Before I tell you the latest news I would like to talk a bit about Covid19.

Well life sure has changed for a lot of the world since the covid19 virus came, its been uncertain times. I had a time of not really painting much and kind of fell in the trap of letting this all get to me, but then I realised that life still goes on and even though there is much suffering in the world I felt it was better if I kept on with my art in that it may help inspire someone who feels lost right now. So thats what I intend to do, carry on, keep drawing, keep enjoying the beauty of nature , keep painting, making videos, selling my art . Ive turned off the media for the most part, as I feel it doesn’t make me feel good and life is too short to not enjoy it, Im not going to let the media define or create my reality, so I choose happiness, I choose to have fun, not take life to seriously. I still can get caught up in things now and then, but now I remind myself that by me choosing happiness and staying focused on what I want in my life creates happiness and joy, and that I Am the creator of my own reality. For a lot of people Its a time to rethink your life direction, which can be a very hard decision especially when theres not just yourself to think about but your family too. What has really helped me to make decisions is to ask myself what do I feel the most joy in doing, then from there I know which direction to go. It takes courage but if you take that first step then doors will open for you.

As for my off grid barn life… we have been off grid for 5 years now, its been a slow process in getting it all set up, so for the first 3 and a 1/2 years we had an outdoor compost toilet as well as an outdoor shower, this has recently changed so now its all indoors, I am so grateful for this, it was pretty cold in the winter sometimes getting down to – 9 degrees. But we got through it and I think it has made me really appreciate these things. We are now going to work on having hot running water for the summer, we have lots during winter because our colerange has a wetback , so now we are going to hook the solar up to the hot water cylinder , with our local plumbers help , so that we can have hot running water in summer too.

Over the lockdown we had a wee wild kitten turn up on our doorstep, we call her our lockdown kitten, we already have 6 cats , so we figured it doesn’t really matter if we have one more, and she is lovely, we named her Tinker, she’s so loving and goes out of her way to share her love around to us and the other cats, so has become part of the family.

Ive been at the Clyde gallery for almost a year now, it has been going very well, up until the lockdowns, but now I feel a change of direction coming, so may soon be working from my studio gallery at home. I m doing a lot more videos, tutorials and selling online, so I think this is the direction for me to go.

Spring has been a welcoming site, I love to see all the blossoms out, so beautiful. The blossom art exhibition is happening next week, so have got three art works going into this. Last year I won a highly commended award for one of my art works, and another one got into the Art Gold Awards which was nation wide and only a few chosen to be a part of it, so I was thrilled to have one of my works in it.

Im starting on some more series, finishing a caravan one, and Ive also been making a lot of jewellery , working with wire and gemstones.

I getting excited about my garden lots of flowers coming out, and Ive planted in a lot more trees and roses, so I am really looking forward to seeing everything come out.

I hope you are all doing ok

Helen x