May 2020 – Keep On Keeping On

A lockdown sure makes writing a monthly blog post daunting, I am quite focused on living in the present and taking each day as it comes, but when I come to actually sit down and write a post, I’m very aware that another month has slipped by and not a lot has happened. Still, so far people I know seem to be safe and healthy, I hope anyone reading this is safe and healthy too. With all this in mind I have tried to cobble together anything that has happened during May.

Inktober 52 prompt - Elephant

Inktober 52 prompt - Bubble

Without wanting to sound like a broken record, I’m still drawing Little Mouse for Inktober 52, however I’m getting really bad at remembering to share on Instagram. I was in a nice routine where I posted every Sunday, but my routine has changed and Sunday has now turned into a lie-in day (after getting up super early on Saturday), where I make time to either read, or as has happened over the last three weeks, watch the current play being streamed by The National Theatre on YouTube, then I spend and hour or two having a video chat with my family.

The National Theatre plays have felt like a real treat. I missed the start of their showings, but I’ve managed to see Frankenstein, Barber Shop Chronicles and A Streetcar Named Desire. They have all been fantastic, I particularly loved Jonny Lee Miller as the Creature in Frankenstein, his physical acting before the creature begins to communicate with words, the use of light and sound, it was utterly mesmerising, I would highly recommend any future showings if you can catch them.

As a little distraction from mice, I also took part in a “Draw This In Your Style” contest, to celebrate The Bright Agency UK reaching 50,000 followers on Instagram. The challenge was to draw your own version of the grumpy crocodile from “Open Very Carefully” by Nicola O’Byrne. I didn’t win, I didn’t even make the shortlist, but as I’ve never had any inclination to draw a crocodile before it was something new to try (and something new is always nice when your days are blending into one), and it was good to draw something that wasn’t a mouse – for a bit – but I’ve been happy to return to the mouse…

…That was until last week, actually it had very little to do with the mouse, I just found that I was struggling to draw. I’m going to blame it on some kind of lockdown drudgery and fatigue, but whatever I touched turned out to be abysmal and it was incredibly frustrating. It was four days until I picked up a pencil to draw again, but in that time I did pick up a pen instead, and I actually jotted some stories down on paper, so maybe one creative block released another. I think it is nearly always best to just keep-on-keeping-on, create something, even if it isn’t what you were expecting.

This month we tried “mochi” for the first time. Curiosity insisted that I buy some after spotting it online, and I’m not sure what I was expecting, it was definitely more gelatinous than I thought it would be, although to be fair the description described it as “…a cross between marshmallow and bubblegum” and that is pretty accurate. I enjoyed the sesame with red bean paste filling, and the green tea with green tea paste filling was pleasant, but the shredded coconut with sesame paste filling had to be given to my husband to finish, I didn’t enjoy it at all, (although my husband preferred that one to the green tea). It was new, it was interesting, but I don’t think I’ll order more.

We also had our first two lockdown Zoom quizzes with our friends. It is so good to have a little catch up with everyone and a bit of fun. We have come last in the quiz both times so far, but maybe we will have more luck in June.

(Excuse the wrinkles, I’m not a big fan of ironing at the best of times, even more so when I’m not actually seeing anyone).

I’ve been trying not to make too many spontaneous purchases in May, I’ve successfully refrained from buying books, but I did buy two t-shirts which I have coveted for a while. They are from Rosie Johnson’s Teemill store, because I think we can all agree, we all love naps and Jessica Fletcher – what an icon! They are also made from organic cotton, and once they are old and worn out and you don’t want them anymore, they can be sent back to Teemill for recycling, amazing!

So there isn’t much else to report. Lockdown in the U.K. is currently starting to ease, although no one I know is in any great hurry to go back to how things were just yet, I think a lot of us are preparing to move forward with caution. Having said that, I think my June will be a little busier so hopefully I’ll be back in around four weeks to share anything of interest.

December 2019 -The Short, End-of-Year Round-Up

Well it is very nearly the end of 2019, very nearly the end of another decade, and I feel like I should be reflective… but I’m just not feeling it. I don’t believe in making resolutions, they always seem like promises waiting to be broken, I’m just itching to get started on 2020, no plans, lists of goals etc. I just want to start working.

Christmas has been wonderful and relaxing, we were away a whole week visiting family, but the first part of December was a whirlwind of wrapping paper and snotty tissues, as our house came down with the dreaded cold that has been doing the rounds. So as you can imagine, I didn’t get much in the way of drawing done and I’m at the point now where I’m really missing it, I need to get the house back to normal and get back into a normal routine – it sounds like I’m grumpy, I’m not, I absolutely love Christmas, I just feel like I’m in limbo right now.

We usually like to visit some Christmas craft markets as we head into December, but this year I had so many presents organised early that there didn’t seem much point, (we did go to one very briefly and it wasn’t very good), however we did go with out friends to Christmas at Kew, to walk around the light trail.

It was a lovely, magical way to spend an evening, and thankfully (as it has to be booked in advance) it was a dry night. I loved the tunnel of lights, the tunnel of hanging lights, the shards hanging from the tree-top walkway, the fire garden and the laser projections over the water.

I did start several illustrations throughout December, but these were the only two I managed to finish, using Pro-create, in front of the T.V. while watching Christmas films… I’ll complete the others in the New Year.

The first is a nod to the T.V. show Supernatural – Dean does like his pie! The second came from the urge to use specific colours, the neon orange, pink, green and purple. I had a vague idea the figures were fairies.

I also thought I’d share a couple of things I’d bought for myself once I had finished all of my Christmas shopping.

I bought this wonderfully kitsch tree decoration and awesome Jessica Fletcher pin (both made from recycled acrylic) from Rosie Johnson illustrates. I’m also hoping to buy this Jessica Fletcher illustration on a t-shirt in the future too!

I then bought these delightful zines/books from Joe Latham, they have such wonderful and gentle illustrations (and they arrived the very next day after ordering!). Do check out the links in their names if you fancy purchasing any of their work for yourself.

I admit this post isn’t much of a round-up, like I said, I’m not feeling particularly reflective, 2019 hasn’t been a bad year for me in the slightest, but I’m eager not to linger at the tail end of it either, there seems to be a slight sense of urgency in the air – I’m also very aware that the last two weeks of doing very little has left my brain a bit numb and I feel like I’ve lost the ability to structure sentences properly, I’m really struggling to type, and into Yoda, I fear, turning I am.

I’ll be back in the New Year with legible sentences (hopefully) and maybe a Christmas book haul (I have been a very lucky girl this year and have so many beautiful new books to share with you).

See you in 2020 friends.