Hello Everyone, I hope you are well and have had a good week.
Photo: sketchbook pages from 2022
This week I went to the opticians to have an overdue eye test. New glasses on their way. If you are very short sighted like me, it is interesting to note how your short- sightedness improves as you age. My current glasses are a little too strong. I need to take care of my sight as I spend so much time working on small and detailed artworks - and yes I have worn varifocals for several years now.
And I continue to use eye drops every day. A top tip for all visual artists, indeed anyone who needs their eyes to be in the best of health (everyone) is - start using eye drops regularly, as needed, especially from your forties onwards (get advice on what to use, I am not an expert). It is so important to look after your eye health, of course, but this is not just about wearing the right glasses. Dry eyes are not good news. Since I was advised back in 2017 to start using specific eye drops my eye health has improved and I am no longer a dry eye person. I see this as a small success and will of course continue to look after my eyes.
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Linden Green
Each year at about this time, just as I can see buds on the trees, those bright signs of spring, I buy a small tube of Linden Green gouache paint; it is the only green I ever buy. I prefer to have a small selection of primary colours, along with black, white, flesh and a brown (this can vary from burnt to sienna or burnt ombre). Mixing colours is one of the many joys and challenges of painting. I have my own favourite combinations and am forever finding new ones.
Green is a colour that forever fluctuates and and multiples in shades, throughout the seasons. Linden green is a very specific colour that can be used straight or mixed in so many ways, applied as a bright lime wash or laid down in layers to create a deeper lime yellow. Mixed with flesh it tends toward gold, with indigo it becomes an emerald. I find Linden Green is just so useful and wanted at this time of year - it sings of the brighter, sunlit greens of spring and into summer.
Once I use up my one tube of Linden green that is it, for another year. It is like the Easter egg of paints - you don’t buy it all year round, or I don’t. Just the one tube and used well, not just to make greens but also to add vibrancy to other colours such as reds.
I am currently working on two little books, sketchbooks with Linden Green as their starting point - all the pages will have some but it might not be explicitly so. I realise that by making these two little books I may use up my one tube more quickly than I might otherwise, but ah well. These are books that I will often turn to when I am ending a painting session and want to use leftover paints. I work quickly, sometimes I will give myself ten minutes, or until a piece of music ends on the radio - and I have no real idea how long that is. I try my best not to fiddle and be Miss Perfect in my sketchbooks, as it is important to me to have a record of something raw and alive, playful and even accidental.
I hope to share these books again once they are complete - they don’t contain too many pages. Perhaps I will make a YouTube video (really want to make more videos). The books measure - larger one is 9cm tall and smaller is just 6cm tall. I made the books myself, very simply stitching together custom pages.
Linden Green is a colour of paint inspired by the linden tree or tilia cordata. If you are inspired to do so, you can really find yourself down a rabbit hole regarding the myths and stories associated with this gorgeous tree. Briefly, it is strongly linked to goddess mythology, particularly Venus but also the Germanic goddess Freya. It is said you cannot tell a lie whilst standing beneath a linden tree.
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Shop News
A big thanks to everyone who has purchased, placed an order over the past week. I continue to receive lucky dip orders and these keep me busy. I am also grateful to anyone purchasing postcards - I have plenty of stock at the moment.
Today, Sunday 17th March at 7pm UK time - I will be updating with a new selection of tiny paintings including portraits and a few very tiny chick paintings.
Sunday 24th March - updating at 7pm UK time - a mix of new artwork - quite possibly new embroidery - I will let you know here first!
Advance Note: I will be taking a break over the Easter weekend - so there will be no update on the Easter Sunday - I may have a Wednesday update that week.
Photo: one of several tiny portraits coming to my shop this evening
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A few small stories
I am staring at a wide row of essential oils, attempting to remember what I might need the most; I cannot buy them all. Two women are standing nearby, and have been debating the value of Frankincense, something I have always put out of reach as too expensive. I think, one of the women says, Andrea is addicted to holistic therapies. Oh Andrea, the other woman says, I think Andrea is addicted to being touched. There is a reverent pause here, as if this is an addiction worth something. They look at each other, put the Frankincense back on the shelf and leave the shop.
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I am wishing my son a goodnight when I can feel an impending cramp in my leg, so I do something like a backward walk, wriggle and jiggle to make a funny dance. Why are you doing that weird crab dance? my son asks. I like it, don’t you like my dancing? I say. If I tell him, a young man with autism, that I am feeling unwell in any way he will worry. He is used to me being silly; I am often silly. My inner child has a strong presence, at times.
My son is not so impressed by my moves: I think, he says, I think you should calm down, go to bed and read a book. I agree with him, wholeheartedly. I am grateful to him. His words have sense and love, and I shall stitch them into a sampler to hang on the wall to remind me:
Calm Down
Go to Bed
Read a Book
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A girl of about twelve, dressed in jeans over a leotard with a band in her sleek hair as if she has just come from a ballet class, is looking at a necklace on an elderly woman’s throat. They are standing together in a long queue of people waiting to pay for groceries - it’s cash only due to a technical problem so we all just have to be patient. The woman looks at the girl with a knowing eye and then the girl says: Grandma, when you’re dead, can I have this necklace?
What a thing to say! The woman says but she knew this was coming and smiles through her mock surprise. I’m not about to go just yet and I’ve not decided if I ever will! The girl looks puzzled and lets go of the necklace. But you will die, one day, won’t you? The girl asks. Grandma deftly changes the subject. Do you know who is going to be on at the Glastonbury festival this year? she asks and the girl shrugs. Shania Twain, the woman says, apparently she is a legend. I wonder what colour hair she has these days, the woman ponders. Why do you need to know about her hair Grandma, the girl asks, I haven’t even heard of her anyway. Well then, the woman says, I probably know more about pop stars than you do missy. The girl does a small pirouette away from her Grandma and stands in second position to examine a display of Easter eggs.
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My son and I go out for a coffee, as we like to do. We sit at a table and just by it is a handy row of power sockets. My son suggests I might be able to bring my sewing machine out for a coffee one day and just sit and sew - how fun would that be! He is, of course, joking and I love this. He has a twinkle in his eye when he says he would sit at the next table and pass me my coffee when I might want it. Of course there is no way this would happen, we both know I like to stitch in my own little silent cave. But I love his playful mind to think this, it means so much.
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Thanks always for reading here, for your kind comments and emails. If you would like to support my writing and sharing please subscribe, if you have not already. At the moment these notes are sent for free to all subscribers. If you would like to buy me a coffee this is greatly appreciated.
Such a lovely post to read on a Sunday morn. Thank you. Your Linden Green sketchbook pages are sumptuous, would really love to see the finished books on YouTube!!! I’m inspired to purchase a tube on Linden Green myself - such a joyful expressive colour!!!
I love hearing from you each week, feels like we are in that coffee shop ! So I bought a tube of linden green and am eager to see where it leads. Spring is definitely coming! And I’d love to see that video on YouTube as well. Among many things I am a book maker. Thanks for it all! Go read that book!