited… and I am excited to have some uninterrupted time to work on my projects. But I will also miss her! I’ve gotten used to having her around permanently over the past 12 weeks.
How are you? Tell me in the comments!
A moment of serenity in Richmond Park.
My 5-year-old daughter hopping on her inflatable cow/dinosaur/dragon creature. She can literally fly on that thing. I imagine that she feels that way I do when I have those dreams where I can jump and glide for miles at a time… almost flying, but touching down every so often for another push of momentum.
My Week in Drawings #25
She lives in her imagination; she really is a fairy in the garden, flitting from flower to flower. I believe her.
My Week In Drawings #24
Be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Max Ehrmann "Desiderata" 1927
I am sitting by the open windows of my studio, looking out of the Victorian roofs and treetops of suburban London. All around there is the sound of birdsong and workmen. Normally the sound of a whining circular saw might have annoyed me, but this morning it is giving me so much joy. Our lockdown is easing ever so slowly. People are allowed to work outside. We are all crawling out of our safe burrows and blinking in the bright summer sunshine. Despite the uncertainty, the world is still beautiful: the roses are blooming and the birds are warbling, and we’re all smiling.
At the beginning of this period of isolation I couldn’t figure out why I felt so stymied. I am normally very motivated and organized. But for the first few weeks all I could manage was to eat, sleep and breathe (and look after the homeschooling needs of my highly-driven 5-year-old daughter).
Instead of feeling frustrated, I allowed myself to relax into a new routine without putting too much pressure on myself.
Gradually, as the “new normal” began to feel more comfortable, I was able to include more depth in my day… more drawing, more dreaming, more writing.
What I realized, as I observed my reaction to these changes, is that we all exist on three levels.
Layer one is the necessities: breathing, eating, sleeping. These are the basic building blocks that enable us to live. Most likely, when life is ticking along at a good pace, these are things you do every day without thinking. Unless, that is, you are interrupted by a factor out of your control (like a pandemic), and then level one is the only thing you can manage.
Layer two is the routine everyday chores and actions you do repeatedly. It is all thing things you fill your to-do list with… (and isn’t it funny that your to-do list fills up whether there are 10 lines on your page or 20? I have a theory that any list expands to fit its space, no matter how large or small, which is why I often pick a small piece of paper to write my lists on! But that was a tangent…) Sometimes it is difficult to pull oneself off the treadmill of loads of washing, grocery shopping, random appointments, and general life maintenance.
And then there is my favourite layer… three. This is where the magic lives. This is where we get a few moments each day to focus on those actions that enrich our lives; inspire us. This is taking the perfect photo, piecing together the “just right” patches of fabric into a quilt, putting one word together with another so that they sing, or playing that difficult piece on the piano for the first time through without mistakes.
When something like the coronavirus pandemic flips our lives upside down, we shake down through the layers of existence. We quickly slide out of layer three, we skid through layer two, and land in layer one with a bump and a plume of dust. We look around, surprised, wondering how our lives could have been so precariously balanced in the first place. We breathe. We sleep. We eat. And we stare up through the canyon of existence wondering how we’ll reascend to layer three near the daydreaming clouds.
What I have discovered is that the only way is patience.
It has taken 10 weeks of lockdown for me float up, almost effortlessly, from level one to level three. I had to get comfortable with eating, breathing and sleeping in our new existence. Then I had to figure out how to get laundry soap, groceries, and basic necessities without putting myself or my family in danger (a whole new interpretation of level two). And then, once I felt secure in how to sustain “normal” life, I could rise on an updraft of confidence to level three.
And now I’m daydreaming again. I’m working on my newest book project. I’m doing daily drawings. The sweet juice of creativity is back.
All it takes is patience, time, and the willingness to rediscover life slowly.
I don't know where you are or how lockdown is treating you. I hope you are doing well. I hope you are discovering that there are moments of richness in this “new normal.” I hope you can enjoy both the moment, and the depth of existence at the same time. Please respond and tell me!
Sending the biggest virtual, social-distancing hug I can…
x
Online assembly… The headteacher lead a prayer in which she prayed for all the everyday heroes, the key workers, and all the mommies and daddies at home with their children. It moved me to tears to see my daughter praying so earnestly and innocently. In this time of uncertainty, there is much to give hope. Like the simple faith of a child that everything will be alright.
I have decided that one of my new challenges for this lockdown is to draw people who are currently inspiring me, giving me hope, and making me feel like the world is a beautiful place.
First up is Jill Barber. She is a Canadian singer-songwriter who I discovered via her 2004 album “Oh Heart”. My best friend who was studying at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) told me that I just HAD to listen to her. My friend knew me so well! And I have enjoyed following Jill’s career as she blossoms in her musical talent. I especially love all her French jazz! (It makes me feel like my awkward schoolgirl french is actually stylish and chic!) I have her albums on repeat as I work on the final illustrations for my graphic novel.
My Week in Drawings #23
Week number… What? I’m not sure. Seven or eight I think.
Here are a few moments from our week.
How was your week?
The cold snap
Dearest friends,
Both new and old
I hope you stay warm
In this cold.
I hope you find,
Amidst the grey,
That a robin sings
For you today.
This morning, after dropping off my daughter at school, I went for a walk in Richmond Park. Hoar frost covered the brambles and trees as if someone had sprinkled icing sugar from the sky, and the fine powder had adhered to everything. It was cold, but not nearly as cold as my home-town (which is gripped in the polar vortex and reaching temperatures of -50 C).
As I walked, a robin warbled, and hopped from branch to branch. It was a cheerful hopeful sound, and I wished I could send her song to all of you. It would lift your spirits, I’m sure of it.
So I’m sending you this drawing with the warmest wishes I can.
Xxx
Morning mist
In the paint splattered margins in the day, it can be the smallest things that light the winter gloom. For me, today, its the bright sunshine, now matter the cold; the frost edged leaves in the early morning, as if fairies have crocheted lace edges on everything in sight; and a fragrant cup of coffee, brewing in my tiny kitchen.
Tell me one of the small things that brings a smile to your face.