Maggie's Studio
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Journal

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Journal

What you see is what you get with me, you could say I wear my heart on my sleeve!

If I am not busy in my studio, then day to day you will find me being creative either in the kitchen, in the garden or on our allotment. I love to spend time with my family and often that means being outdoors, enjoying the simple things. I am really lucky to be able to see my two grandchildren regularly and that makes my heart sing.

Talking of singing, my husband, Tony, is a singer songwriter and so there is always music in our house and often it is live music as the kitchen becomes a studio for the day. We love live music and theatre and try to see both as often as we can.

Generally life is simple, creative, happy and positive and that’s just how I like it to be. If you thought I’d be talking about painting in my journal you may just get a few surprises…

Where is your happy place?

For me it has to be my garden.   It changes every day, sometimes just a little and then quite dramatically.  Just a few minutes pottering about, having a look around and seeing what’s new, can be such a tonic to start the day or for a ‘pick me up break’ during a busy work session.  

Being outdoors generally is known to be essential to good mental health, so whether it’s a walk around the block, ten minutes pottering in the garden, five minutes watering and deadheading pots on the balcony or an hour or two on the allotment, we should all try to take time each day to enjoy a bit of nature.  

If you know someone who is having a tough time, one of the simplest things you can do to help is to make sure that they are getting a regular burst of nature in their lives.   Arrange to meet them for a walk, plan to meet up in the local park, make a point of going outdoors when you visit them, take a look at their garden with them, don’t focus on the weeds, watch the bees. 

If, like me, you enjoy gardening, you will know that you get so much joy from just being out there, hands on with the plants and the soil.  Watching things grow that you have nurtured or maybe grown from seed is a really nice feeling.  

Gardens can often hold lovely memories too, plants given as gifts, cuttings from friends.  I often label plants that have been special gifts.  I have very fond memories of walking around the garden with my late Mum, she would tell me the names of all the plants and how to look after them in my garden.  

When I was a child I was allowed to pick flowers for my bedroom from the garden every weekend.  There was only one rule, I could only pick one or two flowers from each plant, there should always be some flowers left.   

I have picked from the garden for the house as long as I can remember, even in deepest winter there is something of beauty to enjoy and doing this really does help you to notice the changing seasons and see the joy of what is still to come. 

It’s no surprise that nature and the garden is a major inspiration for my art work. Like many other creative people the beauty of nature is a constant source of ideas for me. 

If you don’t already, try to make sure you include a little bit of nature into your everyday and see how much better you feel, it really does make a difference.  

Lisa King