In my last newsletter I talked about trying to keep all the balls up in the air and so far this year I’m heading in the right direction. I have managed to combine earning an income with producing new work and travelling. The balance isn’t quite there yet but being a full-time artist is more “who I am than what I do”.
Rain has most definitely stopped play at times and living in a tin box in the eternal damp is a challenge. As someone who is arrogantly never unwell, I was floored when I went down with an infection recently. It’s not so easy to go to bed and shut the door on the world when you have to move your bedroom frequently. Campsites and antibiotics are the answer in these circumstances!
Recently a friend said to me “I know you can do anything you put your mind to”, a lovely uplifting comment that got me thinking, sometimes a little self-belief goes a long way. It’s been good to stop and think, yes, I really do think I can do anything and if I can’t then ‘I’ll fake it until I make it’ as the saying goes! So, I’ve gone back to school to do some CPD to give me greater employability in a wider teaching context. Life really does begin in your fifties after all!!
Enough rambling, here is a little update on the last couple of months and some info on the next couple so that you will know where to find me to join my classes.
Van Life
I’ve done three cruises already this year and although in hindsight it has meant less art it’s been nice to get away to some warm weather and no rain. In wet weather the damp and condensation sit for ever in the van. I have a dehumidifying system but it’s not totally effective and climbing in and out with wet shoes makes everything muddy. My van weighs 3 tons and is front wheel drive so when parking up on grass I need to make sure I can get out again, it’s been close a couple of times recently. As I’ve been away a lot, I’ve been extra cautious about setting mouse traps on each wheel. I’ve caught a few but so far, they don’t seem to have worked their way into the van. My new fridge and solar has meant that I rarely need to hook up anymore giving me more flexibility when travelling and deciding where to stay. I also treated myself to a better mobile Wi-Fi system so that I am able to connect to the internet in most locations and have enough bandwidth to run zoom classes, though sometimes my little router box has to be balanced on the roof!
The engine lights continue to be a source of amusement for the me and the garage and at some point soon I will need to get that leak in the windscreen fixed! I’ll be heading down to Devon in a few days’ time so hoping for some dry weather and no more engine issues.
I’ve been fortunate to go to Norway in March and the Azores in April. Returning to Norway always gives me a sense of awe and I find a wonderful calmness in the scenery. One day I hope to take the van there.
Art Life
With cruising and teaching some single day courses for Adult Education in Kent I’ve not had a huge amount of time for painting. For the first time I did manage to do some Botanical painting during the Norway cruise and have now finished my first piece of Botanical work for this year which I am delighted about. I am aiming for 4 completed pieces by the end of the year. Two of these will be based on my finds during my travels, not always from nature, an eclectic mix of small found objects. I’m continuing to work on my handmade books in snatches of time. Being organised with the space that I have is key and each month I remove anything that I haven’t used in a while.
The two cruises were again busy, each class has 30 guests, one day I will work out the total number of people I have taught on the cruises! Once again, we had very successful exhibitions at the end of the cruise and lots of positive feedback. I managed to keep up with my travel journal and I love to look back at this once I’m back on land. It’s a great way to remember places I’ve been especially when I return to a port.
There are still some spaces on my mentorship programme with Mastruis. This happens once a month for 2 hours and is aimed at mentoring and guiding to build your art practice rather than skills-based instruction though we will be covering some of this if mentees want to.
Lastly, I spent a few days in Cambridge catching up with family and visited the William Blake Exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum. His illustrated poems are beautiful and inspiring and made me think about new ways to illustrate my journals.
Teaching and Travel in May, June and Beyond…..
I will be continuing to teach single day courses at Kent Adult Education Centres for May and June and again in the autumn. These are excellent value for money and a good way to dip your toe in the water without having to commit to a longer course.
See the link for more details of the dates and centres which are updated each month. There will hopefully be courses in Ashford, Tonbridge, Online, Sevenoaks and Maidstone in both Botanical colour pencil and watercolour.
My course at West Dean is imminent, there are still a couple of spaces on this one starting 10th May if you fancy a break and some concentrated painting time. A reminder also that for the first time I will be running a beginners colour pencil course in November for general techniques so come and join me and learn how to draw and colour a variety of subjects.
I’ve delayed one of my walking trips and instead will be heading to France in May to spend a week painting. With my van lifestyle and teaching schedule it’s difficult to find concentrated periods of time to focus on painting so I have decided to trial disappearing for a few days to do nothing but paint. France seems a long way to go but I have been offered the opportunity to spend some time with family in a real house with walls and a bed that doesn’t move!!
Most of June will be spent on a cruise ship heading to the Catalan coast with some single day courses at Kent Adult Education when I get back.
Looking further ahead into the future I will be back at the Old Bank Studios, Essex in October for two days, one for colour pencil and one for watercolour, both Botanical.
I have a couple of other exciting things lined up in the next few months but more about these in my next newsletter once I have finalised the details.
Thank you once again for getting to the end of my newsletter and for continuing the journey of this crazy life with me. Wishing everyone a happy and creative May and June.
Loved reading your update and all about the van-does she have a name??