Where did August go?
In the next few weeks the seasons flip from summer to autumn. It's still hot, but there's a crispness to the air that makes me want to buy school supplies. I think once my BIG illustration project is finished I'll take an inventory of my art supplies and refresh the stock. Some of my brushes are over a decade old, and are very well-loved (which means they are frayed beyond repair and can hardly hold a point any more.)
I've been fishing fallen leaves from the water in our bird bath, and the heather bush in the corner of our garden is blushing with the promise of deep pink buds (which will only bloom sometime in mid- winter).
For most of this month it was too hot to do anything but the essentials: look after Little One and furiously paint illustrations for the deadline coming up in early September.
Highlights for August:
1. Getting bedside tables delivered (after six months of balancing my book and water glass on a storage box)
2. Making the boxes from the aforementioned beside tables into a two-room house for Little One.
3. Running through the sprinkler with Little One on hot afternoons.
4. Sharing conversation with close friends around the braai (bbq)
5. The heat? I'm not sure I enjoyed it that much, but it was remarkable.
6. Watching the Olympics with Little One. "Go Tanda!" she shouted. (Translation: Go Canada!)
{The house: Little One inside, Trudy outside}
Books read:
1. Villette by Charlotte Brontë
2. The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by T. E. Carhart
3.
by Margaret Atwood (this is actually a short story: worth reading)
4. Women in Love by D H Lawrence
By the numbers:
4: Braais. We love marinated chicken skewers, herb-dusted halloumi, corn on the cob, salad, garlic bread and of course, ice cream for dessert.
30: Kilometers walked. Yikes! No wonder my legs ache before I go to sleep.
16: Pages of my journal filled.
3: Submissions sent.
1: Gallery visited. I sat at stared at St Francis of Assisi in Meditation by Francisco de Zubaran for an hour in the National Gallery.
{Van Dyke Brown: one of my favourite colours}
August Stats:
: 494
Bloglovin: 916
Come follow along!
Posts from Past Augusts:
The Prairie Wind bustles down the street
When is a bookshelf not a bookshelf?
Selling in Spitalfields Market
Goals for September:
Seeing this big project coming to an end has inspired me to think about what to do next. I feel that the writing part of my life has been neglected recently. Most of you know the illustrating side of my life, as I share it quite freely here, but did you know that I love writing just as much?
My goals for the month:
+ Enjoy our holiday in Greece! Yay! I can't wait to sketch the cerulean Mediterranean and the whitewashed houses clinging to the rocky hills.
+ Write. Write. Write. Anything. I've finished a short story, which is now on the submission rounds. What to write next? Perhaps a bundle of blog posts?
+ Daily drawings. Because they're like yoga for my fingers and my creative mind.
Are you writing a monthly review post? Feel free to share a link below in the comments. Let’s celebrate our accomplishments!
{Almost daily walks along the Thames}