Ah love this appointment with your updates Helen! Well, usually on Sunday morning I wake up early as well as the other days, but I go for a slowly coffe and journaling. Then I prepare Ragu’ alla Bolognese for Lunch and do some house cleaning, then I go for a walk along the seashore before lunch. After lunch, and olnly on Sunday, I treat myself to a nap, also I spend the rest of the day staying with my son and maybe go out again in the afternoon with him. That’s all here in sunny Italy. See you in Bologna, can’t wait!
Yes please to chocolate trifle!! 😍 So glad you’re enjoying the comics class and HOORAY for coming back next term ❤️ - and yes it’s so true that you never capture emotion like the first drawing. See you for sensory comics next week xx
I’m about to go with my youngest to his tennis lesson and then later I’m seeing 2001 at the cinema with my eldest. In between, I’m going to prepare potatoes for tonight’s dinner and make Butterscotch Angel Delight with chopped up Mars bar (as suggested by David Tennant on the Off Menu podcast) for tonight’s pud.
My goodness, it's wonderful to read your post, Helen, and all of these responses. Makes the world feel a little bit normal. Last night I made a porcini ragu that was SO delicious. Today I am making the last tiny fixes to picture book art before sending it off to my pub. Thank goodness for art, for picture books, and for lovely community, near and far.
This morning I made lentil soup, dropped off my zines to sell at the amazing local bakery, this afternoon i might move 2 little trees in the back garden, or I might do some more Memory Mining for the Good Ship picture book course, as I keep thinking of more and more things I want to draw!
Make it (remembered the eggs but have no electric whisk so didn’t get soft peak egg whites) and hung the washing out in the sunshine while it was cooking and had it with Tesco finest custard and coffee!
Now doing some hand sewing on a quilt for my friends baby and watching some tv at the same time…
I think being therapy is a great idea when stuff isn’t crashing around you because life stuff will always be happening and talking about things in tandem to when they are actually happening can feel quite dynamic in combination with looking back at how things went in the past…
There is a book called sitting in stillness by martin wells recommended by my therapist- with an interesting chapter about that process of clients/therapists getting paired with eachother and how there’s something that can be quite unexpected and serendipitous about it.
It’s my mums birthday today, she’s coming over for tea. I still need to make buttercream for her cake and make a birthday card but I’m currently on the sofa with a sleeping dog on my feet so not moving.
i got a lump in ma throat reading your comic diary ❤️ (and in answer to your question me and E got the train to Edinburgh, bought a bath bomb, then got straight back on the train home to get into the BIG bath with said bath bomb 😆 - it was very pink. She was very happy. Mission accomplished.)
Walked the dog and finished listening to a Peter Brown interview that went right into another with Jules Feiffer (via The Illustration Dept podcast) … JF talking about when he first met Maurice Sendak); and publishing his first Children’s book at 64 … gave me inspo.
Looking forward to listening to the latest Good Ship later today.
I must listen to that, it sounds very inspiring! I love hearing about new creative endeavours later in life when we are so much more skilled - and wiser.
1 year old is having a nap. Dishwasher and washing machine are on. I was going to continue to write and set up my Substack. The laptop had an other idea… no memory left. So deleting files here. It’s almost like doing therapy when you’re not in a crisis – I’ll be benefiting from it later. And that is so true, like you wrote Helen. Me sitting here as a solo mom is the win after my years of therapy later in life.
Dreamed up a chair-ish thing and made it! I've been struggling with a seating solution for my floor desk; sitting on the floor is too low for drawing, cushions are too hard to wiggle under the desk and then I don't want to get up again and I get pins and needles in my feet. So I cut a circle out of a piece of wood, screwed some castors underneath, and plopped a cushion on top. Perfect height, and I can squirm and wiggle about. Might even do some work today, just to enjoy the set-up.
Oh sounds brilliant. Wondering what a floor desk is, do you mean literally working on the floor. I love drawing on the floor, have never really grown out of it.
I love working on the floor, I always sketch and write on the floor, but sadly that's not really Wacom compatible. I cut the legs off an old desk to low coffee table height (the internet calls it a floor desk). Really good for hip strength and mobility, no need to set aside time to do squats or any of that nonsense, I'm just doing them all day getting up and down! I'm a bit too short for most chairs, anyway, so this is much more comfortable.
Love your comic diary! Parents and loss is a theme for me as well. Also the yearning to splurge on some psychotherapy. But right now I'm home with a severe case of the sniffles. My head full of cotton makes it very cozy to work on some low-stress comics/illustration work. Despite the fine weather (Northern Germany here) I'm planning to stay in today.
I spent most of the day setting up my new Redbubble shop and then later I went for such a long walk along the coast that I felt broken afterwards!🫣 I need a rest!😆
Had a kid of struggley weekend. Made chorizo emponada thingys with garlic mushrooms and sautéed potatoes for tea (delved into a Tapas book I picked up at a local charity shop a while back!) And caught up with an episode of Pottery Showdown (we are a few weeks behind) and Episode 3 of White Lotus.
Wow that sounds intense, trying to deal with losing your parents is the worst. This weekend I went to the lost gardens of Heligan with a friend brought a drawing exercise with us so we had three colours and did quick 5 min drawings, which was fun but very cold. Today I went metal detecting it was a lovely day, met lots of lovely people and found lots of metal, one very strange piece, but lots of industrial stuff. So much fun, lots of digging.
Ah love this appointment with your updates Helen! Well, usually on Sunday morning I wake up early as well as the other days, but I go for a slowly coffe and journaling. Then I prepare Ragu’ alla Bolognese for Lunch and do some house cleaning, then I go for a walk along the seashore before lunch. After lunch, and olnly on Sunday, I treat myself to a nap, also I spend the rest of the day staying with my son and maybe go out again in the afternoon with him. That’s all here in sunny Italy. See you in Bologna, can’t wait!
I am an early riser too. And a Sundya afternoon snapper 😍
Yes please to chocolate trifle!! 😍 So glad you’re enjoying the comics class and HOORAY for coming back next term ❤️ - and yes it’s so true that you never capture emotion like the first drawing. See you for sensory comics next week xx
Looking forward to it!
I’m about to go with my youngest to his tennis lesson and then later I’m seeing 2001 at the cinema with my eldest. In between, I’m going to prepare potatoes for tonight’s dinner and make Butterscotch Angel Delight with chopped up Mars bar (as suggested by David Tennant on the Off Menu podcast) for tonight’s pud.
Big fan of Off Menu too. I used to love angel delight, but give this a go!
That pudding sounds GOOOD. I love that podcast!
Me too!
My goodness, it's wonderful to read your post, Helen, and all of these responses. Makes the world feel a little bit normal. Last night I made a porcini ragu that was SO delicious. Today I am making the last tiny fixes to picture book art before sending it off to my pub. Thank goodness for art, for picture books, and for lovely community, near and far.
Yes thank goodness for creatives making books, making ragu and all that 😍
This morning I made lentil soup, dropped off my zines to sell at the amazing local bakery, this afternoon i might move 2 little trees in the back garden, or I might do some more Memory Mining for the Good Ship picture book course, as I keep thinking of more and more things I want to draw!
That memory mining task is so good, I keep adding to my list too
Sorted the kitchen and then went to buy ingredients to make this:
https://inspiration.dipanddoze.com/2020/03/breakfast-cake/
Make it (remembered the eggs but have no electric whisk so didn’t get soft peak egg whites) and hung the washing out in the sunshine while it was cooking and had it with Tesco finest custard and coffee!
Now doing some hand sewing on a quilt for my friends baby and watching some tv at the same time…
I think being therapy is a great idea when stuff isn’t crashing around you because life stuff will always be happening and talking about things in tandem to when they are actually happening can feel quite dynamic in combination with looking back at how things went in the past…
There is a book called sitting in stillness by martin wells recommended by my therapist- with an interesting chapter about that process of clients/therapists getting paired with eachother and how there’s something that can be quite unexpected and serendipitous about it.
P.s the floor looked wonderful!
Oh I like the sound of your book recommendation, I must treat myself to a copy!
It’s my mums birthday today, she’s coming over for tea. I still need to make buttercream for her cake and make a birthday card but I’m currently on the sofa with a sleeping dog on my feet so not moving.
Ah what a lovely start to the day
i got a lump in ma throat reading your comic diary ❤️ (and in answer to your question me and E got the train to Edinburgh, bought a bath bomb, then got straight back on the train home to get into the BIG bath with said bath bomb 😆 - it was very pink. She was very happy. Mission accomplished.)
I love it, bath bombs are important, well worth trip 😂
Walked the dog and finished listening to a Peter Brown interview that went right into another with Jules Feiffer (via The Illustration Dept podcast) … JF talking about when he first met Maurice Sendak); and publishing his first Children’s book at 64 … gave me inspo.
Looking forward to listening to the latest Good Ship later today.
I must listen to that, it sounds very inspiring! I love hearing about new creative endeavours later in life when we are so much more skilled - and wiser.
Ooh a chocolate themed trifle sounds incredible. With raspberries would also be good!! Can't wait to see salty illos!
I was thinking maybe cherries 😋
YUM
1 year old is having a nap. Dishwasher and washing machine are on. I was going to continue to write and set up my Substack. The laptop had an other idea… no memory left. So deleting files here. It’s almost like doing therapy when you’re not in a crisis – I’ll be benefiting from it later. And that is so true, like you wrote Helen. Me sitting here as a solo mom is the win after my years of therapy later in life.
Ha! Yes the computer clear out has therapy parallels. Good work on the therapy and solo parenting win.
Dreamed up a chair-ish thing and made it! I've been struggling with a seating solution for my floor desk; sitting on the floor is too low for drawing, cushions are too hard to wiggle under the desk and then I don't want to get up again and I get pins and needles in my feet. So I cut a circle out of a piece of wood, screwed some castors underneath, and plopped a cushion on top. Perfect height, and I can squirm and wiggle about. Might even do some work today, just to enjoy the set-up.
Oh sounds brilliant. Wondering what a floor desk is, do you mean literally working on the floor. I love drawing on the floor, have never really grown out of it.
I love working on the floor, I always sketch and write on the floor, but sadly that's not really Wacom compatible. I cut the legs off an old desk to low coffee table height (the internet calls it a floor desk). Really good for hip strength and mobility, no need to set aside time to do squats or any of that nonsense, I'm just doing them all day getting up and down! I'm a bit too short for most chairs, anyway, so this is much more comfortable.
Oh wow, I really fancy a desk like that! Drawing in the floor is my natural tendency.
Love your comic diary! Parents and loss is a theme for me as well. Also the yearning to splurge on some psychotherapy. But right now I'm home with a severe case of the sniffles. My head full of cotton makes it very cozy to work on some low-stress comics/illustration work. Despite the fine weather (Northern Germany here) I'm planning to stay in today.
Yes stay cosy until those sniffles have gone. Get well soon!
I spent most of the day setting up my new Redbubble shop and then later I went for such a long walk along the coast that I felt broken afterwards!🫣 I need a rest!😆
Had a kid of struggley weekend. Made chorizo emponada thingys with garlic mushrooms and sautéed potatoes for tea (delved into a Tapas book I picked up at a local charity shop a while back!) And caught up with an episode of Pottery Showdown (we are a few weeks behind) and Episode 3 of White Lotus.
Wow that sounds intense, trying to deal with losing your parents is the worst. This weekend I went to the lost gardens of Heligan with a friend brought a drawing exercise with us so we had three colours and did quick 5 min drawings, which was fun but very cold. Today I went metal detecting it was a lovely day, met lots of lovely people and found lots of metal, one very strange piece, but lots of industrial stuff. So much fun, lots of digging.