Sunday 19th January
Happy Sundaze :)
It’s been a very very cold week here with lots of frosts that have killed off a lot of my garden, and left me dreaming about all the things I can’t wait to grow this spring.
It truly feels like winter here now. We’ve woken up a few mornings with no electricity and the water pump frozen. Luckily I always keep a couple of jugs of water in the fridge. Living off grid has reminded me to always be prepared for living without the basics.
Last week I mentioned that I was working on a drawing for Dydd Santes Dwynwen, and today I spent a cosy Sunday drinking coffee, and then moving onto cacao, and then herbal tea, finishing it. It’s taken me two weeks and to be honest I didn’t expect to dedicate that much time to it. But I’ve gotten really absorbed into adding so many details and intricacies and I’m so happy with how it has turned out.
Some of the parts of the process of creating that I struggle with is firstly all the decision making: should I add this pattern here, does this shape here work, should I add this…? It’s all just kind of guess work, but I saw Liz Gilbert saying the other day that the most important part of creativity is curiosity, so I tried to reframe all the decisions into curiosity: what would this pattern look like here? How could I add an interesting shape here? What changes if I add this mark here? And honestly it made the whole process so much more enjoyable when it came from curiosity rather than the pressure to “make the right decision”.
And then there’s the in and out of hating then loving then hating then loving again what you’re creating. It’s really tough in the stages where you don’t like how the page is looking to keep going and keep dedicating the hours needed to finish the piece. But it’s pretty much always worth it in the end.
The light in the kitchen wasn’t particularly good by the time I finished but I’m proudly looking up at the shelf from the sofa. I regretted this morning adding such a complex pattern to the right hand corner but I think it has really grounded the drawing.
Luckily I can use mock ups where the lighting is eternally perfect.
In the next few days I’ll create a post over on instagram all about the story of Dwynwen, the Welsh patron saint of lovers, and Dydd Santes Dwynwen is celebrated on January 25th in Wales.
This drawing of Llandwyn Island is now available in my Etsy shop here.
This week my sketchbook has mostly been filled with notes from this wonderful two week workshop:
Java Bere is quite possibly my favourite person on instagram, she has a certain way of capturing the magic of story and place, so when she shared about Tell the Story of Your Home I couldn’t wait to sign up and delve in. It’s been a lot more emotional than I expected, with a deep exploration of what home means to us individually in the past, present and future versions of ourselves. And it was in the notes I was making to the prompts that I realised that this house we’re building in Portugal is now pretty much the longest I have stayed in one home, as I spent my childhood with my dad in the RAF and moving around a lot, and then my 20s shifting around from mid-Wales to North Wales to Paris and back.
It’s also had me pondering the importance of my own creative work, in how what we hang on our walls can have an impact on how we feel, and how I can create drawings that make people feel more at home. I think that’s why I delved so deeply into this drawing of Ynys Llandwyn, because it felt very personal to me to maintain a connection to my roots back in Wales and the stories of that land, and now I can have a piece of my own work that reminds me of that and makes me feel more at home.
Making a make shift desk amidst the chaos of the new cabin, with Joao peering in the window, and my current favourite corner of our in-progress home.
This week we lost the great man that is David Lynch. I remember sitting in an independent Parisian cinema around the corner from the cafe I used to work at, watching Wild at Heart with a group of friends and laughing our heads off at the absurdity of the lipstick scene. It wasn’t until last year that Iwan and I binged watched Twin Peaks after I’d had a request to make a drawing of Agent Cooper. What a hole has been left in the world without him, but as he famously said:
“Keep your eye on the donut, not the hole.”
And if there’s one thing I love, it’s donuts. Especially with a damn fine cup of coffee.
This month we have been watching The Traitors on the BBC. I get way too involved and sometimes wake up at 3am thinking about it. It’s so clever, though probably not the best for watching before bed. Anyone else watching it? I’ve also seen there’s a US version so might have to watch that next.
I wanted to keep track astrologically and with the moon in these Sundaze papers, so I hope you won’t mind indulging me, and I also share in the hope that you might find it as useful as I do. The sun has just moved from Capricorn into Aquarius. This last month I’ve been focusing on the energy of Capricorn, which I chatted a bit about last week.
As we move into Aquarius I’m going to be thinking about experimentation, creativity, and authenticity. I’ll let you know how it goes :)
This week we’re going to hopefully be adding the interior walls to the new cabin and I’m hoping to work on a logo design for a dear friend of mine.
I shall leave you here to enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
So much Love,
Carissa
