New idea sketch for a painting done while volunteering at the studio! Really enjoyed drawing this and can’t wait to see it come to life!
I don’t think I’ve mentioned my latest endeavours on here, yet again I’ve been a bit slack and haven’t posted anything lately! Back in July I started volunteering for a very inspiring charity called Studio Upstairs (http://www.studioupstairs.org.uk/), whereby it offers art therapy to those recovering from mental health conditions. My time spent there really was a special time, from the people I met to the work that is produced there. I was mainly in the office helping out with admin stuff, but on my last day (more of that in a bit – I gots a new job, yay!) my manager Marcus allowed me to spend the day in the studio with the members, working on my own art and helping them with theirs. It was a lovely day, I really got to get to know some of the members (something I had missed out on previously being cooped up in the office), and it was great to get arty in such a creative environment. I love being creative in studios, there’s something about the atmosphere that feels very wholesome. It’s a very calming place, and suitably so for people suffering with mental health, which is why it’s such a wonderful charity. Most of the members there find it difficult to socialise in day-to-day environments so the studio acts as a safe place to meet other people where they won’t be judged or criticised. It was most certainly sad to say goodbye but I’ll be sure to visit from time to time to see how everybody is doing. I haven’t been in a studio since my college days and I’d forgotten how much I had missed it. This drawing was the result of the day and I feel really proud of it, it’s definitely one of the better things I have created as of late, and I can’t wait to add colour to it and make it more alive! We have just landscaped our garden at home and bought a summerhouse which I intend on converting into my own studio for the warmer months next year, but for now I am going work hard on converting our spare room into a little studio.
The new job! Well, I think it’s safe to say I am dead chuffed about this, despite having to leave Studio Upstairs. 1) It’s not Tesco (hooray!), and 2) it’s full time and working with books! Thousands of lovely books! It’s at Bookbarn International (http://www.bookbarninternational.co.uk/), and is basically what it says on the tin, a huge barn full of books set in Hallatrow, Somerset. I’ve got my first day tomorrow and am surprisingly excited, normally I would start feeling quite anxious and nervous at this point but I’m really looking forward to it, and I take the excitement as a good thing! So life has certainly picked up for me as of late, it’s been a really tricky few years, I don’t think I took to adult life very well and felt homesick for most of my time at university, always feeling like things weren’t quite right. Everyone always warns you about the big change of starting university but I in fact found leaving university the hardest part, I wasn’t expecting such a huge change in lifestyle. I think I’ve probably mentioned this before in a previous post. And then I started working at Tesco and felt completely lost and deflated. So this new job has really turned life around for me, and I really hope I enjoy it as much as I think I will.
zofbala 