Things I am doing and reading and making.

What are you doing in these strange and new times we find ourselves in. What are we all doing to stay sane, to use our time wisely and productively?

I have been working on a few projects for the library (where I work part time in the normal world) but is of course closed now until we don’t know when. I like to have the focus of these projects because they are not optional but still fun to complete, not a class I found on Instagram which I may or may not finish. Having said that I have found so much goodness on the inter webs and most of it via Instagram.

I made sourdough bread from a starter my friend shared with me and I have sown zinnia seeds given to me by the same lovely lady! It is nice to be in a time of sharing and helping, I have made some sketchbooks and given them to friends and shared novels when I finished them. I do like to think that most of us would be doing all of this anyway but somehow we are more grateful during a united unwanted situation like this pandemic.

So what have I been doing apart from making bread and planting flowers? Well I am glad you asked!

I have read ‘The Mercies’ by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, ‘The American Fiancee’ by Eric Dupont which was a monster of a book but such a wonderful story. ‘Writers and Lovers’ by Lily King is the first book I have ever read on the iPad via Hoopla Digital and I did enjoy it. I like that I had access to a shiny new release on Hoopla but I am not totally converted, there is nothing like your favourite bookmark charting your progress through a book and turning the paper pages. The next book I am about to read is also on Hoopla and is ‘The Case of the Missing Books’ by Ian Sansom which I am really looking forward to as it sounds quirky and interesting and it is set in a mobile library! There are 4 books in this series, so I hope I like them, maybe I will start to enjoy digital books.

There are lots of art classes around as well, some free, some new, some existing and some created just for lockdown creating.

Some of my favourites are Amy Maricle’s Facebook live classes which are on her Mindful Art page and well worth checking out. Jeanne Oliver offers a generous amount of free classes along with a huge array of great value classes with instruction from a variety of talented artists. A class I am very much enjoying is Misty Mawn’s Watercolour class which is cram packed with so much information, I am taking it slowly because I don’t want to miss a thing and I want to practice all the exercises and it is proving to be well worth it.

As a spin off from Misty’s class I want to make my own watercolour paints! She has a section in the main class about making your own paints which is something I have been wanted to do for a while. I have some pigment on the way and I am planning to have a go at the weekend, so watch this space!

I am always making books anyway and I am making more and more small books ranging from simple accordion books inspired by The Traveling Bookbinder to the sewn coverless books I love to make from the tutorial from Peg and Awl. These books make it easy to fill them and are not intimidating to use. I can use the paper I love for the project I am planning!