Resolve

I have made very simple New Year's Resolutions this year.

1. Go outside every day. (I know, it's the bare minimum, but I have been known to stay inside for days at a time.)
2. No screens at bed time. (The digital radio I got for Christmas is helping with this, and I've noticed a lot of benefits: sleeping better, and reading BOOKS, which I love and have missed.)
3. Draw more. (I'm not very good and I want to get better and I've got to a level of proficiency with needlework now where it's often no longer relaxing to stitch.)

I am by no means a prolific artist; having chosen embroidery as my primary medium rather rules that out. But the first drawing below, begun at an "artist's salon" with dear friends Kat and Cheri, was positively speedily turned out, at least for me.

It's also the drawing I'm proudest of since at least my A Level days. Maybe being around infinitely more talented artists rubbed off on me; maybe the steady supply of cocktails loosened me up. Either way, I'm happy with the results.

This busy drawing isn't quite so successful; maybe I bit off a bit more than I can chew. But it does feature my intention for this year; "2017 is the year of skin care and communication", which I saw as a text post on Tumblr and liked so much I turned it into a fortune cookie. I somewhat wish I'd changed communication to "kindness" but I could do with challenging myself to communicate more effectively.

The drawing is loosely self-care focused, something I've been getting awfully good at lately. For me, that means surrounding myself with greenery and flowers (or sometimes bathing in them, as these rose buds from my bath bomb indicate), drinking lots of jasmine tea, a recent obsession which helps me feel nourished and grounded, and a little superstition via rose quartz. When I was going through a rough patch years ago a friend pressed a chunk of rose quartz into my hand, telling me it was good for balance and healing. Though I felt sceptical about this at the the time, it has had a symbolic significance for me ever since, and reminds me of her, and so I keep the crystal with my house plants on my dresser.

(I always thought myself on the lower end of the "Ex-Dartington-Student-Hippy Scale", but reading this post back, it seems I haven't escaped Totnes unscathed... perhaps it's spending so much time with other Darties of late?)

Drawing

My new year's resolution for 2015 was to get over my fear of drawing. Despite going to art school, as of January 2015 I had seldom drawn since my A Levels save to sketch an outline on to fabric to be embroidered over.

Life drawings from my A Level days

The resolution got off to a slow start, with just the few sketches below completed in a very amateurish way, even with my Mum booking us both on to a four week life drawing class recently.

Below are the sketches completed solo and in collaboration with others on the four week "Mark Your Mark" life drawing class, which I heartily recommend to artists of all abilities.

These sketches are designs for screen prints, which I will share here soon.

Myself and artists Katrina Bautista and Cheri Smith have started something of an artist's salon to exchange ideas, collaborate, and draw together. The most recent session resulted in the drawing below, the first drawing I am truly proud of since my A Level days. I sometimes find being with such talented artists intimidating, but these two inspire me, and I'm really excited to share the zine we are working on together.