photo: recent sketchbook pages
Hello, hope you are keeping well during this strangely sunny period called summer. It is so dry here in my part of the south of England and with no rain forecast our desert garden lawns shimmer like sandpaper. Unless watered, flowers shrivel before they can feed insect life. This morning my son and I were woken early by the smell of smoke wafting in to the house. My first thought was that there may be a fire in our beloved park, but it seems now it was smoke drifting from further afield, perhaps an early morning bonfire.
The dry weather puts you on alert and has knocked my equilibrium, just a little. I continue to work but must pace myself, as burn-out has happened before and is not worth reaching. No holiday - like so many others I can’t afford to pay rent twice - but my little family and I always value our little trips out and time just spent together. It is a simple life: no car, basic necessities, making do. But I still feel incredibly fortunate to have this creative life and to make a living.
Many of us are planning ahead to the colder months and this helps to get through a hot day. I am thinking already of autumn landscapes and winter scenes. But I am also mindful of how the cost of living is impacting us. With this in mind, I am going to have to start asking a little more for my work. I have always taken pride in pricing my work modestly - I simple try to make a living at it - but I need to be realistic and to also respect the amount of skill/time/originality that goes into what I make. There will be no immediate price hikes and I do not wish to put anyone off from buying from me. Of course I am anxious about it. I think you know that I do offer you my very best, with a lot of heart and thoughtfulness. Thanks for understanding.
These studio notes are a way for me to give something to anyone interested and for free. So with that in mind, I want to remind you that I will continue to offer all my posts to everyone who wishes to subscribe. If there is a topic, area of my work, theme etc.. you would like me to explore here please just leave a comment or send an email with your suggestions.
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In 2011, I put together a zine titled ‘Neighbourhood’ - I know that some of you bought this one and I hope you enjoyed it. If you did not see it here are a few photos:
above photos: a zine I published in 2011
The zine was a made up of a series of paintings and drawings, exploring ideas of neighbourhoods I have known/lived in. Neighbourhoods of stories and dark imagination. It was quite a moody thing and I loved putting it together!
Now, eleven years on, I am working on Neighbourhood (2022) - a new zine. It too will be colour and feature a series of paintings. I know it will be different but how different is yet to be discovered. I think possibly there will be more colour involved.
Putting a zine together allows me to present a project as ‘one’ - and to explore ideas that are a little different from my main output. I enjoy the possibilities and yet have been constrained in the past by home printing and the time that goes into it all. However, I hope now that professional printing is becoming more available/affordable to me, I can make ideas come to life.
A zine is a great way to showcase a creative person’s work and to reach out to a wider audience. It is an ‘affordable’ way to support and collect, share and enjoy. I know in the past people have purchased several copies of a zine to give to friends, whilst also they have taken pictures from pages to frame. This is all fine with me!
I am also editing a poetry zine - which is something I have hinted at yes for ages! But yes, I have decided that rather than put out my new zines one at a time, I would launch a few together. This makes sense to me because I can then offer combined postage/shipping and also make a greater impact. You might not be interested in every zine I make, but at least I can offer you choices.
All this said, here for now is one of the paintings that will be in the new neighbourhood zine:
photo: a new painting to feature in my upcoming zine: neighbourhood (2022)
I am aiming to launch my new zines toward the end of September.
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short notes from the past few weeks
In the post office queue, a woman turns to me and asks if I have been or am going on holiday. She tells me the airports are all so chaotic it’s put her off. Her son, a teacher, took a group of students to Poland and they all lost their luggage. ‘Fancy, they all had nothing - he had to go out and buy underwear for x number of teenagers. In Poland!’ I can only imagine how stressful this must have been, knowing how particular teenagers can be etc.. Weeks on and no luggage ever materialised. I tell the woman I am not going on holiday and she tells me this is ‘quite sensible’.
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My daughter and I decide to walk through the park into town, visit the library and have a small treat of coffee and cake. When we leave the house is is pleasantly warm, with a breeze. Halfway through the park and we have hit a baking zone. The heat is exhausting. We take a break, sheltering beneath a tree for its cool shade. I thank the tree, patting its trunk, in a half-hearted manner that makes me neither a tree-hugger or any cooler. A young woman strides by, hears me talking to the tree and hastens on. I decide it is finally time to take off my cardigan…. Summer is nearly always cardigan weather, isn’t it? Not this summer.
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The grapevine is growing and thriving in the heat. It is the greenest thing in the garden. I stand in my upstairs bedroom and watch the tendrils of the vine tapping on the outside windowsill. I know maybe I should cut it back but I want to see how tall it can get. I want it to be tapping at my window. There are many grapes forming on the lower vines - these will be for the birds. I will sketch them, when they arrive for their feast, later this autumn into winter.
photos: the vine reaching up to my bedroom windows
and below: a painting of grapes from the garden 2017
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Thanks always for reading here, for your thoughtful comments and for subscribing. If you would like to support these notes you are welcome to buy me a coffee - it really does help, thanks to all for your continued support.
I think pricing work is one thing most artists struggle with, the balance of wanting it to be accessible whilst also having to make a living is tough. . I definitely think you need to raise your prices. Your work is so lovely, you shouldn’t undervalue it. Looking forward to seeing your zine.
Another lovely post, Cathy. Thank you always for the generous nature of your spirit. It takes a good amount of time and thought to put something together like this, as you do, something many people don’t realize. The sketchbook painting of neighborhood houses sets my mine to imagining what this coming autumn will be like, how it will feel after such an overheated summer. Days will be shorter, which actually makes me
get more things done; the earlier evenings will have me eating at a normal hour, with more time after dinner to do as i please. i wonder if my own palette will change along with the season?
Never apologize for the need to adjust your pricing. The economy is knocking us sideways; supplies are more difficult to get, food prices have skyrocketed. We all understand; you need not fret.
i still have a poetry booklet you created in 2010 - a lovely piece of artwork in itself, with beautiful words that show bits of you and your life in reflections, mists, and ‘round the corner views. You are a very private person, outwardly quiet and shy, yet you share much of your heart through your art.
As for cardigans in summer? Never, here!! the problem here in the south of US is the drenching humidity, where perspiration refuses to evaporate and leaves me drenched after even the shortest of walks.
Wishing you a peaceful and cooler week xo