Catching up on news & happenings, where did January go . . .
After my morning walk I came home grinning from ear to ear, for I discovered there are stirrings in the forest, the beginnings of bluebells and there are snowdrops down the lane. Spring is on its way & things are slowly starting to come out of their sleepy hibernation.
The darkness of January, I always find the hardest months to bear, when the light is gone & the skies are grey. It is my "Go Slow" month, I have always fought that & it has made things so much worse. So it was my personal challenge this year to be kind to myself & to wake to the year at my own pace. This year I have been hibernating too.
I have worked moments into my days when I take time out, go slow, curl by the crackling fire with cups of tea to sip, I have hunted for adventure in the delicious stories & books gifted to me at Christmas.
I have sat & watched sunlight flow into the stillness of my studio setting a myriad of sparkles dancing about the walls.
Then as February loomed, knowing my struggles with the darkness of the days, my Mr O whisked me of on a magical trip, away over sea, mountains & desert to an oasis of sunlight & colour & warmth.
Normally i choose to fill every minute of a holiday dashing about & exploring going home almost as tired as when we arrived. Apparently this was not on the list of to do's for this break!
By day three I was beginning to wonder how I would last a week. Then as if by magic something clicked & I suddenly discovered its wonderful just to sit all day, every day, to watch, read, listen to music, doodle & well just relax. Well who knew!
And loveliest of all, the creative block that has been lurking for oh so long, decided it needed a holiday too and my pencil just flew, I came home with pages filled with ideas & doodles.
I felt the stirrings of ideas beginning to form, plans starting to hatch. Those sunshiney days where just the thing to give me the boost I needed and I came home with boundless energy, a full sketchbook & plenty of mosquito bites !
The images above are the workings for an upcoming exhibition, but more of that another time.
