You bloom in spring

my studio wall for my mother because she likes it

Spring has sprung! The light in the studio has been calling me. Even if I just sit and stare out the window or organise my materials, it's a better day. I love touching all the things - twine, hanging wires, screws, pencils, scissors, and all my various tools. I enjoy putting like with like and lining them up in order. I find it very satisfying. I found an Ikea peg board for £3 at a charity shop recently and was then able to source some 3-D printed hooks on Vinted very affordably that fit it. Good value and making things come together fills me with joy. The studio provides ample opportunity for this.

I hate tape but I have loads of it

This week I went through my painting rack and found at least nine canvases that I have decided no longer work. I asked a fellow painter to look over them as well to make sure I wasn't making any "rash decisions." I wrote that "one canvas might have a Lynchian promise, but many just feel unfinished - like forced thoughts that didn't materialise." I think they are all getting painted over and any photos of them removed from my archive. I haven't painted over anything in years - but now is the time again. Canvases don't grow on trees and I know I can paint something better or perhaps more meaningful than what is there currently.

I have been walking more this week and taking photos while enjoying the flowers and blooming trees. I also planted my garden - carrots, beets, radish, potatoes, onions, scallions, cabbage, broccoli, courgette, and loads of flowers. It's always a bit of an experiment. I don't worry about it much - I just see what works and what doesn't - no stress. Last year I was delighted with my potatoes and spinach. It's always a creative practice in my square foot garden. I'll keep you updated.

Yesterday, I had the unique opportunity of helping a friend and fellow artist deliver his and his partner's work to a prestigious exhibition. I really enjoyed the experience. It reminded me how comfortable I am around art - handling it with care and wanting it to look its best. Seeing all the work being unloaded from crates and packages in the gorgeous gallery space was a thrill and a comfort, and also a lot of work! It's a good feeling to be able to help someone and I got a lot out of it too. The experience reminded me of where I feel I belong and this is helpful so that I can compare it to the experiences where I feel I don't.

Princes street gardens

Later in the day, I met up with another artist and we enjoyed the sunshine in Princes Street Gardens which is bursting with Spring beauty. We had an important and good chat about art and life and made plans for an art adventure next week.

And on this gorgeous day, that's all I have for you. This post has been brought to you by the sun, a homemade blueberry Matcha, and one song on repeat.

Thanks for being here and please keep fighting for comfort and joy, for all.

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

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. 

Time folds in on itself

Co-Star Mic Drop 

I am having frequent migraines, I am working more hours than usual, and there is still never enough time to get things done. My life's work is largely ignored and my anxiety grows. I am avoiding the news because I can't think about war.

Time folds in on itself - how did we all get so old. 

I slept until my alarm chimed bird sounds at 7am. This is a rare occurrence.

My dreams were wild but not memorable, only the feeling and flashes of colour left behind. This is my weekend now, time to recover and regroup but I already feel the weight of obligation and the plans I made for myself. 

I am tired and on shaky ground, yet I will it solid. As I type these dour words I think, what a bummer of an intro, surely this can't stand. I will delete and share the beauty and lightness that I also found this week. Because I can always find it.

If resilience is a curse, I have been hexed. 

Remember too, this place is a creative exercise. Perhaps the only creativity I will experience in the week. I like putting words together. 

The words are partly crafted from the music playing in my big headphones, Marconi Union, Brian Eno, Hammock, Nils Frahm - icy and atmospheric on a warm June morning. Music for introspection - like I need any encouragement. 

I want to write, I think you are beautiful. But who am I thinking of, I do not know. 

I think you are beautiful. 

I walked. I watched a show everyone is talking about. I listened to an audiobook. I have sat in the garden in the sun, knee deep in buttercups and daisies, punctuated by poppies and foxgloves. I am going to see live music on Sunday and Monday. I have talked to friends - human and the furry kind and I have harvested fresh spinach.

I have made good food and healthy drinks, enjoyed naps, yoga and breathing exercises. See what I am doing? I can't help it. 

If resilience is a curse, I have been hexed. 

Susumu Yokota comes on my headphones - glorious. I was trying to be reminded of this album. There are no accidents. 

and I still think you are beautiful.

Cosmic

In case you missed it, you can read last week's post here.

This was a full and varied week! 

For those of you who don't already know, I am the Rep Coordinator & Caseworker for the Scottish Artists Union. My (now) former colleague Janie Nicoll (previous SAU Campaigns Manager) and I were recently interviewed by the Vandal Factory for their podcast episode #32 all about Freelancers. Please give it a listen to learn more about what the SAU does on behalf of our members and then if you haven't already, join your union!

Listen here

"This is the full interview with Janie Nicoll and Megan Chapman, visual artists and organisers for the Scottish Artists Union. An edited version first appeared in episode #32. SAU is the representative voice for visual and applied artists in Scotland and is one of the largest arts membership organisations in the country. We discuss the needs of the membership and empowering and connecting self-employed freelancers. Listen to episode #32 for more conversations from across the UK about self-employed life."

199th RSA Annual Exhibition

Then later this week, I was invited to attend the RSA private view by my SAU colleague and fellow Rep, Leon Patchett as both he and his partner Beti Bricelj had brilliant work in the exhibition. They stay up in the highlands so it was great to see them in Edinburgh. My new pal and artist Anthea Moys, joined us for the fun as well. We all had a hoot. 

Then on Saturday, I met up with my dear pal, the brilliant writer, Ever Dundas to explore a secret (ish) garden and have an overdue catch up. It was a balm for the soul - I felt like I went on a 2 hour retreat. It was so exciting to explore a tucked away garden behind a gate in the city centre with Ever. It really gave me a boost!

Then on Sunday, there were flowers everywhere and I found £5 on a deserted street and took it to the local car boot sale and found exactly what I was looking for.

Everything felt a bit cosmic.

You can read next week's post here.

My favourite place

In case you missed it, you can read last week's post here.

I went to my favourite place in Edinburgh, Warriston Cemetery. This was a monumental day (no pun intended). Something shifted this week. I sat on a bench and looked over the cemetery and felt joy. The birds were singing, the flowers were blooming, everything was fresh, verdant, and overgrown. Perfectly disheveled and comforting, the sun was glorious and I felt reborn. Suddenly, I had ideas, goals, dreams, and most importantly some structure and support. 

You can read next week's post here.

The lightness

In case you missed it, you can read last week's post here.

The weather was beautiful even while the politics of the world are horrid and my personal grief remains, so I try to get out in it as much as possible. Spring in Edinburgh is spectacular and feels well deserved, the lightness makes everyone a bit more friendly. 

I continue to draw some, investing in new materials (thanks to a dear friend sending me a gift certificate for my birthday). I buy 5 erasers among a few other things and this makes me laugh. In April I began working more hours with the Scottish Artists Union.

My dear friend Peikko from Finland arrives midweek and spends a few nights with me. What a joy to have her near. We laugh as we talk about the dark stuff of life and we go see art and enjoy the gorgeous Edinburgh weather.

Peikko

We both enjoyed Portia Zvavahera's exhibition at Fruitmarket Gallery. I must say this is probably the best painting exhibition I have seen at Fruitmarket. We had plenty to discuss and resonate with while surrounded by the colourful and meaningful large scale works. I could feel each and every one of them. 

Copyright Portia Zvavahera

Friends really do make the world go around. Haste ye back, Peikko!

You can read next week's post here.

If joy is a flower

In case you missed it, you can read last week's post here.

This week, I went to see the film Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands at Duncan Place in Leith. Following the film there was conversation with Girls Rock School Edinburgh and music was played by some of their alumni. It was a really inspiring film, conversation, and event. I booked a ticket straight away for the next film, Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché, which will have a conversation with Engender. I really enjoy seeing a film with a group of like minded individuals. Community film experiences are so important and rewarding.

This week I also walked in nature a fair amount as it became more spring-like, and lighter and brighter. It’s always good to spot the early flowers and as they wake up and give us their cheerful hello, especially when there is so much going wrong in the world.

That's enough for this post, the goal is to move forward quickly so I can start again. This has been weighing on me and nobody has time for that.

Keep fighting and don't let the bastards get you down. The world needs you and the gifts you bring.

You can read next week's post here.

I click my heels together

Listen

We are all beautiful now that it's spring

Music. 

Do you enjoy the art I create and share? Please consider leaving me a one-time or a monthly tip.

Thank you. Stay beautiful. 

This message rode on the wind

And so everything is different now. Book. £150

This week has had a good flow to it for the most part and I am grateful.

I have seen daffodils, primroses, a bud on a rose bush, snowdrops, and crocuses. I even saw some yellow flowers I don't yet know the name of and I saw some faint green high up in the top of a tree. The wind continues to be wild but the light is returning and today it was even quite mild. 

I love hearing the birds start singing at 3am. 

I saw "All of Us Strangers" this week and thought it was a beautiful long-form poem of a film. Highly recommend. I listened to loads of my favourite old music and it could not have sounded better. I went to a couple of charity shops and found some good things. I took a photograph that made me happy. 

This week I enjoyed cooking simple meals, drinking green tea, and reading from a book about Zen with my morning porridge. 

It was one of those weeks. 

But this is an art blog so I suspect you might want to see or hear about some art. Last month, I focused on just 8 paper pieces and some prints. This month, I think I will feature my book series. A series very close to my heart and part of my painting origin story. 

I sold a small book piece at the open studios in December and it reminded me of how important that series is to me. I look forward to sharing it with you again. 

I know you must be tired. Book. £150

It was a pretty good week and many people helped to make it so.

Thank you.

She talks to rainbows

I painted before I patched

Dirty boots

Hello. Here we are again on an actual Friday. 

Thanks for checking out the Friday Studio Blog. I hope you are doing well. I am sitting out in the sun while I write this. Thanks again to everyone who came out to support the artists of the Out of the Blue Drill Hall last week for our exhibition, Outside + In. The show came down last Saturday at 5pm. It was good to spend so much time in the hall for that week - it was like pushing a pause button on my grief. Art has always protected me in that way. 

This week I found myself plunged back into the trenches and didn't feel my best but I still managed to do a few art-related things. First, I did go to the studio on Tuesday and I decided to patch the holes and repaint my painting wall. I also looked at my paint supplies and just handled a few things in the space. I also managed to record my Tuesday Studio Video Visit! I haven't recorded one in a long time, so that was a relief to do and to do it from the studio. 

Here it is if you missed it on social media. 

I have to admit I didn't feel my best in the space at the time. That space sometimes feels like it is filled with the old ghosts of my hopes and dreams and a heavy dose of punishment. Sometimes it feels like I must go to that room to prove I am working. I must go to that room and prove I am busy and deserving of the space. I must go to that room to make myself scarce. I must go there to be contained. To be my wild self but enclosed in a windowless space where I won't bother anyone. I must go to that room to prove my dedication, worth, and my value. I must earn love and appreciation in that room. 

Heavy wee room, eh? Aye. Fuck that noise. 

So I have to exorcise it and that's what I just did. I just smudged it with the truth. Feelings come and go and feelings shared, lose their power. I am exorcising a lot. Some of you will be here for it and others might need to bail out. That's cool. 

On that same Tuesday, I also saw a fleeting exhibition by another studio mate (Ian Gonczarow). I haven't yet met him but now I have seen his work in the hall and that is a good thing - hopefully, I will meet him soon. More community the better. More art in the building, the better too. I had a good chat with an art worker in the building and my studio mate and then went to hers for lunch and I enjoyed a sunny walk home.

Wednesday (4 weeks of missing Theo) was heavy and I did hard things. Thursday, I ran errands and rewarded myself for the hard things I accomplished and was gifted with a bit of anxiety for my efforts. Yoga and meditation were required as was a book in the sun that evening. Today in the sun as I write this, I love feeling warm, surrounded by flowers, and being outside and free. I love the transportive quality of the music I am listening to - it takes me everywhere. 

In other news, I got another copy of The Artists Way and decided it was time to surrender to that process again. If you know, you know... I'm doing my morning pages and the artist's dates will follow. I got myself an A2 drawing board - it will be here soon. 

In the meantime, I am walking, walking, walking... 

"The position of the artist is humble. He (She) is essentially a channel." - Piet Mondrian

That's all I have for you this week on the Friday Studio Blog. If you missed a few posts, please go back and check them out. Thanks so much for your support!

Want to buy me a ko-fi? Click the link! Thanks!

In this world

In this world
mixed media on canvas 30x26"
Megan Chapman 2006
private collection

Waking up to find the sunshine and my cat alive is a gift. The sunshine means he can sit in a pool of light and get warm - one of his favourite things that makes his fading life worth living.

The sun helps me with my anticipatory grief and the sadness of caring for my fading friend. If I were a witch as I surely would have been back in Scotland's dark days, Theo is my familiar. 

Since the last post, there was another vet visit. And this time opioids were prescribed and a 10-day course of antibiotics was administered in a single shot. So many times since then, I thought he was going but he thought differently. So here we are in the sunshine of today. 

Today

Today

Today

I know today is all we have.

It's been intense, awful and sad but today the sun is out and we are here. 

In between the hypervigilance, tears, naps, and friends and family checking on me - I am starting to think about art again little by little - the future. 

I am thankful for the blue skies, flowers, and the spring birds darting back and forth, my brilliant cat Theo, and you.

Values Here

Vision of the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel
Paul Gauguin, 1888, Oil on canvas
72.20 x 91.00 cm (framed: 96.00 x 116.70 x 8.30 cm)
National Galleries of Scotland

Whew! What a week. I am overwhelmed and exhilarated. I was out more consistently in the world this week than I had been in two years. 

I decided on Tuesday that I probably need to keep "a reintegration journal" and I did get a special notebook for the purpose because I am a good consumer just like you. 

So part of me wants to write about what I saw and thought about being "out there" again and part of me wants to write about the 8 hours of union training I participated in for the past 2 weeks. I have four more hours of training next week as well. This has been a profound learning experience and very helpful to me personally, as well as seeing the larger picture for all artists as workers. Let's just say there are a lot of people out there thinking radical thoughts and working for the betterment of us all and that excites me.

Okay, so which route am I going to take? 

Let's talk about that "outside world" 

I think I was in three shopping centres this week and of course, the middle of the city is filled with places for you to spend your money and I spent some, but mostly I just marvelled at it all with love, disgust, and a humorous critique. 

Armed with my "hardcore mask" on Tuesday I went to a well known open-air mall-style shopping centre in Leith called the Kirkgate. This place has a bit of a local reputation sitting at the foot of the walk. I know it well from living in the neighbourhood and I have always liked it just fine. It now has a Costa coffee and that makes it seem a bit more posh. In the Kirkgate, I popped into two chain stores and one charity shop and purchased just a few items I was after (I did have a purpose in my first wander of the week). 

I felt out of practice at browsing and shopping - I have never been too good at it, to be honest, but this time was more laboured. I was like the tin man with rusty joints. The music they played over the shop speakers certainly didn't help. I wondered if it was real music at all or just manufactured for shopping, it sounded like something between a poorly written advertising jingle and sounds from an 80s radio alarm clock. 

I moved on and sent a bad photo from the foot of the walk to a friend "I'm oot the hoose shopping."

I wandered down the road through tram construction to another charity shop - the one where everything is hung up high for giants. I never find anything there because I can't reach it. Then I visited another couple of charity shops nearby. Nothing there, grasping for treasure and coming up empty in mind, body, and soul - I  decided that was enough exploring for the day. I meandered back to the Kirkgate, purchased an overpriced soy chai latte (because now I can) and took it to the cemetery - ah the cemetery (my safe space). The latte was mostly shite but still warm as I wandered around the graves realising how excited I was to see my favourite skull and crossbones, angel faces, and the script on the old stones. The sun was shining, birds and squirrels were playing and flowers were blooming everywhere. This was the best part of my outing and it has been available for the duration of the pandemic. Nature never disappoints and rarely asks you for your debit card. 

On Wednesday, I had to head out to see a nurse about a blood test (routine). A pal met me outside and we took to the city for a bit more capitalism and culture. First stop, the antithesis of the Kirkgate, the New Saint James Quarter. I had heard good things (minus the golden jobby hotel) so off we went. I would have to describe it as dystopian capitalist chic, designed for future living - it was serving up Epcot centre vibes. 

Multrees walk followed and that's all I'll say about that - some strong window critiquing happened there. We walked across St. Andrews Square and a mix of tourists and workers ate their lunches in the sun. We walked over to the National Galleries of Scotland to hopefully catch a glimpse of my favourite Van Gogh in their collection but it was not there, however it was just as good to walk into the red-walled fortress holding so much art of antiquity. Stepped right up to the DaVinci (I think most people walk right by its strangeness without even knowing). Enjoyed El Greco, Degas, Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin - you know, the usuals... 

I must state that being from Fayetteville, Arkansas I used to have to get on a big yellow school bus to go to Tulsa Oklahoma (2 hours away) to see art (and not of this calibre) when I was a child and only once a year - so when I can just walk into the city centre and see "proper" art, it always feels like I have landed at the end of the rainbow. I must also mention that the one Gaugin painting "Vision of the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel)" from 1888 that they have in their collection is one that I strangely chose to copy and write a paper about while studying art at the University of Oregon. Finding that painting in their collection on my first visit here and all the daffodils that bloom everywhere in the spring were two signs that convinced me I would probably be okay if I moved to Edinburgh. 

After the art, another cemetery visit was enjoyed, sitting on a bench in the sun with a salad for lunch. My pal and I enjoyed a chat with a elder gentleman from the church with flowers, birdsong and the city, on all sides. I did step in a chain shop for that salad. Princes street gardens were also enjoyed and the gorgeous Parisian fountain. A hellish stationery store was visited and then on to Princes Street Mall for the paper I needed so I could write my thoughts on capitalist culture down. Jokes on me... as I type it all to you anyway. Then it was back down Leith Walk and into a wee local independent shop I had missed and then to a wee antique and vintage store for a nice chat about blankets and cats and then we ended it all at LIDL for some marzipan chocolate eggs. 

I paid attention to what excited me about being out - walking and talking with my friend, the gardens, the cemetery, chats with strangers, and of course the paintings in the permanent collection - and the grand space for art - like a church of old friends. 

On Thursday I mentored a brilliant artist and went to union meetings, all online - just ducking outdoors for a few walks in the sun. A good day for recalibration and learning - I enjoyed all of it.

Friday, it was back out into the world again, another bus journey into the city, this time staying in Leith. Popped by a friend's house in the morning, enjoyed a cup of tea around her kitchen table with the double doors to her garden wide open letting the sun and spring in. It was so nice to just drop in on someone and be welcomed with open arms and a cup of tea and a bit of a chat. Left there and popped into my studio building but didn't even open the door to my studio (telling) - I  saw a studio mate for a wee chat and then went on my way to a favourite old charity shop on Leith walk that I hadn't yet visited since the before times. I was on a mission to get a vintage half apron from the window display, yellow with my favourite flowers in red and purple and then of course I had to get a crazy necklace of glass beads for next to nothing as well. 

Onwards, walking down Leith Walk noticing all the changes, the gentrification is in full effect now. Feeling more like Stockbridge all the time. My shopping and mooching muscles getting warmer by the minute, stopped by Stories Bakery for a vegan sausage roll, Home Essentials for Nag Champa, and the Kilted Donut for a vegan jelly-filled that was over the top, passed another cemetery, sat on the bench in the sun by the water of Leith, and then on to the new ALDI "just to see it" and then the bus back home for two hours of art biz and life discussions with a dear friend back home over the phone. 

The highlights of Friday -  the friendly tea stopover, chatting with my studio mate, seeing some of my favourite daffodils blooming, supporting the charity shop by buying something that makes me happy, and just walking in the sun and sitting by the water of Leith. Phone call with a dear friend. 

If I am going to reengage with this world again, I want to do it as closely aligned with my values as I can. I emerge changed and I am more certain of what I value and what I do not. I am paying attention and taking notes.

PS. Artist readers: Join your Union! 

Scottish Artists Union: https://www.artistsunion.scot/ 

Artists' Union England: https://www.artistsunionengland.org.uk/ 

Praxis Artist Union Ireland: https://www.praxisunion.ie/