Celebrations, festivals, moments of pause...

...& a little fun!

“after John Donne’s ‘A Nocturnal on St Lucy’s Day”

At midday on the year’s midnight
into my mind came
I saw the new moon late yestreen
wi the auld moon in her airms
though, no,
there is no moon of course –
there’s nothing very much to speak of anything to speak of
in the sky except a gey dreich greyness
rain-laden over Glasgow and today
there is the very least of even this for us to get
but
the light comes back
the light always comes back
and this begins tomorrow with
however many minutes more of sun and serotonin.

Meanwhile
there will be the winter moon for us to love the longest,
fat in the frosty sky among the sharpest stars,
and lines of old songs we can’t remember
why we know
or when first we heard them
will aye come back
once in a blue moon to us
unbidden

and bless us with their long-travelled light.”

Liz Lochhead

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I’ll admit to not being familiar with St. Lucy’s Day, so had to do some research…discovering that it’s held on 13th December; a Feast day to commemorate St. Lucia, an early 4th Century martyr. In Scandinavian countries ‘Festivals of Light’ are held, heralding the beginning of the Christmas period…bringing hope and light during the darkest time of the year.

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And next week, we celebrate the Winter Solstice:

“The Winter Solstice is the time of ending and beginning, a powerful time -- a time to contemplate your immortality. A time to forgive, to be forgiven, and to make a fresh start. A time to awaken.”

Frederick Lenz

Is it just me, or does the year(s) seem to rush by more quickly now…? Or is that just our perception as we get older…

I’m trying to take time, in the busy rush up to Christmas, to savour those liminal times; sunrise and sunset. Magic seems to linger in these moments. Five minutes spent watching dark velvet nights melting into apricot sunrises or evenings, where the sky turns lavender and blush pink before the stars twinkle once more, is just what’s required to get perspective, to settle me, to help me find my place. A moment of stillness…

Seijaku (say-jah-koo) | Japanese: Profound stillness and peace found in moments of solitude and quiet reflection. Seijaku reminds us that solitude isn’t loneliness; it’s a sacred space for self-discovery and renewal.

But it also wouldn’t be Christmas without a little fun…so here goes:

• C is for charcoal. Every so often, when I feel I’m getting a little predictable, always reaching for my favourite inks or brushes, I’ll grab some charcoal. I love it’s soft, expressive qualities…

  

  Charcoal Drawings...

  (See these in more detail on my website…)

• H is for heart. This quote by Anna Pavlova certainly holds true for me:

  “Where there is no heart there is no art.” If I’m not feeling it, if I’m just going through the motions, I know that I won’t be happy with anything I produce!

• R is for ‘Rediscover - Re-connect - Re-emerge’, a fabulous Substack offering by David Barton, on living more slowly, intentionally and in tune with the seasons…

• I is for ink. Inks must be one of my favourite mediums; I love their fluidity and ability to create a contrast of washes - I just love ‘Playing around with Inks’!!

• S is for sketchbooks. Fat ones, thin ones, landscape or square format - I love them all, and if you don’t believe me, take a look at this short ‘live’ video I did a while ago…

• T is for Turner - JMW, in case you were wondering. One of my favourite paintings, Turner creates such fabulous energy and atmosphere; I feels as if I’m right in the middle of the storm, being tossed this way and that…

  

  Snow Storm - Steam-boat off a Harbour’s Mouth - JMW Turner (Tate, London)

• M is for mark-making. There’s something so delicious about making marks; large ones, small ones, thin ones, fat ones… And what’s your favourite tool?

  

• A is for Art Graf; again, a favourite material of mine. It’s so useful to take out sketching as it can be used both wet and dry, and can create a variety of marks. And here’s me faffing around with some!

• S is for Substack. I did toy with ‘Social Media’ - it’s not all bad is it - but Substack won out because, over this year especially, I’ve come to realise I really enjoy writing these posts and the community we’re creating here!

And if you would really like a laugh, then click to watch ‘The Secret Collage Agent!’

Enjoy!!

Until next time, happy painting!