Welcome to next edition of my newsletter, which marks the change of seasons in the pages of my sketchbook, or page* in my sketchbook, as it happens this time.
Read on for some seasonal observations and a sneak peak (!) at all the Spring calendar pages I’ve scanned recently.
I think this past microseason has been tough for a lot of us - I’ve heard many sentiments along the lines of an unwelcome autumn, when summer never really came to Scotland this year. I’ve mentioned previously how I think our disappointment about summer might be the result of a skewed view of the season, influenced by time down south and abroad.
I think I’ve been more at peace about the change of seasons. This very well might be because I did get a chance to soak up some sun in France last month - some warm air and sunshine can do wonders! But I also think this sense of peace and satisfaction is because of microseasons. Through this project, I’ve been celebrating summer since mid-May, when the banks of the Water of Leith first started to erupt in greenery and we enjoyed some of our most sunny days. The temperatures are now dropping, the days shortening, and Edinburgh has been stuck in fog for the past couple of days, and I can’t help but welcome it.
A highlight for me this microseason was discovering a new corner of Edinburgh: Jock Tamson’s Garden is a large, public allotment set on a beautiful estate on the banks of Duddingston Loch. I spent a wonderful afternoon here a couple weeks back, sitting and drawing as folks tended to their gardens.
The rest of this season I have been trying to carve out time to appreciate nature - with a more busy work and social calendar, it’s been harder to find times to go out for a walk to appreciate the microseasons. An unlikely opportunity has been my recent foray into jogging! I am using an app that offers frequent encouragements to pace myself and spend the time to look at and appreciate my surroundings.
Things I’ve noticed:
Berries, galore: The hawthorns are most abundant, as are the rosehips. There’s even been some early appearances of rowan, holly, and snowberry.
This week, I have also noticed the first leaves changing colour.
The recent blanket of mist and fog has given a slightly spooky, autumnal feeling to the city.
Calendar Updates:
This week, I officially announced my calendar on Instagram! This was quite an exciting and daunting step in my art journey, but I have been so encouraged by friends and family showing their support! If you are reading this newsletter, I count you among that crowd.
As a thank you, I thought I’d share a sneak peak of all the Spring pages, which I recently scanned. The next mission is learning how to digitally edit these for printing.
I am now half-way through, having completed 12/24 calendar pages -stay tuned for a sneak peak of the summer pages in a future newsletter!