Newsletter from my studio

December 2023

December is here! Frosty mornings and chunky wooly hats, I hope everyone’s start of the month is magical!

This year I’m taking 10 small steps towards enjoying this season at a slower pace and I’d love to hear what yours will be.

1. Dedicating entire evenings (ideally 1 per wk) to reading in bed in my cosiest pjs (my go to at this time of year is Little Women, what is yours?). We haven’t gone overboard with lots of evening plans this year and I’m so grateful for this now. Resisting making plans may mean organising dates for January/February instead and it becomes something lovely to look forward to.

2. We moved the houseplants up to my studio. Two reasons for this: First, my studio is south facing and gets lots of light so the plants will be happy and I will enjoy taking special care of them. Second, in so doing, we have made space on our shelves and units downstairs for foraged greenery and a few of our favourite Christmas heirlooms. So far, our foraged greenery has mainly been fir and holly with berries, just as the Celts and Romans brought into their home (I’ll write more on this another time). We’ve also collected pinecones which we’ve tied together to create garlands.

3. We are taking daily walks. This is the perfect way to notice greenery and dried wildflowers to bring home. Whether by our local hedgerows or woods or even just the school run the slightly longer/greener route, soaking up as much sunshine on our faces as possible will be beneficial and I know my future self (Jan/Feb Helen) will thank me. Watching birds come and go, squirrels running in the trees and noticing the season changing, all of this helps towards feeling grounded in the now and mindfully taking stock of the year gone by.

4. This winter I want to drink plenty water, as well as keeping up with good skincare (facial, hand and body).

5. We are enjoying festive food early on and spreading out the treats. Inspired by some incredible displays in American antique shops while I was visiting my brother in November, I created a hot chocolate bar for him and his family and I wanted to re-create something similar here for us. I’ve used a tray with old jars of cocoa, marshmallows, candy canes, all decorated with pinecones, fir and white and red string. My little silver mouse (who normally stays up in my studio) is guarding a sweetie jar and I made him a little red felt hat. Yesterday we had our first mince pies of the season with a cup of tea as a simple after lunch treat. We’ve also bought some Christmas pudding and are quite keen to start early. Why wait until Christmas Day?

6. This year the only list I’ve started making has been of what I’m thankful for. Things I’ve learned this year. Moments I don’t want to forget. We will write a few Christmas cards but they will be written “organically” as and when we think of each individual and/or family. Again, I want to resist “should and must” lists.

7. We’ve dug out our favourite Christmas picture books and have borrowed some more from the library. I intend on sharing some here later this month. A favourite so far is An Odd Dog Christmas by Rob Biddulph which has little extra illustrations to find throughout, bit like a treasure hunt. So fun!

8. I’ve unashamedly started watching Christmas movies early. Again, why wait? Little Women (both 1994 and 2019), Home Alone (1&2), You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, The Chronicles of Narnia. What are your favourites? Perhaps any less known movies I should know about? I recently discovered Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse which is utterly delightful (though I was equally moved by the documentary on the making of it on BBC iPlayer and seeing some behind the scenes).

9. I made eco-friendly wildlife-inspired Christmas gift tags and will be sharing a quick how-to process post here on Substack later this month. For this you will need some cereal boxes to paint on as well as some acrylic paint (it will take better to the cardboard than watercolour).

   

10. I’ll be reading an advent book by Matt Searles on passages from the Old Testament promises and prophecies in Isaiah 40-55, focusing on the hope and comfort that God offers. I would love to journal my way through this and I took the same book over to my brother in the USA so we’ll enjoy reading it along together, from a distance.

What helps you soak up the Christmas season without breaking the bank and losing precious energy? I’d love to know.

In other news this past month…

• Posting my story of Samuel the grey squirrel during Folktale Week was such a personal achievement and I have written about the process here.

• This butternut squash, chilli and coconut milk soup was so comforting as the days got colder.

• A trip to Adamstown, Pennsylvania to visit my brother and his family resulted in gorgeous walks through old towns, antique shops and an insanely beautiful Central Park, NYC which I will share in due course.

• Drawing with fellow artist Samantha Dion Baker in the MET had strong When Harry Met Sally vibes. Incredible!

• My prints and Christmas cards are available for a little while longer. I will be closing my worldwide orders Monday 4th Dec and British ones Monday 11th Dec. Thanks so much for your orders and support throughout this year.

  

As a thank you for your support so far and to those who have signed up to my newsletter at some point over the last year, I would like to invite you to join a free creative ZOOM call Saturday 9th December 2pm GB time. This will involve a few quick warm up exercises, some gorgeous (northern hemisphere) winter scenes to draw in your sketchbook and some time to journal. It will last approx 45 mins. I will send out more information with a link. Please save the date, get your sketchbooks and materials ready and have a cozy snack on hand!

Have a wonderful month of December. xx