Sometimes you have to accept that a certain month will not be so good. Sadly my Mum was very poorly over Christmas and at 95, with dementia it was not looking very positive. She passed away at the beginning of January and we have just had her funeral which was a beautiful send off to a most loved Mum, Grandmother and great grandmother.
There is a sense of relief that she doesn't have to endure the horrible creeping disease anymore and that we are spared having to see her declining.
Despite this there is a terrible sense of loss and emptiness as we were very close, and it's hard to get going on anything remotely related to art work. My studio is housing quite a lot of her stuff until I get time to sort it finally and I realise I must do this, as the presence of it all in there is sapping the energy from my space.
So I say goodbye to January with a renewed spirit to get on with the rest of the year, with a lightness and being kind to myself.
Looking back on the past few years I can see how my mind was often on my Mum and her well being and last year, in particular, was very hard with me being ill on and off, trying to write my book and get ready for my solo exhibition. Emotional strain takes it toll physically for sure!
I am reading a great book called " The book of Extreme self care " by Cheryl Richardson and trying to follow some of her advice.
All the planning I was going to do in January went out of the window but I am hoping to do some workshops in late Spring and Summer.
I shall have work in the Salcombe Summer show this year and I have my mugs, tea towels, cards and so on in The Gallery @ Avon Mill.
You are always welcome at my studio, by appointment.
Take care for now, be kind to yourselves.
“To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approval of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty. To find the best in others; to give one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exaltation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—this is to have succeeded.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson