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13 ways to be Bodaciously nice to yourself.

I've decided to be bodaciously nice to myself by going to cafes, writing postcards (crazy when there is a postal strike on but they will get to their destination eventually).

By seeing two yes two films in one evening The Kingdom and The Singer can't get much more of a contrast.

Spending the whole of Saturday in bed, daydreaming, listening to Radio 7 and napping with the cat - and refusing to feel bad about it.

Taking walks into the unknown and seeing a Adam designed house, two highland cows (one blonde one brunette) and a chestnut horse, the dappled light under the woods.

Taking leaps into the unknown and giving up my job to make space for new stuff.

Upcoming NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month in November. Good to get advance warning so you can clear your calendar - more info here.

too much not enough should etc etc

Yikkes I've been ill since last Thursday. I won't go into the detials but I've had to cancell 3 social events over the weekend. And I'm getting impatient 'I should be feeling better by now' 'How long is this going to take' and fretting about all the undone things which should have been done this weekend.

I'm relearning patience over and over again. I'm such a slow learner...

John Bellany

I've been meaning to write about him for months ever since I saw Jen Gray's post about meeting him in Italy.

My mother was at art college with him. Very hard working she said. Some of her fellow students were terrible wasters....

Many years later some family friends who had also been at art college with him fell on hard times and had to move to the country and downsize into a small cottage.What to do with the JohnBellany they had bought from him at his degree showing? They hoped to sell it but in the meanwhile my parents stored it for them and for about 8 years it hung in my parents hallway. A picture all in ochres of his grandmother on a boat gutting fish. He grew up in a fishing village outside Edinburgh. A huge picture 6' x 4'. I'm not a fan of Bellany's work but that picture grew into me. Eventually despite trying very hard to get the Modern Art Gallery to buy it the friends sold it to a private corporate collection in the City of London. It probably sits opposite a hedge fund manager. And it explains why I was unable to find an image of it on Google.

Mixed weekend.

Yesterday ill and in bed all day shivering. Tired and missed two potientially lovely social events as a result. Damn!

Today left house at 11am went up to Broughton St and decided to treat myself to brunch out. The first cafe I went to was packed to walked down the street found one almost empty. It was great ! I settled in with a cooked breakfast, cappachino, wrote postcards to my friends (they will be posted tomorrow look out in your post!), wrote in my journal, read and watched the world go by.

I came home, to find my mother directing my lodger to cut my hedge, she then started bossing me about the painted trim to my window sills.She thinks I should paint them white. I think I should make them striped to match my shed. After she left I shopped.

Anyway I feel much more energised to do the things I have to do after giving myself the gift of a parcel of pleasure just for myself. I find rewards don't work. The other way round does.

Other things I've noticed - on Thursday I had to meet someone I'd never met before (but corresponded with via email for many years) go to the next city, met a friend, then met two other friends in the evening went for a guided walk for an hour and a half then got the train back home another hour. I was home at 10 pm after intensely rushing about for over 12 hours. Then I rememberd my life before ME - my days were like this all the time.Boy have things changed.
Cool blog on doing things imperfectly here.

Hey

The Armenian Rug shop in Dundas st

Its a bit gray and gloomy here today and I wanted to post something bright and cheerful but my photos seem to militate against that.

Made some important decisions in head. Things to let go of etc.Then met two friends to See Run Fatboy Run last night - a belated birthday celebration. They took me out to dinner afterwards, half a bottle of wine and tiramisu with candles! I was very touched.

Today been lazing about motivation at an all time low but about to leave to see the red haired peril aka neice.

Cheap and cool photos a great article via Harrumph

check out Gaping Void's interesting post on cartooning.

Oli & Tom in the meeting room. Just reading Letting Go of the Camera by Brooks Jensen. Great short essays about the art of being a photographer. I'm still learning the art of separating myself from the picture I thought I took from the one I have taken.

Hallam Foe Party EIFF 2007

rainbows and kittens, brown paper parcels

Not quite, I left work on Monday got the bus home and as I walked towards my flat a beautiful rainbow appeared over Leith Links and the football match going on under it. I've just done the bulk of a job which felt like 24 hours a day for two months, actually it was more like 10-12, and the last two weeks without a day off. Occasionally I'd go off and the results were always hideous. So the rainbow was a sign ! A definite sign that I was out the other side. Now I've caught up on my sleep, made roast chicken, talked to the cat, done a load of washing, bought books, written postcards, contemplated the washing up mound and processed some films. Slowly easing back to 'normal' life.

Except that I don't want my normal life at all. Just before this job started I met a friend for a walk and she asked me if I'd teach again in the autumn. And I blurted out 'I don't know if I'll be here.' I stunned myself -I didn't know I was even thinking of leaving but I must have been. I've been thinking the unthinkable. Upending the assumptions about my life and the way it should be - its shocking - I feel a little selfish. And that makes me think I'm on the right track. So my head is buzzing with a million things which seem more pressing than my v lazy day. Visits to 3 bookshops, two cafes, one film screening and picking up some holgas from Happy Snaps.

great posting here

insane work load eased a bit today. Friend staying, coffee,lunch, dinner with nice people who actually LIKE me feel 100% better.

Learn to create
Unique Handmade Books
workshops Autumn ’07 with Kirsty O’Connor

Paste Papers and Simple Books
We will spend the morning making paste papers, an easy, fun and effective paper decorating technique. In the afternoon we will use them to make some simple and completely unique books.
Sunday 2nd September 10.30am-5pm

Pamphlet Stitch Books –the simplest form of bookbinding. We will make a variety of soft cover books using beautiful handmade papers, embroidery threads, beads, feathers and punches.
Sunday 14th October 11am-5pm

Unique Books as Gifts
Handmade books make delightful gifts. Choose from a range of books to make and lots of lovely paper and trimmings to make them with!
Sunday 11th November 11am-5pm

Cost: £35 per day workshop covers all materials -including a great range of papers and trimmings and refreshments.
Venue: Patriothall Studios, Stockbridge, Edinburgh.
All classes are held in the conducive atmosphere of Kirsty’s studio at Patriothall WASPS. Classes are limited to six participants, so plenty of individual attention is assured. If you have papers you would like to use please bring them.

Booking
Please book by sending a deposit of £10 -cheque payable to Kirsty O’Connor- with your name, address, telephone.no. email and which class(es) you’d like to attend to:
Kirsty O’Connor, 15/1 Waverley Park, Edinburgh EH8 8ER

For more information tel: 0131 659 5408 or email: kirstyoconnor@phonecoop.coop


Kirsty O'Connor
Mixed media artist maker, Kirsty O’Connor, works in clay and paper –making voluptuous pots and unique books. She has a wide range of skills and experience of working in textiles, graphic design and illustration, painting, drawing and community arts.

Her passion for making books started on a course with Eleanor White at Ullapool and has continued with other teachers and through her own exploration. She loves to share what she has learned.
Students find it empowering, satisfying and a lot of fun to create books. From very simple to more complex structures and designs, there is something for everyone from beginner makers to experienced artists.

Besides teaching how to make unique books Kirsty also makes bespoke books for marriages and memorials.

For more information tel: 0131 659 5408 or email: kirstyoconnor@phonecoop.coop

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