do what you love Page 60 of 61

Are you living your best life?

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Friends are so precious, and losing one is so painful. An old university friend of mine was killed in a hit and run accident on holiday last week.  I wanted to take a moment and use this space to honour his memory. Part of me feels this is too personal to share, part of me thinks it is too important not to. I hope you don’t mind.

Matt was one of life’s good people. I hate it that I have written that in the past tense. He should have had much much more time.

He was a big strong rugby player with a heart to match. I have been reminiscing about a big adventure we shared several years ago when I joined him and two other guys on a crazy road trip around New Zealand. We were three strapping lads and a wandering girl with a rucksack bigger than herself packed into a tiny car. We got stuck (in a ford), got drunk (on cheap beer), got lost (in the mountains), and I even got a shoulder ride into town. Those boys gave me the courage to do my first terrifying bungee jump, and wisely advised me not to look down as we sped around narrow mountain paths. We traversed a glacier, ate mooncake at a stranger’s party and hung out on a kiwi farm. But more than anything, we laughed. A lot.

Along with the gripping shock and hollow sadness of losing a friend to a freak accident comes a deep questioning and reflection on our own lives.

  • Do we tell those we love that we love them enough (and do we love them enough?)
  • Do we really spend our precious moments doing what we love, making ourselves happier and bringing more happiness to others as a result?
  • Do we pick up the phone, write that letter, get on that plane, live that adventure, follow that dream?
  • As Oprah would say, are we living our best lives?

I’ve been here before (in my very first post on this blog), but I am back again.

It shouldn’t take a tragedy for us to do just that, but often, sadly, it does. There is nothing anyone can do or say to make loss any easier to handle or understand. There is no fairness, and no reason. Three are many questions, but no answers.

To honour and celebrate the big life of my friend, I want to revisit that question and commit to making a few small changes (and maybe a couple of big ones) that will allow me to completely and absolutely say YES, I am living my best life, every day, every hour, every minute.

Won’t you join me?

Are you living your best life? feet

Goodbye MD, you will be missed so very much

I did it!!!

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You guys rock!!  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Seriously, I cannot believe how generously you shared your advice to help me get over my first-machine-use-phobia.  And I think you cured me!!  I started off with baby steps as advised by the lovely Anne at Craft Gossip Sewing, and then I realised how much fun it was, and just started whizzing along! 

Look what I made, thanks to you (and I surprised myself that I actually don’t care they are all wonky)…

Stitched postcards…

Stitched postcard BK

I did it!!! postcard+scan2+crop

A four-weeks-at-a-glance wall planner with interchangeable pockets (red thread inspired by Rebecca Sower – thanks for the intro Stella)…

I did it!!! sew blog wall
I did it!!! tags

A journal (thanks Lorrie – remember the little heart?)…

I did it!!! inspiration+journal

And some other bits and pieces too.  I am now officially in love with my sewing machine.

And I love all the blog and website links you shared.  So inspiring and lots still to check out. 

Did I say thank you SO much!

Sew girl, sew!

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blog_sewingmachine

Is it just me or she beautiful, this shiny new birthday present of mine?

In fact, she is so beautiful, I am too scared to plug her in.

I so want to make gorgeous things.

But I haven’t the first clue how to use her.

I have a pile of fabric. And ribbon. And some buttons.

But I might break my beautiful machine when I try to stitch them all together.

So I bought a book, like I always do when I’m stuck.

And another, like I always do when I’m still stuck.

I now have eleven books on sewing.

But I still don’t know where to start. 

It’s like I need to know everything before I can make anything.

I don’t know how much is enough.

Please help me!

Any inspiring sewing blogs, project ideas, mixed media artists using stitch, you name it, I want to know about it. Do you have a story about how you learnt to sew?  I want to hear about it!

Just a little bit more knowledge. And then I promise to plug her in.

Looking back, forward, inward, and outward

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Today I am 32. Tomorrow I will be 33. Pretty old, pretty young, depending on your perspective. Or maybe just right, for me, right now.

It has been quite a year. 

1. I quit my job

Some say change is stressful, I say it is energising, important, refreshing. Quitting my job was hard. It wasn’t a boring, draining, rat-race type office job.  It was an uplifting, challenging experience that taught me so much and I loved it. I had five amazing years at UNICEF, the world’s biggest organisation working for children and children’s rights.It took me to the edges of humanity, introducing me to amazing people shining brightly in the darkest of situations. I travelled the world, venturing far beyond the urban jungle out into the places where life happens for so many.

UNICEF 1 Photo: Francois d'Elbee

Photo: Francois d’Elbee

 I met children with bare feet, guns, no parents, ambition, hope

I met world leaders, religious leaders, and gang leaders

I travelled with sports stars, famous actors and cabinet ministers

I dined with a prince, and a Nobel Peace Prize winner

UNICEF 2

I learnt how to shoot a camera,

how to shoot a handmade football,

how to shoot a bow and arrow,

how to shoot an AK47*

*obviously not at people or animals

UNICEF 3 Photo: Francois d'Elbee

Photo: Francois d’Elbee

We shared childhood games

We shared long bumpy car rides

We shared untold secrets

And we shared our stories

UNICEF 4 Photo: Francois d'Elbee

Photo: Francois d’Elbee

I saw pain, beauty, courage, love

I questioned and I listened

I changed and I grew

It will stay with me always

2. I started my own company

Shortly after my last birthday, I finally recognised that although I loved my job, it ate all my time and there were other things I wanted to do. I took the plunge to start my own company and set off in a new direction. It has been a fantastic roller coaster full of unknowns, challenges and new experiences. I love this delicious freedom.

Beth sign

3. I moved house

Enjoying a cup of tea in my new studio in (quite often rainy) Yorkshire

Enjoying a cup of tea in my new studio in (quite often rainy) Yorkshire

4. I learnt to surf… (well kind of)
(no chance you are getting a picture of that!!!)

5. I watched a moon rise in the Sahara Desert, and welcomed in the new year from the top of a giant sand dune with my man

Sand dune by Beth Kempton

Photo by me, dunes by some mysterious natural phenomena

6. I became an auntie for the third time, and experienced the magic of meeting her the day she was born.

 Photo: Chris NichollsPhoto: Chris Nicholls

Photo: Chris Nicholls

Photo: Chris Nicholls

7. I bumped into my old friend ‘me the artist’ at a mountain retreat in California, and we have been hanging out a lot together ever since.

With teachers Kelly Rae Roberts & Mati Rose McDonough and my An Artful Journey sisters

With teachers Kelly Rae Roberts & Mati Rose McDonough and my An Artful Journey sisters

…and much more besides.  I loved it all, and I have a feeling there is a big year ahead. Join me on the journey!

 

Photo: Francois d'Elbee

Photo: Francois d’Elbee

”When you are in your 30s you are old enough to know better,
but young enough to do it anyway” ~ Bridgette Bardot

Playing with images

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Capturing a fleeting moment in a way which one day will take you right back to that place, the smells, the sounds, the feeling. There is magic in photography. I love taking photos and I think something in me helps me take some sweet shots with the occasional flukey great one, but I don’t really know why I like the ones I like, and I know there is so much more to learn. So I have just taken a class with photographer extraordinaire Susannah Conway, learning more about composition, light, and all sorts of other things I never really think much about.

I photographed my cup of tea, and then played around with some editing tools. Which one do you like best? And which one do you like least? I’d love to know which and why.

Original photo:

Playing with images 4567892175 fb38e91d57 o
Altered versions 1-12:

 

1.Playing with images 4567837945 80bc1ea96d o
2.Playing with images 4568473926 914076035c o
3.Playing with images 4567837789 38a3b3dd45 o
4.Playing with images 4568473762 22670b4849 o
5.Playing with images 4567837575 8e48382679 o
6.Playing with images 4568473564 1d0146b408 o
7.Playing with images 4567837367 977d71304c o
8.Playing with images 4568473356 82034faa6b o
9.Playing with images 4567837183 54ec9fc699 o
10.Playing with images 4567837089 023f96fb22 o
11.Playing with images 4568473096 7dcd1eac3a o
12.Playing with images 4568472932 f4889c7ba7 o

I quite like the original photo, but think altered version number 12 is my favourite. I love the difference in texture either side of the diagonal line, and the pattern in the bottom right corner would make fantastic wrapping paper!

Photography actually runs through my family (right back four generations) so maybe this is just awakening something that has always been there… more on that another day.

The most wonderful piece of bad luck

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A volcano erupted in Iceland sending a cloud of volcanic ash across Europe yesterday. You may have heard about it, seen the pictures, thought it bizarre.

4619861760_2d2486cfdb_zRangarvallasysla, Iceland Credit: Neil MacWilliams

As the cloud has filled the airspace, the airports have shut down one after the other and it has left an estimated 600,000 people stranded – including me! I was in Geneva, supposedly for a day. But my flight back was cancelled and the earliest I can get home to England is Monday evening on the Eurostar train. So what is a girl to do but head to Paris for an impromptu weekend of cafes, galleries, wandering and dreaming?? Oh life is hard.

It’s quite odd actually as I had been dreaming about going to Paris in the spring. Unusually for me I  had no plans this weekend, and I accidentally bought an ‘anytime’ instead of fixed time return train ticket back from London so even that is still valid when I get back. I only had my handbag with me, so no laptop = no work, and no clothes = excuse to buy new ones. Funnily enough what I did have in my handbag were every girl’s true travelling essentials: credit card, camera, chocolate, sketchbook and mascara. What more do I need? And an old friend from the US just happens to have also got stranded and is heading here right now. What a wonderful piece of bad luck. Even ash clouds have a silver lining…

If you also happen to be in Paris or have any tips on must-visit ateliers, flea markets, cafes or stationery shops please do share!

A bientôt.

More Paris posts here:
Paris je t’adore
Shopping in Paris
Travelling Light
Random acts of generosity

Bloom True

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Thought I’d share a piece from a series I am working on – ‘Bloom True’. The smells and colours of the emerging spring made me want to paint flowers.

Acrylic on canvas (20"x16") Bloom True
Acrylic on canvas (20″ x 16″)

Recently I was introduced to the incredibly talented Flora Bowley in a post by Lorrie Spotts, and instantly loved her work.  I was intrigued to then discover she is teaching a workshop at Squam in the autumn, entitled… Bloom True! It felt like a sign so I have recklessly signed up for Squam and will be heading back to the US for more creative fun with lovely American gals later in the year. I have also signed up for a photography workshop with Susannah Conway and wabi-sabi paper with Judy Wise.

Anyone else going? It’s going to be so much fun.

But for now, I am living in the moment of gorgeous sunshine, long mountain bike rides and painting – bliss.

Happy weekend!

seduced by Japanese ink painting

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Cherry blossom (Japanese ink on rice paper 12" x 6")Cherry blossom (Japanese ink on rice paper 12″ x 6″)

When I started learning Japanese 15 years ago I used to stay up until the early hours of the morning in the college library copying characters from an old dictionary, dipping my brush in juicy ink, sweeping it across the rice paper and marvelling at the words that spilt out. Such a beautiful script, each word a picture in itself. The therapeutic quiet rhythm of shaping the text belied the speed at which each piece was created.

Although sometimes it is good to work on a creation for days, weeks, months even, there is something fundamentally satisfying about finishing a piece in under a minute. I took out my old brushes again yesterday and tried this with sumi-e (Japanese ink painting) with a little help from Takumasa Ono.  As the ink flowed through the bristles the memories flooded back.

Heron (Japanese ink on rice paper 9"x9")
Heron (Japanese ink on rice paper 9″x9″)

Girl (Japanese ink on rice paper 12"x9")Girl (Japanese ink on rice paper 12″x9″)

Knitting for good

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_3200743_blogknit

Yesterday I added my two stitches to the world’s biggest knitted textile! Force of nature Ingrid Wagner had brought her 4-metre long(!) needles to the Twisted Thread Stitch and Craft Show at Olympia, showcasing her particular style of ‘big knitting’ and raising money for Breast Cancer Care.

_3200739_blogknit
_3200744_blogknit

Ingrid holds the Guinness World Record for knitting with the biggest needles, which were over twice as long as she is tall! She said that it made her feel like she was a character in The Borrowers – either that or she was knitting a scarf for a Big Friendly Giant…

_3200755_blogknit

Ingrid also makes divine wall hangings and rugs out of this ‘big knit yarn’ which is about 4cm wide.

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Watch out for the giant needles coming to a town near you, and knit a stitch or two for Breast Cancer Care. There’s nothing like women supporting women.