HEADSPACE + HEARTSPACE Page 16 of 17

Is it just me or is the year rushing past?

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washroom

I need to breathe. 

To take a moment to stop, and just be.

To listen and reflect a bit before leaping ahead.

There are some huge things happening in my life in the next few weeks, not least the culmination of a project I have been working on for over a year, the launch of my new creative business venture (more very shortly I promise!) and Christmas in our new home.

It is all incredibly exciting, but also stressful.  Scary even (except for the Christmas bit!)

I have a to-do list a mile long.

I cannot see the floor in my studio for the mess.

And I really don’t want December to come and go without taking time to reflect on the incredible year that will soon be coming to a close. 

So I’m going to stop, just for a while. 

To breathe a little. 

And maybe even drop my to-do list in the bin and see what happens…  I dare me…

***

How about you? Has the year flown past for you too? How will you make sure you find time to look back over the past year before December has come and gone?

Taking to the streets in the name of art

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glass
Steaming cappucinos, yards of bunting, warm welcomes, gorgeous art by emerging artists and the chance to poke around people’s houses – what’s not to love about a local arts trail? 

Coffee

I discovered some gems on the inaugural Headingley Arts Trail this week, not least the vibrant paintings of Julia Keates, inspired by her travels across the world. Here are some of her works on display in her lovely home, where she paints in her large attic studio.

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Taking to the streets in the name of art HAT4
Taking to the streets in the name of art HAT5

Have you discovered any local artists near you lately?

What’s in a blog name?

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Tell me, why did you give your blog the name that you did? I am often fascinated by blog names, and wonder whether there is a story behind them, or whether they just popped into the writer’s head when they were creating their new space. Here are a few names I love:

Pilgrim of the Moon
There is a sweet love story behind this name but you’ll have to ask Judit if you want to know about it. I find this name is really dreamy.

Shin Shin
The name means ‘honest heart’ in Japanese, and Maki describes her blog as ‘little notes to my honest heart’.

Nectar and Light
Home of polaroid photographer Jen Altman, to me this name evokes a summer day – sugary sweetness and sunshine

Tangled Sky Studio
I used to love playing that game where you try to find pictures in the clouds, and this makes me think of a sky tumbling with clouds

Doorways Traveler
The title of Lisa Field-Elliot’s gorgeous photography blog suggests possibility, adventure, the unknown…

My own blog title ‘Do What You Love’ came from a deep belief that the world would be a better place if more people were doing what they love. More time spent on things that make you feel alive, connected, expressive and happy can only enhance the experience others have when they interact with you out in the world. Through this blog I wanted to give myself a space, and a kind of accountability, to do what I love (creating, having adventures, sharing stories) and put it out in the world.

How about you? What is your blog name and where did it come from? What other blog names do you love?

Reflections on Squam: I dreamed a dream…

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… of a place where I could sit on a rocking chair,
on an old wooden deck,
looking out over the stillness of a lake
lake
… where I could think
shoes on dock
… listen
listen
… soak in nature
ferns
logs
… create
nikon
polaroid
paper
paper roll
… dive in*
*literally, at 5am. It was icy but I felt so ALIVE
dock
I found that place at Squam Lake, New Hampshire, with a warm family of old and new journeymates.

Thank you friends, for opening your hearts and sharing your laughter

It was a most precious time
***

for the love of trees (and sculpture)

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A visit to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park does wonders for the soul. 500 acres of stunning parkland, with internationally renowned sculptors’ work dotted here and there. You can picnic by a Henry Moore, hide behind a Barbara Hepworth or get lost in the forest near the David Nash stairway. You can even take an outdoor class in bronze casting. And it is free to get in!

My man and I had a lovely couple of hours strolling through the land, making up stories about what each piece really meant, and sheltering from the rain in the cosy shadow of the big trees.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

(more…)

At home: Welcome to my studio!

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“Pick one room and make it yours.

Go slowly through the house.

Be polite, introduce yourself,

so it can introduce itself to you.”

(borrowing the words quoted by the lovely Louise Gale as a comment in response to this blog post)

So that’s what I am going to do. Introduce myself, then introduce you, room by room, bit by bit. As we start to make friends with our new home. 

Here is a peek of the first one – my studio. Won’t you come in? 

fireplace

At one end it has this sweet fireplace, which will be great when winter sets in. I have just put up this picture for now while I work out what to do with the space above the mantelpiece. Any ideas?

painting table

Here’s my painting/making stuff table. There is an easel in the corner but I like making a horizontal mess! The glass table is actually more practical than it looks – it provides a brilliantly smooth surface for painting and is easy to cover, but also makes the most of the space in the room when it is uncovered. 

The wooden floorboards were reclaimed from an old school gymnasium. They are full of marks and stories – you can almost see generations of children jumping over benches and off climbing bars (and maybe even sneaking a first kiss behind the pommel horse). 


studio window chair

There are three big windows like this so they let in lots of light

drawers

Handy storage for my art supplies, and just enough space to squeeze blank canvasses underneath

books

No such thing as too many art books…

These old picnic hampers make great storage for my sewing stuff – fabric, ribbons, thread for the things I am slowly learning to make!

picnic hampers

And above them is the lovely painting from Judit at Pilgrim of the Moon (I talked about it in this post)

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One of my inspiration boards. This one includes prints by Juliette Crane and DJ Pettitt, and my Soul Collage cards that I made in California back in February.

lovely paper

I think the paper obsession, stationery obsession and book obsession may be linked…

craft supplies

Finally I have somewhere to put all my bits and bobs – paper ribbon, buttons, lovely shiny things

bonsai

My little bonsai friend (in need of a haircut)

Reading corner

My reading corner, and all important stereo –  a girl’s gotta have tunes to paint to!

So there it is, my new studio.

Would love to have you all come over to create and make mess. What’s your creative space like? What’s on your inspiration board?

Exploring

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When you move somewhere new, you start each journey from a different place.  We only moved 10 minutes from where we lived before, but I have started to see things I never noticed before.  Like this gorgeous stretch of river.

river
What have you discovered near your home recently?

***

This month I am joining in Susannah Conway’s August Break, sharing daily photos of my life this August. Why not check out who else is joining in, or have a go yourself?

Time out

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Spent the day on the water today. 

Taking a break from it all,

getting caught up in the excitement of a yacht race,

seeing the beauty of the land from the water,

hearing the call of the gulls

and clearing out the cobwebs

as the sea breeze rushed through my hair. 

sea cinema

I spent my childhood on the coast

and it feels good to reconnect with the salty air and open skies.

***

Pottering about

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Thinking about our new garden today, and realising how little I know about how to care for it. My gardening history to date has revolved around pots of basil and the odd tomato plant on many an apartment windowsill. Our house was empty for a few months before we moved in as the previous owners had emigrated to Australia. As a result the garden has gone a bit wild.  It has lots of tropical plants in it and I kind of like it that way, all a bit crazy, but it seems a shame not to be able to even see the sunken table, never mind eat dinner at it! Time to get green fingers…

feet and pot
Photo from recent island travels in Greece – photos of our new garden coming soon!

Unpacking

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How come the things which make us happiest often stress us most along the way?  

I am exhausted from the move,

from all the unpacking,

from the decorating, 

from trying to make it all perfect

from day one.   

But today,

we just stopped,

dropped the boxes,

and shut the door. 

We left the paintings unhung,

the books unshelved,

the shoes un-put-away. 

And flopped.  

Given the small inconvenience of not having a sofa until September,

that actually meant we flopped onto the floor.  

Still, the icecream tasted just as good sat leaning against the wall.

And as we sat laughing,

surveying our new home,

the aches started to fade, the excitement returned

and we remembered what it was all about.

I think we’re going to like it here

***

This month I am going to aim for more photos, less words, so keep a look out for a peek into my August (including some shots of our new house, once we have unpacked a little more!)