Gently Does It...

I'm easing myself gently back into my work this week after that lovely Christmas holiday.  My daughter has gone back to school and the house seems ominously quiet, so yesterday I busied myself with a spot of de-cluttering, starting with my bedroom which was anything but a peaceful sanctuary for sleep and more like a dumping ground for Homeless Objects and outgrown baby toys.

I unearthed quite a few half finished paintings which I sent for recycling (sometimes you just know they're never going to be anything else other than half finished), and discovered a stack of canvases and mounts I'd forgotten all about.  I also found a new home for my fabric stash, which up to now has been stored rather untidily in a pile of carrier bags but is now folded into neat piles in a drawer.

I must confess, I was rather ruthless in my de-cluttering.  There was a heck of a lot of stuff that got thrown out or put in the recycling bin and I was shocked at the amount of junk I'd managed to accumulate.  There's a huge pile of books and clothes for the charity shop, and a local childcare centre will be the new home for some of the baby toys which we'd hung on to.  Once I'd finished the hard graft, I burned some delicious essential oils to bless the room if you like, and it really did feel very fresh and new again.  Last night I had the best nights sleep I'd had in ages, uninterrupted and full of lovely dreams.  Waking up to see a little jug of flowers sitting on a vintage embroidered mat was heaven I can tell you.



I find the helpful advice of the Flylady to be superb in all things to do with keeping house, so if you're feeling the itch to Spring clean, check out her website.  Another great resource if you don't naturally lean towards chores and the like is this book, Housework Blues by Danielle Raine.

Having a gentle week pottering and decluttering (which is such a marvellous thing to do as opposed to throwing yourself head first back into normality) has found me digging through my paintings and sketch books, and a painting I started work on way back last year is now resurfacing.  It's called The Apple Pickers (the picture at the top of this post) and I'm really pleased with how it's coming along.  You can just about make out the figures if you look carefully, as well as a veggie patch and a greenhouse.  This painting is an acrylic on paper and will be part of my solo exhibition at the Studio 61 Gallery in May this year.  I've also got a lovely idea for a box canvas, which I'm going to start work on next - again it's a coastal themed piece but I'm going to be introducing an element of collage to it.

Something I've been longing to do for a while now, but never made the time for previously is the creation of an online art workshop.  I've finally got around to ordering myself a nice tripod for my camcorder, so that I can start making some tutorials.  I'm also planning a fully illustrated e-book to accompany the course, and am hoping to release this in the next few months.  I'll keep you posted on this as things progress.

Before I go, I have to introduce you to a new resident who's come to live in our little home.



Meet Muffin.

Muffin is a Sheltie guinea pig (one of those with the soft, long hair) and the most adorable little chap you could ever wish to meet.  For the last few months we have been 'umming and 'ahhing about having a pet, but finally relented and went to get him on Saturday.  It was a huge surprise for our little girl who had been pleading with us for ages to let her have something furry to care for.  We are all enchanted by him, his little squeaks and bouts of popcorning (the ecstatic leaps into the air, apparently done when extremely happy) have rendered us helpless with delight.  I can't quite imagine life without him now, he's definitely part of the family.

I'll be back soon, with some news about a new crochet project I've started.

Thanks for visiting,

Red Shoes

There comes a point in your life when you have to indulge in a deep longing; we all have them, our own deep rooted longings and mine happened to be Red Shoes.
I can recall when my fascination with red shoes began too, it was many moons ago when I was a child and saw the famous film 'The Red Shoes' where the beautiful Moira Shearer danced her socks off in a pair of the most captivating red ballet slippers I'd ever clapped eyes on.


Now 38 years young, I decided it was high time to indulge one of my lifelong whims; no, I'd never be Moira Shearer but I could and would find a pair of bright cherry red shoes which would delight and excite that little inner ballerina of mine.


And I did.


I cannot begin to describe the joy as I opened the box - I happened upon something of a bargain too as this pair cost far less that it should have!

And of course, you can't wear red shoes with boring old socks, no that would never do!  Stripes are the order of the day, and each time I glance down at my feet I feel absolutely ditzy with glee!! Red Shoes and Stripes!!!! Hurrah for indulgence!!


*A little note on indulgence, in case you think it's completely frivolous and unnecessary:  I'm reading the fabulous Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, who observes that the days are long but life is short.  How right she is too!  I've really begun to think about how I spend my time and live my life - how to inject more Happy Moments into it and live as fully as I can in every moment - it's proving to be an interesting project. 

I'm not really a person for blowing huge amounts of moolah on clothing or footwear; to be honest if I ever go shopping for myself it's usually clothes of the smaller size that end up coming home with me for my daughter!  Reading her book gave me a bit of a permission slip to do something for me - and it's quite difficult to be honest, when you're used to mostly doing stuff for everyone else.


Talking of doing stuff, I've decided to tackle the over-cluttered chaos that is my house.  Gretchen's book also covers an inspiring section on de-cluttering and oh my, if anywhere needs it, it's my house!  My bedroom, which by rights ought to be a sanctuary of relaxation and tranquil surroundings is currently more akin to a charity shop, piled up with old baby toys, books and clothing.  It has become a veritable dumping ground for Things That Don't Have a Home or are no longer useful or useable.  Going to bed in this chaos has long been a bit of a nightmare, and I've put off tackling it due to the sheer enormity of the task.  This is just one corner:

I was also more than delighted to stumble upon this post by dear Lucy over at Attic 24, and this one here at Domesticali.  Heartily inspired, I ordered the book Ali wrote about and got busy reading.
Things now seem achievable, and I'm actually feeling pretty positive about getting stuck in.  I've already made a start, and have three large bags to give away to charity shops from Just ONE CORNER (not that one above either, another one!)  It sounds horrendous, it is - was, but I'm getting there, in just 15 minutes a day which is mightily do-able in my scheme of things!


I will share a picture of this corner when I've tackled it - rather than seeing it as a nasty chore, I'm trying to adopt the attitude of Home Loving instead and it does seem to slightly increase the feeling of wanting to keep it nice rather than not.


Right, that's me for now - I have a date with my wee girl to go and find a big pumpkin this afternoon, so we shall venture out into the grey gold wet day that has descended upon our corner of South Yorkshire and go hunting for a good one.


Sending you love, 
Julia x x x


**Edited to add - the shoes I got are these ones by a company called El Naturalista :)