Newsletter from my Studio

April 2024

Hello April!!

Springtime has definitely arrived here in Yorkshire and all those spring-cleaning feelings are very present. Magnolia trees in bloom all over our neighbourhood, that nudge to get all the selected seeds sown (quick, we’re late this year!) and spotting the first few bluebells in the woods. And I finally planted the mimosa tree I bought a while back. It took me all this time to find the best location for it in our garden, as it can grow tall. I’m now planning to create a pigment/dye garden in order to make my own watercolours, pastels and inks and slow down the production of single-use plastic art materials.

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MY NEW POTTING SHED (that I didn’t know was even there)

The past month has been marked by the excitement of having our garage roof changed. It had asbestos in it and frankly, I wouldn’t go near it, it was all Mike’s. Until now! He had to bring everything out, only to leave the bare minimum and it became pretty clear to both of us that one section could be a potting shed. I lost sleep I was so excited! I’ll share the progress as we go along but in the meantime, here’s a picture of some quick drawings in my bullet journal of what it could look like. I’m keen to repurpose as much wood and shelves as possible from Facebook marketplace and antique shops.

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A few days back I was at a live recording of the national radio 4 show called Woman’s Hour here in Doncaster and it was a very enlightened chat about local female entrepreneurs and how important it is for young women to have great role models (again, education is so vital). My heart was full of love for my town and I was so proud of the artists and business-owners represented that day. You can listen to the recording here. I also took a few pics of these houses on Regent Square on my walk to the recording. I always feel inspired by their character.

Notes from Woman's Hour, Radio 4

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NOTES FROM THE STUDIO

This past month as part of my creative development, I’ve been playing a lot with colour. I have a pretty excited commission starting next week which involves a heritage garden (more on this soon) and have been carefully selecting tools for it. Drawing in the evenings is also part of my creative goals for the next few months and I’m dreaming up a palette for our summer holidays when we plan on visiting Cornwall.

Enjoying playing with materials and colours

Drawing sessions on zoom continue to be a great way of improving technique and I always love the community side of it. Below are some little characters I drew when taking Beth Spencer’s super fun live drawing session.

And a fabulous drawing session with Katy Quarles with carefully selected images from Downton Abbey. I didn’t love what I produced but I’d love to give it another go soon and use a different choice of materials. You can watch the recording here.

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A FEW BITS & BOBS:

• This (pretty old) article about rocks and art on the east coast of North Yorkshire.

• This podcast episode "Mothering and Art Making During Our Climate Crisis" with artist Heather Bird Harris. Can’t stop thinking about it.

• Sitting in my middle son’s piano lessons journaling. Just the sound of music is so good for my soul. I almost forgot about it.

• Hoping to get my hands on this new book Found and Ground by Caroline Ross.

• Nick Hunt’s article Heart of Ochre, Colour foraging and the Politics of Pigment.

• This artist Anya Bell and her paintings. I couldn’t find a website anywhere. Let me know if you do.

• All the Cadbury’s Easter eggs. If you live far away and can’t get your hands on any, I’m sorry to rub it in. Surely they’re a good reason for living in Britain!? I wish I could send you some…

Hope you have a lovely month of April. xx