Journal
Every year, I hit the same challenge, without fail. I’m going to call them The February Greys – it’s sort of like the blues, only it’s naming the colour of the British sky during this longest, shortest month. I know I’m not alone in this, and yet, I *suspect* other, more sensible folk, plan ahead…
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I’m in my (temporary winter) studio today. Beside me, on the table, there’s a cup of hot Lemon & Ginger tea, I’ve lit a candle and I’m gathering my tools: today it’s a mix of pens, pencils, sketchbook, Apple Pencil and iPad as I’m working on a client commission for an upcoming book. This setup…
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I have a lovely end of year review process, that in the last few days of 2023 I was lucky enough to be able to carry out in a little two day retreat my friend Charlotte and I managed to book for ourselves. Tucked away in a cozy cottage in the New Forest, accompanied by…
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Delicate Ideas The best thing to do is walk forward,tiny steps not gigantic great leaps.The net will always appear my lovebut pressure makes the muse weep. Be careful who you share nascent work with,the wrong person can quash an idea.Choose gentle, calm and loving friendsones who understand bittersweet fear. The heroine’s journey’s a circleyou will…
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On the studio table at the moment, for the past few weeks, my ipad has been open and progress has been being made, one little step at a time, on a book idea that I’ve had for no less than 6.5 years… Back when my eldest, now 8, was just two years old, I left…
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Poses from children’s yoga book Brenda the Busy Bee, written by Louise Lynott, illustrated by me, Alexia Pinchbeck Back to the blog and writing again, you’ll hear much reference to stretching below. Stretching my writing/blogging/newslettering muscles. Stretching – literally. More on that later. And stretching – figuratively – as I start to (slowly and gently…
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I’m curious, do you think of envy as being ‘bad’? Something you ‘shouldn’t’ feel? An attack of the green-eyed monster can make us feel mean and hideous, but what if instead we chose to look at it as , a green alarm: *FOGHORN ALARM opportunity for learning here! FOGHORN ALARM*? Envy can be a flashlight…
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There are ebbs and flows to my creative practice but, there is no doubt about it, when it becomes a daily habit, the ideas flow so much more easily than when I only turn up to the page every once in a while. Recently, after finishing my second book, Penelope and Frida and the Mystery…
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How good are you at resting? Not picking up your phone, not cleaning, not tidying, not ringing a friend, not listening to a podcast, not listening to an audiobook… I mean really, truly kicking back and doing absolutely nothing. It’s hard, particularly these days, I believe, to get deep rest. Many of us resort to…
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We are officially in Autumn. But I’ve been in winter for at least a month. What am I talking about? What I mean is that my creativity has been wintering. It started with the boys being off for summer holidays for about six weeks, during which time my ability to get into the studio and…
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