“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke
Ahhh, what a relief it is to be in the grips of Spring! Winter felt long this year. It's not that I greatly dislike the cold (and really, it doesn't get that cold here), it's just that this winter was heavy with bad news and worry, and adjusting to life in the midst of a pandemic. It was a strange old time of it, and though I am fortunate and blessed here in my creative bubble, there was no denying the weight of trouble in the world. This was a winter of cocooning, of slowing right down, of reexamination, introversion, retrospection and yes, adjustment. But now I'm shaking that off because it is Spring and the world around me is bursting with life and sunshine! Our resident water dragons have emerged from their winter slumber and have started doing their morning laps in the pool. I have found disused birds nests on the ground (a sure sign of spring!), and my garden is in full bloom. We have spent recent weekend days by the sea or in the mountains and we even bought a BBQ for upcoming warm weather weekends (after three past summers of wondering why we don't have one!). Yes, Spring, I am so happy to greet you this year!
In the studio I am still working with pen and ink, drawing whatever takes my fancy on any given day. I have been quite enamoured with fungi lately after watching a documentary on how fungi rules the world! Truth be told I've always had a thing for mushrooms and my phone is filled with photographs of different mushie friends I've discovered on walks. They have popped up in my work a number of times in the past too. But when I recently started researching mushrooms more seriously I discovered a whole fantastical world of weird and wonderful shapes, colours and forms - I couldn't help but put pen to paper with them as my focus. I've been working on the piece below for several days now and I'm close to finishing it. I've so enjoyed putting the world of mushrooms down on paper and I know I'll definitely be drawing more.
Apart from that I've been reorganising the way I deliver my work to the world. I've really wanted to get this blog rolling since I started it, and though I post a handful of times every year, I'd like to pay it more attention and aim for a weekly or fortnightly post. The plan is to spend less time on social media and more time on blog posts and newsletters. I've ordered a phone -stand-thing so that I can record videos of my work and little 'how to's' as well as a few e-courses. Won't that be fun? I'm excited to get the ball rolling on that over the warmer months. So stay tuned! 😃
In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying these warmer days (or cooler days if you're in the northern hemisphere!). I wish you lots and lots of love and good vibes wherever you are.
