I love this month to digest and put into action all the inspiration from the summer.
We were lucky enough to have a special week away on the island of Jersey in August and along with rest and play this holiday also ignited many arty thoughts and dreams). A highlight was Kay Le Seller exhibition in St Helier, which I saw 3 times I loved it so. It was like a thunderbolt: humorous, informed, culturally rich, and full of cats, just perfect. You can check her work…. https://www.instagram.com/kay_leseelleur/
With that brilliant exhibition forfront in my mind I have embraced September’s call for new starts, and joined 2 art classes. Both are in person and using hand held art materials, so I’m in heaven.
For the past 12 months whilst working hard on my illustration range I have been feeling and thinking my way into making new drawings and paintings which combine the figure (nude or clothed) and botanical themes. One of my new classes is life drawing in our fabulous local art centre in Halesworth, The Cut, Kasia Posen runs this class. The other is in the charming village hall of an impossibly pretty village called Ufford and is taught by @alicesarthouse and concentrates on Oil Painting. I’m enjoying playing again immensely.
September is Harvest too, and living in deepest darkest Suffolk I feel closer to these seasonal rhythms than before. Picking blackberries from the hedgerow, identifying the other berries, and the wildflowers too is bringing up all lots of feelings of melancholy nostalgia. My new mini language of flowers cards for this time of year Harvest Moon are going down well, I think, because they strike this peculiarly bittersweet seasonal note. Our allotment is overwhelmed with flowers for cutting especially Cosmos, Lavender and Dahlias. We've had so many that I’ve needed to brush off my floristry skills and make hand-ties for our local shops, that’s been fun. Our home grown beans and potatoes are now finished and stored, but the raspberries, carrots, beetroot, celery, spring onions, cauliflower, tomatoes and chillis are still growing strong and feeding us well.
My youngest is still a schoolboy so one of my joys and pains is still the school run. That daily 20 minute drive each way into to school through farmland and little villages gives plenty of opportunity to look and notice. I often stop and grab my phone to take pictures of the autumn magic revealed. Recently these spider webs caught me on the way home.
Finally, I love that slow stitching and knitting are back on the agenda. My dear friend Ali @oldbrewhousepottery is teaching me to knit in the round and i feeling pretty proud as my first sock is starting to take shape. And at home my own lavender makes fashioned with repurposed fabrics, the moles and owls, are also getting a look in and they amuse me as the nights begin to come closer.
I’d love to know how you are enjoying this time of year. What do you do or notice, which makes this time of year special for you?
This month I have been enjoying:
Streaming - The Blue Zones - Netflix - life practices of the very long-lived
Reading - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke - a fantastical tale of an alternate reality
Instagram - Sam Barnes