Your community is waiting

Cup of sun in the studio

The sun is shining through the window and onto my face. Daffodils smile at me from the jar on the table and I have a dreamy Hermanos Gutiérrez song on repeat on my big headphones. I sway to the music like a reed in water. 

Yesterday, I walked out the door and into the sun. I surveyed the pots in my garden - Daffodils, Muscari, Tulips, and Hyacinth all greeted me. The Lilac is preparing to leaf. I left my wee haven and walked on through the neighbourhood past the art school where two women were working on a large piece outside. I saw the shopkeeper who sells plants chatting with passersby. I walked on to the library where the friendly librarians answered my questions and cheerfully assisted me in my research. I left with two books, new information, and a spring in my step. I walked down the road past the glass artist working in her studio window and then on to the wee grocery, where we talked about celebrating the sun, enjoying our days, and the pleasures of good food. And then after being out in my neighbourhood for a couple of hours I walked back home. On my way, I shared a laugh with a young man enjoying a drink outside, and I found some street treasure. 

Street treasure: A box of 100 Flower Postcards from the Royal Horticultural Society

Later in the day I hit the neighbourhood streets again to visit my friends at their open studio event and met their friends too. We all had spirited conversations peppered with shared laughs and commiserations about art, life, and the way of things. I think alliances were forged or at least a recognition of kindred spirits. It was a good afternoon that turned into night. I left with art, new information, and again with a spring in my step.

It was a wonderful day full of everything I value and believe in. It was the type of day I dreamed about as a child when I played with my Fisher Price Village, read a Richard Scarry book, or watched Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood on PBS. We can never underestimate the power of community connection and interdependence.

Written on my studio wall: 

Protect your peace. Say No.
Say Yes to Art, Movement, Nature, and Community.
Create your world now, not later. 

So go outside and be weird, be awkward, be ridiculous, laugh loudly, say the wrong thing. Disappoint people. Find the people who won't be disappointed. Ask for help. Be vulnerable. Your one wild and precious life and your community is waiting.

Thank you for being part of mine

Make the time

After last week's celebrations. It was back to work with good amounts of rain, wind, and strong bursts of sun. I tracked the light as it danced around the flat. I also developed a photographic relationship with an Amaryllis as it came into bloom. 

I wrote in my journal on the 11th of March:

There is potential in all of us under the right conditions and if we are shown care and patience. 

I have had this Amaryllis bulb since late November (with the idea of forcing it for Christmas). Even after following the directions on the box there remained no life. I was about to give up on it, thinking it was a dud.

Inspired by seeing my mother's blooming Amaryllis over our video calls, I decided to try a few different tactics to encourage it to thrive. Low and behold it started springing to life in February and now it has bloomed. It is outrageously beautiful. 

Sometimes the rules/directions need breaking or changing because they don't apply to the subject. We can gently persevere with patience and care. We can ask what is needed. This Amaryllis needed extra support and it needed more time - it would not be forced.

The flower is an oracle and teacher. 
Make time to listen. 
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The world is a mess and I am glad you are here, sharing your gifts. Take care until next week.

Celebration, memory, and world building

I will make a new world with your rubbish

It's my Birthday weekend here at the Studio Blog. 

I think I started celebrating last Friday with my "Good Morning" painting as it was a wonderful gift to myself in action and result. I have enjoyed being greeted by my painting each morning since. 

On Tuesday I spent all day in my garden tackling an ancient vine because I was inspired by a piece of discarded fencing that had been catching my eye for months. I had a vision and knew what I needed to do. There is nothing I like more than finding something discarded and creating a new world and home for it. It is the ultimate thrill and mix of creativity and gumption. I ended up reworking my whole garden due to someone's rubbish. Both the day in the studio painting something full of joy for myself out of an "old bastard" of a painting and creating a pot stand out of someone's rubbish are examples of decisive action and world building. Two things that I thrive on and want more of. A great way to celebrate my life and understanding of how I best operate within it. 

Paul Gauguin, Vision of the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel), 1888

Continuing on the themes of celebration and world building, I took myself out to the National Gallery of Scotland on a quiet Wednesday morning. I decided to take my time and scan several of the audio descriptions of the works around the gallery. I enjoyed being still and listening to various scholars tell me the hidden insights of the paintings in the collection over my earbuds. It was a luxurious treat to really look at the paintings with new purpose and fresh eyes. 

I especially enjoyed the audio descriptions of the following pieces: 

Leonardo da Vinci, The Madonna of the Yarnwinder, about 1501
Attributed to Grifo di Tancredi, The Death of St Ephraim and Scenes from the Lives of the Hermits, About 1280 - 1290

Diego Velázquez, An Old Woman Cooking Eggs, 1618

Sir Anthony van Dyck, The Lomellini Family, about 1625 - 1627
Vincent van Gogh, Orchard with Apricot Trees in Blossom, Arles, 1888

Paul Gauguin, Vision of the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel), 1888

I highly recommend the self-guided audio tours. 

Later that day I was surprised with a lovely art opportunity (more on that later, but it felt like a birthday gift in itself.) 

Dad in the 1970s, Charcoal on cardboard

On Thursday, it was the one year anniversary of my father's death. I listened to Dave Bruebeck. I thought of my father and meditated on our relationship and it felt very meaningful and cathartic. I spent some time looking at photographs and studying his face and decided that I wanted to draw him. It was such a good and meaningful way to spend time together again. The tears and memories flowed. I love and miss you, Dad. 

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For my birthday on Friday, I had a lovely day out with my dear friend Julia. There was sunshine and a lovely walk up Calton Hill to survey the city, followed by a delightful lunch of tacos. Then we were on the hunt for the best cake with a view which we found. Afterwards, as we walked on, we encountered a street scene featuring a brass band and spontaneous street singers. It really couldn't have been much better.

It was a beautiful day full of friendship, community, and a dash of magic. I went to sleep tired and grateful. 

Thank you for spending time with me as I continue to celebrate. I hope wherever you are that the flowers are blooming and there is music in the air. 

Until next week, keep fighting - the world needs you. 

Why so serious?

Good morning, mixed media on canvas, 100x150cm © 2026 Megan Chapman

Oh, I know why I am serious. However, sometimes I do need to shake it up and rebel against myself and my "better" judgement. Sometimes, I need to have an opposite day.

I have a deep love and a deep hate of routine - I desperately need routines to help me feel productive and centred but I also need to have a more "organic" and "go with the flow" attitude. When my routine becomes too restrictive for too long, my brain will scream at me, like John Locke from LOST - "Don't tell me what I can't do!" This is a  constant and exhausting battle.

So that's where "opposite day" comes into the mix. I will eat the opposite types of food, drink the opposite types of drinks, move my routine around, or do something I haven't done in a long time. Or be a little less rigid with my own deadlines and plans. Or my goal will be to purposely do something badly that I usually do well.

How this manifested on Friday was that I went to the corner market and bought two Dr. Peppers (this used to be my favourite soft drink when I was a teenager). I don't drink soft drinks these days very often. These Dr. Peppers signal a change in plan and the brain knows we are about to have some fun!

Anyway - I knew I wanted to paint over an old bastard of a painting and I wanted to make something cheerful, in the realm of decor and just for myself (opposites). I wanted to fill a blank wall in my bedroom. 

I also wanted to dance, jump around, and sing. Fueled by my two Dr. Peppers and some nutritional yeast covered popcorn - that's exactly what I did. Music flowed through my big headphones and as I kicked into the air, I was free! 

I covered the large canvas in layer after layer of paint, writing and crossing out words. I faced the painting like a child at a chalkboard at primary school- writing, "I will not worry" over and over again, crossing and painting it out. Later my carefully looped letters wrote, "I will have fun" in white pencil over the pink paint, again to be partially erased and painted over.  As I painted, I danced, sang, and kicked.

I will not worry

I will not worry

I will have fun
I will have joy

I sang along to an old Bad Religion song: 

"Hey, everybody's looking but they never can see
All the angst, corruption and the dishonesty
Look around and ask someone if you are alive..."

Kick, Jump. Paint, Repeat. 

I will not worry
I will not worry

I will have fun
I will have joy

And at the end of a long high energy day, I had created a new painting just for me. Something cheerful and also filled with the punk rock, Dr. Pepper energy of youth. A floating house and my childhood cursive sings across the canvas, "Good morning."

And it was.

Flowers & Culture

Southern heart, mixed media on paper, 20 x 29.5 cm, ©2024 Megan Chapman

Hello Dear Readers,

I have been working on an art related project behind the scenes here and it's something I have been meaning to do for a while now. I am pleased to have finally had the time and space to tackle it and working in my new studio has certainly helped. However, I am not ready to share it yet because there is more I would like to do. I will share it soon though, I promise. 

I wasn't sure what I would write about this week due to delaying that bit of news. So, I will share a few random things and some cultural visitations.

First of all. It's DAFFODIL SEASON. That means you can walk into any grocery shop and find .95p bouquets of daffodils in bud, that bloom once you put them in some water at home. All varieties. Why isn't this a thing in the USA? This is one of my top five reasons to live over here (I am not kidding - it's probably in the top three)

Now to the culture segment:

Exhibitions: 

RSA: Modern Miniatures and Currently on view

City Art Centre: Michael Fullerton, along with a quick revisit of Out of Chaos: Post-War Scottish Art 1945-2000

Open Eye: Exhibitions by Glen Scouller RSW RGI, and Luisa Ramazzotti, and On a Grand Scale featuring John Bellany, Barbara Rae DBE, and Leon Morrocco RSA RGI, as well as, On a Small Scale by selected invited artists.

Scottish Gallery: Great Escapes - Rowan Patton, James Morrison - In Focus, Various Artists - The Northern Isles Part II

Books: 

A Winter Book by Finnish author Tove Jansson. This book of short stories was given to me by my Finnish pal, Peikko. The stories were the perfect company during the dark month of January. The short story, Squirrel especially resonated. It's a lonely book of bohemian and coastal memory filled with magic that shoots one across ages and time. 

The First Bad Man by Miranda July. I have had this book for ages now, and have started it many times but this time I am going to finish it. I always enjoy Miranda's writing of the intense and deeply awkward and often relatable ways of women. You might too. 

The other day another book dropped through the door, and I was perplexed until I opened it, and I had to thank myself for preordering, Atypical Girl, Punk rock, Liverpool, and trying to be normal by Penny Kiley. I have already started it (but must finish Miranda's book first!) but I am very excited to spend more time in the pages and on Penny's journey. 

Films: (I am not going to link to trailers because I don't like them) but these are some great films that I have seen recently. (I am so glad I saw Hamnet in the theatre so I could cry in public.)

Hamnet 
Adaptation
Paterson
The Last Showgirl
Aftersun
Paris is Burning
The Florida Project

TV:

The Lowdown Created by Sterlin Harjo (I am in the middle of this and am really enjoying the Tulsa vibes). John Doe (from X) is a proper scene-stealer in one episode. Thanks Sarah for the recommendation - you were right. 

Music:

I have been listening to old Wipers albums. I was late to the party and just in time - just a tremendous band and I can see why they were so influential to so many. I have also been enjoying Amyl and The Sniffers, and GRLwood, and revisiting the music of T.S.O.L.. I have also revisited some old albums by Moby and it truly was the samples he used that always grabbed me. So I had to listen to The Famous Davis Singers. Arkansas treasure, Jesse Welles, dropped a new video with another great tune reflecting the USA at the moment, and I have been listening to it on repeat. 

That's all I have for you this week. I hope that you are okay. Please take a minute to care for yourself by enjoying some culture. It will help you to keep fighting the good fight. Thanks for being here. Stay strong. 

Joy is resistance

You know what's cool? Walking down a road you've never been on with your pal, then standing with your backs against a wall in the winter sun. I’ve done this twice lately and highly recommend it. If you joke that you both look like members of an '80s band and share a laugh, it’s even better.

Julia and I have been roaming the streets again, seeing art, and sitting in coffee shops. We have already seen some great exhibitions this year. This is normally where I would tell you all about them but I cannae be arsed. Go out and see some art wherever you live. 

I will show you one of my new works in progress. I decided to pop it into a frame just to see how it would feel in one, and it seemed to agree with it. I like my frames like I like my art, a bit dirty and damaged. 

In other news, I have been reading books, organising, working, meditating, baking, and learning new ways of being. It's a good way to stay sane when everything is awful and gross. I am also taking action, voting, calling, signing, and joining. Community, community, community - that's where it's at. I hope you are being supported by your community. I hope you are supporting your community. 

Stay free, be well, and stand against walls in the sun. 

A rhythm that I can fall into

work in progress

Scotland is a strange embrace. It is a sure road under my feet, even with its many curious twists and turns. It is a home I have always known and longed for, yet it sits slightly askew. The gratitude I feel for this land is enormous, and the personification of it is easily done. My body senses familiarity at every turn.

There is a safety here for me, a social contract understood: foundational. Even with all its problems and self-doubts, it provides a known beat, a rhythm that I can fall into.

It catches me off guard with its lull of consistency. If one has never felt such ground, it's easy to downplay. It runs at a humane pace and is a place of workers, history, and darkness. Its greatness is not boastful, bright, or new.

Scotland is a strange embrace.

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Until next week, take care and keep fighting. Thank you for being on this path with me.  And if you like a spot of David Bowie, punk rock, and dream pop here's a playlist for you.