Projects
- Scribbles in the Margins of LifeI used to love art at school like a lot of people. The battle with confidence and the euphoria of success I felt during those classes has stayed with me. Something poignant I remember one of my art teachers saying too, "stop drawing in the corners of your pages. Draw right in the middle, and bigger. Be bold". Maybe a standard piece of advice for budding artists, but it rang true for my life, and helped me try and shuffle away from the edges. Even the room was special - incredibly high ceiling, beautiful art everywhere, paint splattered boards, and large windows looking out over the tops of trees. Washing brushes and boards at the huge farm-kitchen sink you could see a small courtyard when the trees would have blossom in the spring. The class was full of very talented people. I sat next to a particularly gifted girl and shared her ipod during the better lessons. There is a strong longing i hold for that classroom - those serene hours of music mixed with art.
- Keeping the Heart LightBeing diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety isn't really a great surprise - or a great help. I've been on the NHS waiting list for talking therapy for 3 months already, and thing decline rapidly when nothing is really improving. Things really fell apart last week, as for the first time ever I had to actually use unpaid sick leave to stay at home and try to get better. It is a low point being ill, but it is a lot harder when that illness is taboo. If I mention it was a mental health crisis, my colleagues will think I am unstable and about to flip out, or that I am being a "dramatic woman". I am thankful for the support I have in my partner, family, and friends. Immeasurably so. But the extra things I can try without them make me feel less like I am weighing them down. Those things are music and sketching. Thank creation for pen, paper, and the radio.