Hello friends!
How are you? Have you have a good week? We are back from France and it was enchanting. We went to the west coast first, ile de Re and La Rochelle. Then inland to a place not too far from Cognac, called Fleac. Then back to the coast and up to Paris. Our ferry went in and out of the beautiful port of St Malo which holds so many precious memories in my heart from over the years. I was very sad to leave.
HIGHLIGHTS include…
galettes, the Breton ones, they are the best and I brought back some buckwheat flour to practise at home - best enjoyed with cider (doux is sweet or brut is less so so we prefer brut with savoury)
the hollyhocks
the blue shutters and the blue skies (we had perfect weather throughout)
the orange rooftops
swimming in the ocean
spending time with my parents and siblings and their families - a firm favourite was our apero before dinner, we took this very seriously
painting plein air and also indoors some still life and the view from our window… basically just painting
buying some oil sticks at Sennelier’s in Paris
eating a picnic in the Tuileries play park with my sister and my nephew
It’s been an incredible time, I was completely refreshed. Thanks for hanging around while we were gone. Definitely found it challenging to get back into work-mode this week. These are my visual journals from this week.
HIGHLIGHTS include…
open swimming with my friend Pam, might be hooked! Looking into getting an open swimming suit.
a plein air oil painting workshop in Sheffield with artist Craig Longmuir
the Mikados
a beautiful walk in the woods
mango in with my morning granola
picking blackberries
enjoying the stationery we brought back from France
our garden was surprisingly superb when we returned from France, the rain was perfectly timed!
A few club announcements
Here is the list of dates for the next few weeks.
Friday 22nd August 7pm BST - Monthly Video - French Travel Sketchbook Tour.
Monday 25th August 7pm BST - Co-Creating session (1hr) Theme: Sharpen Pencils, Swatch Paints and/or Share Summer Projects, perfect opportunity to share your summer bingo outcome. This is a chatty session throughout.
Thursday 28th August 7pm BST - Co-Journaling session (1hr) This is a silent journaling session (with 15mins to chat at the end).
Monday 1st September - Gazette Drop with all the dates for the month.
Note: all Zoom sign up Luma links will be in the club chat (exclusive to paying members).
Art Retreat in Portugal May 2026
As mentioned in the club chat, I was invited to teach in Portugal with Sofia in Monsaraz. If you’re interested in carving out time to do some visual journaling with me, consider signing up for more info here “get early access”. Now that I’m back from France, Sofia and I have met on Zoom to plan the details of the program. We hope to launch bookings very soon. You can sign up to get early access to be among the first to hear more and be able to book.
Podcast with Eli from Zuzu Haus of Cats
Before the summer, Eli had me on her podcast and it went LIVE this week. Eli is an artist based in Copenhagen and it was an honour to be on her podcast. We had a lovely conversation about art, the importance of playing in our art practice, the thread of time as a theme, literature, sense of place. I also waffled a bit about social media, shame as Eli was actually paying me a compliment for being revolutionary - never mind, it’s all a work in progress. Listen to this episode 15: Deliberately Seeking Out Joy. You can find Eli and her work at Zuzu Haus of Cats.
More Joyful Posts
the club gazette (July and August issue), it is there is a rhubarb and strawberry cordial recipe AND a summer bingo sheet pdf for you to print out at home
a chat celebrating summer colours with my friend Raj
a chat celebrating gardens with my friend Emma
my back to work post last week with a recap of announcements
Thanks for being here! I hope you’re having a great summer (or winter in the SH). I can’t wait for our next club sessions and catching up with you all! Talk very soon! xx
QUICK CLUB 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), receive 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. If you love all things antiques, old paper and art, once a year the club’s founding membersreceive a thoughtfully curated paper bundle in the post which includes some of my original art. The prices for the both tiers of 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.
