Summer Nights : 26th June 23
Sleepless nights / 100 Days project/ Neighbourgood Market / Caravan / July calendar Download
Well, how are you?
What’s going on…? All of a sudden it seems like there’s a lot happening, so much so that a few nights ago I was lying wide awake in bed most of the night with my mind in overdrive. Eventually, I got up at 4.30 am and worked in my sketchbook for a while which calmed my thoughts down. Early rising is very out of character, I’m a sleepy head and am rarely awake before 8 am. It was such a beautiful still morning though, even the cats were asleep, and being so close to the Summer solstice everything was bathed in the orange glow of sunrise.
It brought back decades-old memories of the early hours, experienced another way; of dawdling back home, across the city, after spending hours in pubs and dancing non-stop in clubs, ears buzzing and earworms humming, emerging into the 4 am daylight when it was hard to tell if the world was out of step with me or I was out of step with the world, and all the sensible people were safe, asleep in their beds… a mixture of drunken melancholy and elation that will never be repeated. June always was my favourite month. I’m one of the sensible people now.
Off on a tangent again! But I do love early mornings on the rare occasion I see them and if it was possible to choose, I’d be an early bird. How about you?
The #100DaysProjectScotland2023 is just over a quarter of the way through already. I’ve been enjoying my project #100DaysToLearnArtTechniques although predictably I’ve missed the odd day. I’m not letting that deter me from carrying on because my goal is to try out as many techniques as possible to shake up my art practice. I’ve been doing a different technique every day, which might not prove to be sustainable for the next 75 but so far my favourites have been sgraffito, mono printing, impasto, stenciling, imprints, and using oil pastels as a resist for inks. I’m sharing these daily experiments on Instagram if you want to follow along.
On the 15th of July, you’ll find me at the Neighbourgood Market in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. This is the first fair I’ve done in years so I thought it was about time I got myself out there and dipped my toe in the water of selling face-to-face again. I’m excited but also a little nervous. I have enough stock but will need to put some thought into the display and need to update all my packaging with my new logo.
I think the cat’s out of the bag now, so I can reveal that my ‘not-shed’ is a 1961 Eriba Troll caravan, similar to this one. It’s still at the body shop being painted and there’s some groundwork to do before it can be situated at the bottom of the garden. It will also need a fair bit of restoration work but I really can’t wait to have a dedicated painting space. Expect to see a lot of pictures when it arrives!
Since July is only a few days away I’ve uploaded a new calendar wallpaper to ko-fi for you to download. I’ve gone for some midcentury kitch but the message is a good one…a nice boost of confidence every time you open up your laptop! And don’t we all need that sometimes…? You Are Fabulous is also available as an A5 print which is available here - a great gift for a best friend, or a gift to yourself because, you know…You are Fabulous!
A happy new week to all of you, whether you’re a night owl or an early bird!
Julia x