Things I’m grateful for this week
turning tiny bits of ancient Roman pottery into watercolour paint. I found the bits in Italy when I was there for my residential last year. I’ve finally made some time to turn them into paints.
listening to thousands of bees while standing under the sweet chestnut tree next to our house - it’s gigantic and that this particular time of year, the multitude of bees working so hard makes a specific noise
cutting my first garden dahlia and cosmos (see today’s bouquet)
working on Jo Thompson’s garden to-do and not-to-list illustrated lists (these come out around the 1st of every month this year, you can check out her Substack to see her previous months!!)
celebrating the arrival of summertime by drawing a fruity still life with Raj, we went LIVE here on Substack and you can watch the replay (free).
eating a Tea Cake and painting the packaging which has the best mustardy/orange and red lettering
writing the gazette for July and August, it will drop on Tuesday morning.
studying Cezanne, again - especially Still Life with Cherries and Peaches (1885-1887) which is currently located at the Los Angeles County Museum, CA, USA
savouring homemade relish (with rhubarb from the garden) in my bbq burger on Sunday
preparing the summer dates for the Time Foragers’ Club and starting to plan Autumn term - cannot wait (though I am also looking forward to the summer)!!!
crying at the end of term school performances
purchasing a new rose climber for the left side of my pigment studio in the garden - it’s yellowy peachy and completely gorgeous (see photo below)
having a chat on Eli’s podcast, this will be live sometime this summer, I will let you know
obsessing over cherries, eating them, looking at them, painting them, studying them, spotting them in a tree on our walk to school, eating some more… my kids love them too so we’re going through a lot these days
MIDSUMMER Still Life Celebration
To celebrate the arrival of summertime I went LIVE with my friend Raj on Saturday. We chatted summer colours, did some swatching and drew some lovely summery treats on our table/desk. I posted a few images in the club chat (exclusive to paying members) of what I was going to draw prior to it but anyone can join in by creating your own summer still life and drawing it, just for fun!! If you missed it, here was my chat with Raj, celebrating the arrival of summer.
GAZETTE
The Time Foragers’ Club monthly gazette will drop this coming Tuesday so keep an eye out for that. It will have all the club dates for the summer, including drawing Zoom dates with Emma Carpendale (Piers and Promenades) and Beth Spencer (All Things Strawberry), a journaling session, a monthly video from France and several LIVE drawing sessions here on Substack, including a scene from a Jane Austen movie (celebrating her 250 years).
Hope you’ve had a good week and could take some time to notice a few beautiful details.
Next club member meeting is this coming Monday for June’s journaling session. Hope to see you there!
Sending love from Yorkshire,
Helen xx
Thanks so much for reading!
Quick Notes: This is a free post for subscribers but you can also become a Time Foragers’ Club paid subscriber and meet up on Zoom 3 times a month (we draw, create and journal) AND also watch a monthly video (from my studio) PLUS chat with our blossoming creative community in our exclusive threads. We have occasional in-person meet-ups too (there is one coming up in London early July). If you love all things antiques, old paper and art, once a year the club’s Founding Members receive a thoughtfully curated paper bundle in the post which includes some of my original art.
The prices for the Time Foragers’ Club will increase on 1st September so now may be a good time to subscribe if you’re on the fence (or ‘swithering’ as they say in Edinburgh) as you will not need to pay more when the price goes up. You will always pay this amount.
I’m also going to pause all paying subscriptions from Monday 14th July until Monday 11th August - I will be out of office/studio and off to Wentworth RHS and then France with my family and old friends - ALL PAID SUBSCRIPTIONS WILL BE PAUSED for a summer break of 4 weeks, if you are a paying subscriber, you get full access to all the archives free of charge for that whole month - it’s a great time to catch up on any sessions/challenges/series you’ve missed.
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