30th june: contemplative, joyous

burning on salvaged notebook page with found writing

available in the Restless Things shop

notes: here's something much more regimented today, i usually enjoy things to be a little more rough around the edges when drawing but for this piece i liked the hard edges and straight lines of the square in contrast to the unpredictability of the burn holes...

moments

new to me

of late i'm really enjoying the saipua blog. saipua is a wonderful soap and flower shop in brooklyn and the blog, written by co-owner sarah, is a collection of personal thoughts and moments coupled with the more hectic snapshots of running a business. there are so many beautiful photographs (see above) of floral arrangements and potted plants which has been a joy to look at this summer as i dug most of our garden up in the spring (more moving house shenanigans!) and haven't been able to get my hands as muddy as i would like this year. take a look, you'll be glad you did.

28th june: buoyant

burning on salvaged notebook page

notes: in working on a more elaborate piece for several hours i realized that the only thing i liked about it was the burn holes, i quickly decided to stop there and then and start another piece with burn holes only, and in their isolation something simple and much more pleasing appeared.

in other news i keep forgetting to mention the subtle change - hands up if you noticed - this space is now 'restless-things.com'. i had been wanting to do away with the old name for some time, it was inspired by a private joke that only i got and didn't have any reference to what happens in this space. i feel much more comfy with this new name!

27th june: an offering and a sacrifice

gouache and burning on notebook page with found writing

notes: i've pretty much melted into a puddle on the floor, it's all i can do to get this piece scanned!

kitchens on my mind

via theselby.com

via amy johnson's blog

lena corwin's sneak peek on design sponge

this place has done the rounds over the past couple of weeks - the smithy

it has officially gone over 30 degrees here today and my brain has pretty much ceased all normal functioning. it is hot! all i can currently bring myself to do is look at some dream kitchens on the interweb and ponder how i will make our new one all lovely (and when i say 'new' kitchen i really mean old as the building is over 150 years old).

i'm torn between bespoke traditional fitted kitchen and cobbled together antique cabinets as there are pros and cons to both. also from the looks of it in these pics i'm really into open shelving which, let's face it, isn't the most practical of things unless you have tons of time to clean them.

there will at some point be pics (i love a good before & after post) of the new place but we're not quite there yet. let's hope i've not jinxed it by talking/thinking about it too much. back to dreaming for now...

22nd june: dance

pencil, gouache and burning on salvaged notebook page with found writing

notes: something simple today, started a couple of days ago but only made good this afternoon. i'm so not with it this afternoon after a hectic morning flogging our old junk at a car boot sale (only for the sky to turn black and on making a hasty exit discovering we had a flat tyre!) and a snooze to try and balance me out it's still all i can muster to tidy a few loose ends on some already started pieces...

20th june: a good reason

gouache and burning on notebook page with found writing

notes: a slight amendment to one of my limbering up sketches of the other day...

19th june: repercussion

gouache on hardback book page with found writing and scribble

notes: here's a new old piece, something i started working on some time ago which got sent to the 'dissatisfied' file. i came across it over the weekend and there was something about it which just made me want to carry on with it and i'm glad that i did...

moments

so much stuff! where does it all come from?!! i barely own anything anymore but there still seems to be mountains of boxes to negotiate every time i want to go in another room...

fueling this rainy afternoon in the studio...

connan mockasin

limber up

i've been getting in the drawing zone today by having a bit of a limber up and making some loose and simple line sketches to get me back in the right frame of mind. it's been tipping it down today and i've been enjoying the sound of the rain on the window and new tunes muttering in the background whilst sipping my tea and working away...

it's been so long since i've been able to sit at my desk and just draw...learning to drive and trying to move house have been totally taking over my life but there is progress on both fronts!! (news to follow) and these sketches have helped to ease my stresses today, as will a few beers later on :)

enjoy your day whatever you're up to...