A Room of One's Own

'A woman must have money & a room of her own in order to write fiction' (or create anything at all)

I've been musing over this Virginia Woolf quote for a couple of weeks now. Creating, making, bringing anything to fruition seems to require space; both mental and physical. I find it near impossible to create under the eye of others, I also love to spread out. It can be hard for other members of the household- I'm messy when I work (isn't it impossible not to be?), I don't like to talk and I like to work into the night.

As it is I work at a tiny desk underneath my staircase in my living room. I love my space, and feel lucky to have one at all. However, there are times when working in the living room can be rife with distractions: chatter on the street outside, my boyfriend wanting to chat, housemates with questions. All of these things are perfectly reasonable, of course, but when trying to paint they can be enormously frustrating! Making does not lend itself to idle chatter, and the tendency to snap is strong. I crave uninterrupted time and for that there is only one solution; a room of one's own. Sadly I am definitely not at the stage in my career where that is affordable but it is what I strive towards. I long for the moment when I have enough space to work big (one of the funniest questions artists get asked is about scale, it is nearly always dependent on how much space they have) and I don't have to clean up straight away.  I am lucky in that my mum offers me her studio (a lovely big space at the end of her garden) on a regular basis so I get a taste of what it's like! 

I was recently interviewed by Bibelot Magazine about my studio space. It was amusing to think about how to portray my 'space'; sometimes honesty is the best policy. Here are the photographs (plus a few extra) from the article and you can read the interview here. 

What do you think? Is a room of one's own necessary?

In other news I'm putting together a zine on Adulthood for an art show at the end of June. What does being an adult mean to you? are you one or have you spent a lifetime avoiding it? Is anyone really an adult or is it all just a pretence? I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can also submit poetry, illustration, essays or what ever other medium you feel compelled to work in to my email.

Collection of Intro magazine that belonged to my dad

A monk & a Suffragette watch over me (the Suffragette is saying 'DOWN WITH THE TROUSERS' which I couldn't agree with more!)

Outfit Details

1970s folk patterned silk dress - Vintage sale

1990s Hobbs shoes - belonged to my mum

Floral headdress - Penny MacBeth

Eye choker - Penny MacBeth

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It's The Great Pumpkin

I've been feeling extremely under the weather for the last week. I spent an entire day in bed yesterday which I hardly ever do. Anyway enough of the woe is me. When I'm feeling crummy (v.punny) I like to bake: cakes, bread, puddings- it all brings a little cheer to an otherwise dull day. 

Pumpkin pie is something I've never made before today. I had a rather bad run in with it as a child when my mum forgot to put the sugar in (whoops!) and for a number of years I avoided nibbling on any pumpkiny products, deeming them all flavourless and bland. However, last year I was invited for Thanksgiving dinner by a very good Canadian friend of mine and there I sampled the most delicious pumpkin pie; I was converted, it is light, delicious and full of complex flavour. I truly do love it, and for the last week I've been craving a slice. So today for a little light activity during my bout of flu I decided to bake one.

 I followed a recipe from The Guardian which actually turned out to be very time consuming (I'd probably do it a little differently next time). Ever the maverick I made a few additions in the way of adding ground ginger to my pastry (adds a lovely warmth) and nutmeg to the filling as well as substituting the evaporated milk (yuck!) for whipping cream.  I also added much more of each spice than stated as I feel English recipes often tend to under spice. I think next time I might not blind bake the pastry as I'm really not convinced it needed it.  Overall, the results were pretty tasty! It had a lovely colour and the the pastry was delicious; thin and crisp (no soggy bottoms here!)

What recipes have you all tried out recently? I'm always after inspiration!

I'm hoping to be back on my feet next week; I have an exciting project in the works and lots of photographs to shoot!

Happy pumpkin season all! I sadly can't find the full episode online but here's a clip from It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

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Bedroom Tour

Hello!

 I mentioned previously that I had moved to a new house. I was living in London but it was really getting me down so I decided to make the big move back to Cornwall. It took a lot of time to sort everything and I can say with some certainty that I won't be making a big move again for a while (I just have too many clothes to pack!) I am so happy to be back by the sea now though and its lovely having fresh air and friendly faces and all those things that are often absent in the city. My new house is delightful too, so I thought I'd give you all a little tour. We still have a few bits of decorating left to do so I'll start with my bedroom which is finished.. 

As you can see I own quite a lot of scarfs, hats, necklaces etcetcetc! It was quite a squeeze getting it all in but I have just enough space to move around freely and I have to say I love being able to see all my clothes, otherwise I find I only end up wearing half of it! The postcards hanging from the ceiling are actually peg fairy lights from habitat, nearly the best thing I've ever purchased and all the furniture is from Ikea. The only thing I have left to purchase for my bedroom is a nice jewellery cabinet/shelf/box. It's proving very difficult to find one big enough to house everything but small enough to fit in the tiny space I have left; any suggestions would be gratefully received!

Lastly I leave you with a picture of my bed. The bedspread I got from Enjoy and it's actually a patchwork curtain, it was too short for my window but too good to leave behind so it now lives on my bed!

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Linked post with #PoCoLo