There is the obvious reason that acknowledges the ability to get out and about and create work on site. This is, indeed, invaluable. But the second reason is, arguably, more interesting to me. I can only take limited supplies in the van so I have had to choose with great care and that has focused my creativity in a way that my studio has never been able to do. I have a small leather suitcase that holds all that I need to work and this includes -

• a basic sewing kit and some embroidery threads

• a stitching snippet roll

• a sketchbook

• some drawing pens

• a notebook/journal

• Inktense blocks and pencils

• a couple of paintbrushes

• a travel watercolour kit

• paper glue

• a small folder of collage fodder

• scissors and double sided tape

• a small flower press

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You would be amazed at just how much this small range of creative tools offers me and my work. When travelling, I can often use the time to give myself greater opportunity to plan the work for when I get back to my studio. I also have the luxury of time with one beautiful view after another to capture. More and more I consider myself to be a travelling artist as I connect with the beautiful Scottish island I call home and beyond these shores to mainland UK. If I am honest I rarely leave Scotland feeling that this country offers all and more that I would ever need as inspiration.

With the expansive views comes the expansive thinking and I always utter that I do my best thinking while travelling. I also like the obvious option of taking folk with me with two paid subscriptions both here and on Patreon. By becoming a travelling artist I feel more able to share the world as I view it in quiet corners and down winding lanes. With Willow, I can squeeze into tiny spaces and stay largely out of sight as I work away with the coffee brewing nicely beside me. I can not recommend it enough.

My small van, Willow, was bought for £3600 and my daughter’s partner converted it for me bringing the total to include all parts and labour to approximately £6,500. Inside it has a worktop made from reclaimed wood, an extendable table to attach to the worktop giving me more space, cupboards (with the best knobs I have ever seen), and a sink, tap and water tank. It also comes with additional storage and a fold down bed (which makes a comfy seat), a diesel heater and electric lights. All this for cheaper than your average second hand car.

I like the smaller van for working in as it is not a shared space, except for my faithful dog, Frank. We meander around the island seeking small spaces to park up away from other folk. I get quite grumpy if someone parks next to us. Once Frank has been walked, watered and given a favourite biscuit, I can settle to work. I make a coffee and while it is brewing I think through my plans. Often this involves flinging the side door open and sitting on a cushion just to start sketching what I see.

Then I retreat inside the van to my work desk to take this sketch further. It might become an art journal page, a collage or even a small stitchery. Frank will sleep in the front for a couple of hours giving me plenty of time to work up an idea that I normally finish back in the studio. Whilst driving home I am thinking of my next location and so it continues.

Last September hubby and I stepped off life on the island to travel the Scottish highlands and I created some of my best work for years. I also ran my online store and two subscriptions from the van. Hubby now works part time so we can go away more regularly and as you are reading this I am quite possibly preparing to leave or have already left. Sometimes we only travel as far as the Kintyre peninsular, park up and breathe into a space that is not our every day space. Living on a small Scottish island is blissful most of the time except for when it gets busy with tourists. That is normally our time to depart. Of course, it is the larger van we take on these trips which is a Fiat Ducato that has been converted into a camper.

We have plans to upgrade this van to a more modern version capable of going off grid more easily so that we might travel further and for longer. But that is for the future. Just at this time Willow serves me the best as she is always packed and ready to go for whenever the weather is kind enough and I have created the time. Like many successful changes in life I wish I had done it sooner. That said, this is a great time to be out and about as a travelling artist with my children all grown up and home school behind me. So, if you are of a similar mindset I would encourage you to trade that car in for a wee van and take it from there. I doubt you would ever regret it.

Until next time, Fiona - someone in a small Scottish island with no one parked next to me!!

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About the author

I am a mixed media artist living on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. Here on Substack I write free content weekly focusing on seasonal creativity. I also run a paid subscription for folk interested in creating seasonal book arts projects. You are most welcome to wander through the seasons with me.

It is the beautiful elements in this map that attracted me in the first place so I simply cut them out. I think of this as a restructuring process from map to new collage page. This process was really simple but I think that is what makes it effective. I created a simple background using inktense blocks and pencils before arranging the elements and shifting them around until I was happy. Then I did some simple mark making on and around the elements to help bring the page together. In the summer the wee harbours around the island are full of boats and one of my favourite things to do with my beloved studio van, Willow, is to make a coffee and sit and stare at the boats. If people actually get off them and get in a dingy to the island I get beyond excited. The next few minutes will then be spent with me giving these unassuming folk a full background story! I always think folk with boats live in a bit of a parallel universe especially those with large, expensive looking boats.

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Once the elements were stuck down on this page I used a white gel pen to scribe some small, gentle thoughts onto the page. I think of these types of pages as capturing memories and they have a special folder in my studio.

I am currently working with some island tourist maps to make paper flowers and an old vintage map of the island to decorate risers on my staircase. Both I will show over in notes when complete. I usually work with the lines on the map as a starting point for shape building and zentangle studies but these pieces are a bit more complex so I thought I would start with a simple project in case you fancy falling down a map rabbit hole with me.

I am currently working on my plans for a shift in my paid subscription in time for summer. My existing members have been kind to help me in this process. I am finally bringing my extensive teaching in both meditation and art into one place and I am beyond excited. I did quite a lot of this work during lockdown by offering online retreats and they proved very popular. For the past two years my paid subscription space here on Substack has been a book artist virtual studio and this summer will see an extension of this work into other projects. Book arts will remain though as a key project. What will bind all the creative projects together is an exploration of our personal creativity through a more meditative approach thus using our creativity as a key part of our pursuit of wellness. So, you can expect maps to pop up regularly as signifiers of journeys well travelled, new places to discover and ways to record our explorations around the planet we all call home. An underlying project, that we will be visiting often, is the design of our own ‘life map’ so more on that soon. I am just sharing my thinking at this stage but I also have a wonderful Pink Pig 11x11 inch journal that is my constant companion as I let plans emerge and take shape. Any comments on any of my posts where I share my thinking on my newly designed paid subscription are always so welcome.

I am off to pop the kettle on and spend some time with my planning journal. Until next time, Fiona x

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About the author

I am a mixed media artist living on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. Here on Substack I write free content weekly focusing on seasonal creativity. I also run a paid subscription for folk interested in creating seasonal book arts projects. You are most welcome to wander through the seasons with me.

A tiny bit about us

We are both textile artists who have, more recently, fallen down a paper rabbit hole. We are both ex teachers and we both live in the same village on the island. We are both very good with deadlines. We both worked as florists in our previous lives. We are both over 60.

What is the Quiet Bloom Studio

It is a place that lives somewhere between both our studios and allows us to pop up anywhere on the island. It is deliberately mobile. It even has a small corner of my beloved studio van. There are some strong intentions behind this new creative partnership that include -

• Intentional, artistic work with floral shapes and meanings

• Mindful, gentle and quiet creativity

• A place to inspire others with a sense of friendship

• A celebration of ‘handmade’ in peaceful, unhurried moments

• Story driven creativity

• Sustainable practice

So, quietly and mindfully, we have been slowly working away on a range of products in order to launch this new partnership. I didn’t imagine I would ever have this type of partnership and more than that consider sharing my Etsy store that I am incredibly proud of. But then an idea popped into the universe and it is a super idea and Lynn is a super person so why not? I am also mindful of the fact that we are both in our 60s so sharing the load will be a good thing for both of us. We don’t, however, that lofty plans for the Quiet Bloom Studio. We have a secret rule that I am happy to share. We only do what we want to do and no more. If you can’t apply that rule in your 60s when can you apply it? Do we have a business plan, no. Do we want one, no. We are going to let this creative project bloom one petal at a time……

The launch

Launching the Quiet Bloom Studio here on Substack is the perfect place. Substack has become an integral part of my working practice as it helps me share and, at the same time, make sense of my creative world. When I am working quietly on my designs I am often mindful of how I might unpack the process to share on Substack for anyone who might be interested.

A word about flowers

I would be lost without flowers. They are one of the dearest things to me in my personal universe. Just this morning I took a detour on my morning walk to see if the crocuses were through in a front garden I have long admired. Flowers make me smile deep within me and not many others things touch me like that. I used to run a flower farm in Derbyshire where I grew flowers and herbs for weddings and the brides used to come to visit their flowers! Now living on a Scottish island traditional floristry is too problematic so I now grow to dry and use these in my products. So we had a starting point

This launch collection is all about our experiments so far using fabric, paper and real flowers to share our passion and there is much more to come as it has quickly become our favourite creative occupation. A few examples if I may -

Together we have created a small collection of floral gift boxes based around beautiful paper blooms created by Lynn. We contemplated what we would love to recieve and this is the result. A beautiful hand scupltured bloom accompanied by a range of smaller floral inspired gifts making each box beautifully personal. These boxes can never be repeated as each scuplture is unique. We hope these might make special gifts for much loved folk.

We have created a range of floral brooches using different fabrics and fibres as small, but beautifully formed, gifts.

We have had one eye on ‘bespoke,’ as an antidote to mass produced, all the way through our working practices so we have included lots of things that can never be repeated. A sewing box, a handmade book with hand painted cover and a hand stitched pendant are just three examples.

We have also been mindful of offering a range of price points so that there is less barriers for folk who would like to purchase something from the Quiet Bloom Collection. We have created small hair pins and painted rabbits, hearts and flowers that make excellent small gifts. If you would like to be more invested in the collection you might like our first Quiet Bloom mini zine that I have produced to take its place in the launch. We have even created a journaling box so that you can spin off our creative starting points. We will be taking it in turn to produce these mini zines. It is a fairly big rabbit hole.

Lastly though, I want to share our signature product made with recycled sari fabric. We have created these simple floral brooches and presented them on a card that reads ‘A gift of friendship - may our friendship continue to bloom’. This very much lies at the heart of what we are trying to offer. It is friendship that makes the world turn and so we wanted it to take a central place. We sit in the evenings gently sewing these hoping they will find their forever homes. Once again, no two are the same.

There is much more to see over on our Etsy store and we hope that you like what we are offering but, more than that, we hope you like the intentions behind this creative space. We will now continue to share the Quiet Bloom studio as it continues to grow new wings and take flight. We have a special day coming up on the island in the summer that we are most excited about so expect to read more on that here.

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If I could finish by thanking Lynn for wandering along with me and thanking all of you for the support you continue to show to my little creative space. It continues to be a real honour to wander along with folk where no translation is required. Sending grateful thanks.

Fiona and Lynn. xx

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About the author

I am a mixed media artist living on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. Here on Substack I write free content weekly focusing on seasonal creativity. I also run a paid subscription for folk interested in creating seasonal book arts projects. You are most welcome to wander through the seasons with me.

I also love pattern and shape and my absolute favourite thing to find on the beach is pottery fragments. They are fragments of a much bigger story and, as I wander home, I make up these stories. In my head Queen Victoria dropped a dish overboard as she sailed past our island and I have just found a piece of it!

The beaches are full of wee stories and I am guilty of rarely looking up as I wander. My dog even wanders along looking down…..Sometimes I join these stories together to make a new story. This was the process I used for an exhibition piece a few years ago. The creative process took me from the natural colours out to vivid inks and back to the natural but that is why I love creative processes. I never begin new work with a strong sense of what the final outcome will look like. I like to make small discoveries along the way that take me off in new directions. I nearly always hit a stage when I am less sure of my direction and I know to pause and leave the work near me in order to spend some time pondering.

Just at this time I am finding myself back on the beaches at a time of the year when I am normally on the forest trails. This has acted as a bit of a refresh for me so the gentle gathering is underway with no real sense of where it will take me. As well as bits of pottery I gather the awful blue plastic rope that often gets washed up on our shores. I make bowls out of them and weave them into free motioned embroidered pieces.

I think I might to try some small weavings with the rope that I first deconstruct into individual strands. I love to weave with a range of materials, many of them found so they would be well placed in that context. If you have never tried weaving I recommend it as a particularly mindul way to spend some time. All you need is a rectangle of cardboard box and then mark up wee slits so they match both ends and cut in by about an inch. Tie a piece of yarn on and then bind up and down through all the slits and tie off at the other end. You have then created your warp and you can start weaving. If you want a wee tutorial I recommend this one HERE.

The wee weaving on the left was created from a seashore colour palette and the one of the right a riverside palette. The one in the middle is the front cover of a book of weavings. It is time for a new book of weavings I think.

I have cut my makeshift looms and packed them in the van so that I may visit different beaches around the island and gather things that I can use in my weavings. A cup of coffee and weaving in my van seems like a wonderful way to spend some time. I look forward to sharing the outcomes.

Until next time, Fiona x

It has been in my studio a while and I thought I would consider how it has shifted my creativity. There is something about small places that feeds my soul. I can remember having small hiding places all over the houese where I would stash my handmade dolls made from pipe cleaners and bits and pieces of fabric. I suspect some of them might still be under the floorboards in my childhood bedroom. Smallness speaks well to my creativity as it makes me feel safe. It reduces scale that can, at times, challenge me so I am always grateful for an opportunity to work small.

The printer tray offers me endless opportunities with its different size compartments and really thin shelves. At this time in the year I am using it as a wee physical store to feed my Etsy store. I make things, pop in there, list then and wait. If they sell I parcel them up and send them on their way releasing more space to fill. It is a busy time for my Etsy store so nothing stays put for very long but the tray is right opposite where I work most days and I catch myself smiling at it often.

I am smiling with a sense of the old curiosity store that I have previously deliberated on. I want the contents to stay a bit odd. I don’t wanted a carefully curated printer tray full of things that, creatively, speak to each other. Where would be the fun in that? As I write I have hand painted wooden toadstools, earrings on origami envelopes and wee glass bottles filled with dried flowers. As my absolute passion is book making I look forward to the new year when I will have more time to create a few shelves of tiny books.

My next step is to start wallpapering the backs of each wee shelf. I have seen some beautiful examples of that on Pinterest but I want mine to be a homage to another great love of mine - herbs. I grow a lot of herbs and use them in my business on almost a daily basis so I think herb images are where I will start collecting wee pieces of paper that might work for my printer try. Where possible I want these papers to be recycled. Only when I have completed this task will I feel that the printer tray belongs and is more use to me that simply storing my wee makes. I want it to find a language of its own that, over time, inspires my creativity by being so present in my daily viewfinder. The tray needs to evolve over time and should not be rushed. I have some developing ideas for what ight feature there in time -

• A collection of handmade paper buttons

• A collection of handmade origami tiny pockets

• A collection of handmade textile brooches

• Glass jar bottles with tiny messages of creative affirmations

• A collection of scraps from my handmade paper tied together with hemp string

• A collection of hand decorated tiny shells from the shore

• A collection of pendants made from pottery fragments collected from the shore

• A collection of beaded bookmarks made from broken jewellery

• Some bundles of smudge sticks using herbs grown in my garden

• A collection of miniature prints

• A collection of soy wax room fragrancers

• A set of affirmation cards

• Sets of miniature handmade paper bunting from my own printed papers

• A collection of stitched inchies

I could go on…….

So, it is safe to say that the long awaited printer’s tray is weaving its own version of magic in my creative space and in my creative mind. If you have any suggestions do share as I feel like this might take up many, many hours of my time. Already, I can be found measuring the spaces and gathering resources to pop into my micro studio van to take out and about with me. I drive to places where there aren’t any other folks, park up, pop the kettle on and get making. Once home, I can be found dashing through the door to see if my latest make fits the space I have reserved for it. I hope my joy is translating through these words and to the person that gave up this tray only for it to find its way to me, thank you. Thank you.

Until next time,

Fiona xx

If you would like to support my work but don’t want to be a paid subscriber (and member of my Book Artist Studio) I give the option of buying me a coffee. I am saving for my next trip away in my van. Thank you. xx

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Soon after delivery, I was working away inspired by these small corners of the island and I spent a wonderful spring and summer creating art in the van. In autumn my creative world changes as it is the time of year when I really focus on my Etsy store. To be fair, I focus on it all year round but autumn brings a rush of sales that doesn’t stop until I close my store in mid December for a very well earned break. I began my Etsy store in 2020 and since then I have had 2.8k sales and that really blows my mind. I have the best customers in my world and I am so pleased to welcome them back to my store over and over again. Through time, I have got to know many of my customers well and, beyond the store, I also work on commissions for special events/people.

This year I am working in my wee studio van, Willow, and her tiny size has affected what I feel inspired to make. I used to make a lot of jewellery but gave that up some years back. However my wee van has brought working with beads back into my life. I work with recycled beads from broken jewellery that ends up in the island charity store but then can’t be sold. I collect from them and pop a donation in their charity box and more beads are rescued.

I am also finding that I love to stitch in the van. I make my coffee curl up in a blanket and lose hours stitching away.

Making in the van has become my wee sanctuary. I am a mother of four with three adult children still living at home so taking off in my van gives me some peace and quiet. I have a heater in my van and lights meaning I can work all year round. The island will quieten now the school holidays are over in Scotland so parking in my favourite spots becomes easier. I have them dotted all over the island and, once parked up, the dog gets his walk first. He has a bed in the front of the van and he then curls up for a sleep and I work. We have an excellent routine going. Of course, I have a wonderful home studio in my Gathering Workshop but the van offers me uninterrupted time and that is precious to anyone who makes things.

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Making for my Etsy store is one of my favourite elements of my creative business. I pour a lot of love into what I make and then package up before sending off the island to new homes. I am passionate about handmade and at this time of year you can also find me at markets and fayres purchasing gifts for family and friends from fellow makers. I always have a coffee and something lovely to eat as I work away. I usually have the side door open and folk pop their head in for a wee look and in those exchanges an idea was born. I have my best ideas while eating toasted crumpets.

Going forward I have some emerging plans focused on my van. I would like to do a series of pieces based on a couple of sites on the island that I hold very dear. I would also like to introduce other folk to my studio van. In the late spring and summer next year I hope to set up a making table outside the van and invite folk to pull up a chair and make something to take away with them. I will always be able to offer them coffee and tea and a slice of cake or even a toasted crumpet!. I see this as an extension of my Gathering Workshop so we might even gather some natural finds first. I am letting my new Gathering Workshop finds its people by word of mouth more than anything else. No flashy website or social media campaign. I have a newsletter, a facebook page and that is about it. If you ever fancy visiting the isle of Arran I can recommend my sister and her niece’s Arran Shepherd Huts that have recently opened and are pulling in amazing reviews. If you plan to come and would like a workshop just message me as I am sure I can sort something out if I am on the island. You might even like to work outside the van!

My wee studio van seems to have brought the ‘small’ into my world and I am really enjoying that different way of thinking. Small numbers of folk at workshops, small makes in the van, small places to park up and a real sense of the intimate. Perhaps this is a reflection on the time in my life when I have done all the large gatherings, workshops, exhibitions etc and now I am happy to work small.

Many years ago I read an article in the Country Living magazine about a maker who lived in Wales. All year she created beautiful handmade Christmas decorations and then she opened her website in October and closed it by the end of the month having sold everything. I made a promise to myself that one day I would do something similar and my van has provided me with the perfect place. In 2026 I will be making Christmas decorations all year ready to add to my Etsy store later in the same year. Like my inspiration I will be stitching many but I also want to work with natural materials gathered and dried from the island I call home. I just have one rule - they must all be made in the van.

I will be sharing my creative journey here if you would like to follow on. If I shift up a bit you can even join me for a coffee in the van. Let’s see how I get on. Thank you for supporting my creative journeys, Fiona x

My Etsy Store

My Digital Etsy Store

Thank you to the folk that have bought me coffees in the last few weeks. Of course I can make coffee in my van and I do. However, I also like to support the local coffee shops on the island. I use the funds donated to literally buy coffee! Your support is so touching.

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• A seasonal creativity Patreon community

• A Book Artist Studio for paid members here on Substack

• An Etsy store that I limited to items ‘made on the road’ for the duration of the trip

• A Payhip digital store supporting seasonal creativity in young and old.

I am delighted to share that I managed the entire portfolio from the van and no one was more surprised than me! There was a wee bit of structure that spoke well to this outcome. While hubby did the morning van chores I worked and that meant that when he was done we were free to get out and about discovering the beautiful Scottish Highlands as we went. But what did this ‘work’ look like?

In bed with my morning tea was the time to update my micro Tumblr blog for those folk most interested in my travels. Once up and about I it was time for emails and messages before I set the table up to work on my art projects. Having a foldable table turned out to be a great investment and made working from the van easier.

Finally, it was time to wrap any orders from my Etsy store and consult google maps to find a postbox.

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Once that was all done it was time for morning coffee while we consulted the road atlas to decide where to go next. I didn’t expect it all to go as well as it did but I had given it quite a lot of thought in preparation and I think that helped. The art work was joyful to create in the van as hubby took the dog for yet another walk! I would have liked to set up studios outside but the weather didn’t allow for this so that is a small ambition yet to realise. Despite that, I found that I really enjoyed painting in the van. I created a small piece as a dedication to the souls who lost their life on the Culloden battlefields.

I was also working on a zentangle concertina sketchbook as part of my Substack Book Artist Studio. On the reverse I made a wee line sketch of a peninsula overlooking the Summer Isles and I thought I would revisit that at home. Then one day I sat in the front of the van with my supplies and before I knew it this piece was well underway.

This was far beyond what I thought I would engage in and I think this is due to being totally surrounded by such beauty on a daily basis. As we travelled in the Highlands around every corner gave us special moments and I just wanted to capture what I could while on the road. The other element is that in this month we ‘stepped off’ our everyday lives and I think that cleansed my creative brain. Now home, I can truly see the value of that process.

I also spent much time gathering specimens from the landscapes we visited and I had a wee A5 clipboard with me that became my van ‘nature table.’

I also gathered plant material to make Tussie Mussies and dried them in the van. I now have them home ready to make some souviners from the trip with. What joy!

In the evenings I wrapped a blanket around me and stitched for another creative project for the Book Artist Studio. In this season we are taking a wee look at pages within books and I wanted to explore the relationship between fabric, paper (recycled book page) and stitch.

Stitching in the evening quickly became a favourite hour or so of the day and a super way to end the day.

So my experience of working in the van and running the digital elements of my portfolio was very positive and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I am already thinking about the potential of future projects in the van. I made a small collection entitled ‘Forage’ for my Etsy store that I am really pleased with and I would like to explore how my travels influence what I create further. We are planning a trip to Wales in the spring and I will be interested to see how the work develops from that changing landscape.

Beyond that, I have my beloved micro studio van, Willow, that is perfect for the island. If you want to follow on I will be taking folk with me on field days around the wee Scottish island I call home. She is set up so well for working in and I blend a walk with the dog with time spent in the van creating. I used to make jewellery and have recently become a little obsessed with rescuing beads from broken jewellery so I hope to work on some pieces in Willow in the coming weeks. To date, my favourite thing to create in my studio van is handmade books and many have already found their forever homes.

Moving forward I am even more excited about creating work ‘on the road’ and where that might take my artistic voice. We shall see. I hope this piece has been useful to anyone considering working creativity from a van and/or running a digital business. Despite being in many remote areas connectivity wasn’t an issue when we were away. I had increased my data allowance for the duration I was away and that meant, as long as I had signal, I could work quite well. It did mean I worked most days but only for limited time and organisation was the key to that. I packed my art supplies in open baskets so I could grab things at ease as space is limited. I was pleased that I used most of the supplies I took with me meaning that careful planning is also important. I packed my supplies away out of sight when not working in order to keep the van workable as a small living and working space.

I do have a real sense now of what can be achieved in a van and that will be helpful in future trips. I have returned home with a strong sense of what is next. What I would say, however, that I missed my face to face teaching. During lockdown I shifted all my teaching online and a big part of it is still there. But, more recently, I have been doing more face to face teaching on the island and it has been joyful to re-find that dynamic. I have come home with a strong intention of re-opening my studio as a workshop space, the gathering workshop to be precise. The plan is to spend some time outside observing, recording and gathering before moving into my studio to continue the creative journey. I will keep you posted.

Of course, when you have had time away you come home with a natural energy for change and so hubby and I have been busy setting up my new workshop space and this is a big change from the much slower van life. Perhaps we need a bit of both in life - time for slow and gentle days and other times charged with excitement and energy?

I am off to pop the kettle on….

Thank you to all who have bought me coffees in recent times. It is so kind of you and I hope my shares are useful.

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Until next time,

Fiona x

What a trip this has turned out to be. I don’t think either of us thought it would be this good or this life affirming. Having successfully stripped back 30 years in the first few days of this van life experiment we went from strength to strength. However, the fact that we are actually 60 and 61 meant that we have bought a bit of extra life experience to this experiment.

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Organisation verus intutitive flow has been the continuum we have moved along throughout this experience. If you are not organised in the van the space quickly becomes your source of stress and that rather negates the point of the trip. We wanted to ‘step off life’ just for a month or so and see where that takes us physically as well as emotionally. We quickly learnt that there is a place for organisation in van life and a certain amount of routine. This allows for a more peaceful experience but it also opens the door on intuitive flow. We wanted to wake up and decide where we were travelling that day and, in the main, that is exactly what has happened. We feel very lucky to have had this opportunity and so we wanted to squeeze the life out of it. I would recommend this type of experience to anyone especially if you are of a similar age. We have raised four children, home schooled them and ran several businesses and we needed to step off in order to create a wee pause. The pause is now beginning to feel more essential than perhaps we realised when we started out. Being a parent is exhausting and this break in proceedings has allowed us to reflect on just how far we have travelled through life together and what our shared journey has achieved. We will be returning with a much stronger sense of achievement as well as a stronger sense of what the future might look like. More of that in my next installment where I will be looking back to look forward.

Travelling to Fort William from the Skye bridge was, perhaps, the best run of the trip so far. The mountains and valleys are just too beautiful to describe and it made us both feel quite small. It is good to feel small in the face of nature from time to time. It is the scale of this part of the world that seems to slot things into perspective and we both felt grateful for the nudge to reflect on what is actually important in life.

Regular followers will remember that, as I began this trip, news reached me that a dear friend and ex colleague had moved to hospice care. On our first night in Fort William I was staring at this sun setting……

when I got the news that he had died. He was my age and his name was Olu and you would have all loved him. Everyone who met Olu loved him as his zest for life knew no bounds and he had the biggest heart a person could possibly have. As the sun set I dedicated this trip to him and promised to hold him close for the rest of my days. I tried hard not to cry as I knew he would roll his eyes at me but it was hard……

Some days later and I am more at peace and I suspect that is him waving a magic wand from wherever his spirit has found rest.

The combination of ‘stepping off life’ and losing a dear friend has made both hubby and I reconsider our future life and our present. Life has a way of tangling us up in knots as we pivot around all the different parts of our daily lives. However, our experience over the last few weeks has reminded us that it is important to simplify our lived experiences. In particular, I have a tendency to over complicate my existence and, with age, comes fatigue. Over time this fatigue is more than just tiredness as it speaks to me far more deeply than that. It is ‘life fatigue’ born from trying to hold onto too many threads when really I should be letting most of them go. I have come to the realisation that I might be a little scared to let all these threads go for fear of what is left. But this trip has shone a bright light on what is left. It is space and time to exist in a way that challenges a culture that encourages productivity over most things. I can tell you that now I don’t care how productive I am and, in fact, I am happy to string together a bunch of unproductive days. The intuitive flow I mentioned earlier has delivered this release and more and I will be forever grateful for this illuminating trip.

This might sound like we did nothing all day long for the extent of this trip and anyone who knows me well will know that is not the case. However, our intuitive approach to travel has filtered into my work brain and I found that I reached for tasks from my trusty art basket with a stronger sense that this was what was right for that day. I accidentally left my planner at home and it turned out to be a happy accident as I rarely planned anything for the entire trip. The big exception to this was asking google maps where the nearest post box was so I could post out some Etsy orders. I will be writing about how I worked in the van in my next installment.

Driving to Fort Willam seemed to cleanse my mind of unwanted clutter. If our trusty laptops need regular decluttering then you can bet our minds do too. Mine certainly does and so I have spent some evenings writing about what needs to go and what needs to stay. I thought I might share some of that -

What needs to go -

• A feeling that I need to work most days.

• My planner.

• A feeling that I need to know what is going on in my children’s lives - I do not need to know this.

• Sadness over just how many friends have died in recent years. I need to let them go.

• The need to feel useful. I am quite happy not being useful.

What needs to stay -

• Intuitive flow in each and every day.

• Our coffee shop pilgrimage.

• Time wrapped in a blanket stitching with the van doors open.

• Slow mornings even when van life is over, what on earth is the rush for?

• Belly laughing with my life partner.

So, a non travel installment born out of travelling through a huge and shifting landscape that created time to reflect. I don’t think we spoke for the entire two hour journey.

Fort William is a functional town servicing the needs of folk who love the outdoors. If you get a chance visit the Wild Cat coffee shop. Everything is delicious and everything is vegan. Also visit the Highland Soap company shop, cafe and gardens but maybe leave your purse or wallet in the car!

We are heading home as the temperature has dropped and we don’t have any heating in the van. It has been epic and next up I will be writing about my working practice and sharing future plans. My beloved mini studio van has been waiting for my return so if you fancy it you can join me as I make work in a teeny wee van around the island I call home - it is more than possible.

Until next time, Fiona xx

Thank you to everyone who has bought me a coffee in the last few weeks - you have literally helped to fuel this trip! I am so grateful.

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If I wanted to sum up this digital nomad experiment so far I would say that it has been ‘a journey into the unexpected.’ As I pondered in my last installment, it has been the people that have told the brightest stories, not the places. I am not a people person so that is a huge surprise. It teaches me to be more open to beautiful encounters in my life. Despite this, places still play a key part in a journey that seeks out new destinations, many of which have been on a wish list for quite some time.

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Absolutely top of that list was the small village of Applecross on a remote peninsula connected by single track roads that demand the best from the driver. Folk that know me well will be glad that it was not me driving. I have wanted to visit Applecross forever and, in my head, even imagined relocating there. I love remote. The peninsula itself is absolutely stunning and there is no getting away from that. The problem begins there I think as it is included on the NC 500 route and, as a result, is extremely busy with vans like ours and bigger meandering their way along these tiny roads. These roads are not built for vans like ours and I began to understand the problem as we dipped in and out of the NC 500 route. We aren’t really following it but some of the places we have visited are on the route. I can’t speak for the communities but I can understand the tension that must exist by being included in such a popular tourist route. Tourism is now the main driver of these very rural economies now fishing and agriculture have all but disappeared. However, it comes at a cost and that is laid bare in Applecross. As you enter you are met with more signs than are necessary telling you not to park here or there. There simply isn’t enough public parking for all the folk that want to visit and this causes a tension. There are also signs about protecting the Machair but I was pleased to see these.

The village is no more than a hamlet that simply can’t cope with the traffic that visits. There is a campsite but sadly that is far below what is acceptable in modern day camping and the whole place just felt overwhelmed and a little sad. The NC 500 has cost this community dearly I would say and this is not the first time we noticed that on this trip. We are obviously part of the problem but it wasn’t a problem we were tuned into when we started this journey. We need to mend our ways and we will.

Having left the Applecross peninsula we began our travels south in earnest and quietly and gently visited Plockton for a short while frequenting shops and purchasing gifts. Plockton was on our way but we were much more tuned into the downside for communities feeling the heat from over tourism. We headed for the Croft Cafe in Duirinish and fell into a conversartion with the owner about locals being priced out of the housing market and the area being full of second homes. We have the same problem on our wee Scottish island. The food at the cafe was just wonderful and I highly recommend a visit.

So, it has been a bit of an awakening in this phase of the trip at the cost of tourism on beautiful spots in Scotland and I am not sure what the answer is. As a nation we have not invested in our agriculatural or fishing industries so can we blame folk for turning to tourism to pay their bills? I would say, however, that routes such as the NC 500 probably cause more harm than good in the bigger picture. It has been a sobering lesson for us.

Despite these moments of pondering van life continues to be just wonderful. There is no other word for it. I think we thought it would be far more of a challenge than it has been especially given our joint ages of 121! Routine and organisation are our new buzz words in order to make each and every day easy to navigate. Hubby is taking on lots of the chores and in that time I work. That means that when all the chores are done we are free to roam and roam we do. Through mountain passes and in and out of forested lands we travel always delighting in the small moments along the way. People have not featured highly the last couple of days as places have stolen the limelight. We seek out forest carparks as favourite places to stop for coffee and take the dog for a walk and we never stop for the night where we are not wanted. Apart from campsites we have used forestry carparks that are happy for over night stays in return for a small fee or small park ups away from communities. We have left no trace at every stop we have made and even collected litter on beaches and in woodlands to dispose of it properly.

Each evening we spend some time chatting over our days and focusing on what they have taught us. This experiment has taught us so much about what is possible rather than what is not. It continues to suprise and delight in equal measure and it will live within us forever. Hubby and I met in 1984 and became a couple in 1986 and that is 39 years ago. In that time we have raised four children and this trips has made us feel that we are back at the beginning of our life journey all over again. I think that is because we are so far out of our comfort zones. I have had to learn how to work from a tin can with four wheels and hubby has had to learn how to fill day after day with no work commitments. These are not easy changes to make and yet they have been easy to achieve and this has surpriised us. It all speaks to the benefit we have felt of removing ourselves from our daily lives and pitching up somewhere else. I think as we age we are, sometimes, less willing to do that, preferring to lean into what we know and trust. We find comfort there, or at least I find comfort there. Living and working out of a van and travelling to new places has taught me that I can be comfortable in different places and, with comfort, comes contentment.

Speaking of comfort I need to report that we sleep so well in the van. It was the bit of the experience that worried us the most. Neither of us do well off poor sleep. Our bed has to be made up each night but we invested in a mattress topper and that has made a big difference. But I think living a life largely outside has made the biggest difference as we are physically tired when we go to bed at 9pm most nights which is really early for hubby. We have found that some road noise doesn’t botter us but high winds do as the van shudders and shakes all night. One night we escaped to a campsite to sit out a big storm and even there we had a disturbed night. In the mornings we fling the back doors open and drink tea in bed and establish a rough plan for the day. Joyful.

From the start we knew we wanted to eat well and continue a health kick we established back home. Hubby cooks fabulous van meals on two gas rings but we do have to shop with care. I am vegan so getting things like oat milk has not be easy. Coming south from some of the remote areas up north we were running very low on supplies but hubby still made it work. I have been surprised how well stocked small village shops have been for the vegan diet but you do have to dig a bit deeper into your purse as prices are generally higher.

So sleeping and eating have been managed with some flair I would say but our best finding is just how much we have walked. We are both keen walkers but it is suffice to say that our relatively young border collie is looking forward to some sofa slumber on our return. We have walked more forest paths than we can remember now and meandered along one beautiful beach after the other. Scotland draws your inner walker out of you and we shall always be grateful to our evening walks that have been some of our most special moments.

In another installment I will be focusing on how I have worked from the van and what I have produced along the way. This has been the biggest learning curve for me and I have much to take away. I set myself the challenge of running every aspect of my wee business from the van and I will be sharing just how I got on with that challenge very soon.

Meantime I will close with some beautiful blooms from Plockton that appears to have its own micro climate and is still in summer bloom. Until next time, Fiona x

If you would like to support my work you can buy me a coffee and I will probably use the funds for fuel in the van! Thank you. xx

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There are places in the world that, I think, shape how we see the world and our place in it. Gairloch on the west coast of Scotland is one of those places for me and it has already found a wee corner of my heart that I was happy to leave there as I departed. On the face of it is quite unremarkable but if you dig a little deeper you quickly realise why it is special, but perhaps only to a few folk. It is on a beautiful stretch of the coastline and the village does have some lovely white washed cottages and all of that gives it merit to the traveller.

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However, for me there was a small coffee shop and book store that totally stole my heart. Using coffee farmed by Bob Marley’s son the concept of this incredibly special place shouts freedom of expression, at least to me. As I walked in I didn’t have the usual issue of finding something to eat as a vegan as I knew, in advance, the cook bakes vegan scones. I met her and thanked her for including me in her busy baking day. The decor is rustic but welcoming and the coffee is a whole story in iteself. We all know about Bob Marley’s music but do we know that if he hadn’t charted a career in music he would have been a coffee farmer with the intention of bringing fairness to an unfair world?

His son thinks he is living the other side of his father’s dream and has founded Marley Coffee and what a treasure it is. I am a huge fan of coffee and this trip has become a pilgrimage to coffee shops. The Gairloch Mountain Coffee Company tops the lot and by a long way. When I began this trip I thought it would be all about seeing spectacular places and it is but there is an unfolding story that delights and charms its way through all the single track roads and tight bends. The people we are meeting are adding their own flavour to the story of this trip and some of their own stories shine so brightly. The folk that run this wee corner of Gairloch as well as the Buddha by the sea (closed when we were there) are a bit special. In another life time we ran a fair trade store on the island so we understands what it takes to do this and how important it becomes. Fair trade is now more common that it was back when we were in that part of the retail world. This wee business on a rocky outcrop in Scotland understands the importance of trading fairly but if you wander into their bookshop you discover that they understand a lot more than that.

Everywhere you look the shelves are full of books that ask all the important questions in life and even supply some of the answers. Books on climate change, solo travelling for single women, children’s books that speak to the environment, classic tales that have become timeless and so, so much more. It is an education just walking around the store. And then there are the wee Buddhas…..Folk probably know by now that I am a Buddhist having taken Refuge many years ago and already have a lovely Buddha collection at home. I am about to re-open my home studio as a Gathering Workshop in order to offer nature inspired and resourced workshops to islanders and visitors. I wanted to purchase a Buddha from Gairloch but I didn’t anticipate just how long it would take to choose one. I will share him soon.

There were other enchanting elements to Gairloch not least the shoreline and the museum but I will be back for the coffee and, in doing so, support a business that defines what ‘trading’ should be about. If you get a chance to visit Gairloch you certainly won’t regret it and the drive in and out is spellbinding. We had two nights at the Sands campsite to do laundry and use the wifi so I could work and the sunset encaptures what I feel about this space.

Onward and we had two nights wild camping and found ourselves deep in a nature reserve that has a beauty about it that knows no bounds but more of that in my next installment. It is turning out to be a fascinating experiment in working from a van and I have so much to say on that subject. Until next time, Fiona

If you would like to support my work you can buy me a coffee and I will probably use the funds for fuel in the van! Thank you. xx

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As I start this piece I am a little lost for words which can’t be a good thing! We are just over the half way point of our digital nomad experiment travelling around Scotland in our rather old and battered van that we love so much. This trip has already delivered far more than expected and we both feel very fortunate to be able to do this. Hubby works in a business that encourages travel and therefore banking leave and taking unpaid leave is perfectly fine. As you know I am a self employed artist so I have flexibility built in. We are taking our chance and giving it a good go and I am pleased to report that we may have lost 30 years in doing so. Somewhere along the rugged coastal roads we realised that we had stopped putting obstacles in our way and everything seemed possible. Looking for wee corners to have coffee in became more important than most things and washing in the van with a bucket became normal. It only took a few days to reach this point and that, in itself, teaches me more than I have probably contemplated so far.

For my part being able to work from the van has been joyful. I have two subscription communities (here and Patreon) and I did pre-record some of those offerings as they were vlogs. Writing in the van is absolutely fine as is seeking out pockets of signal or wifi to upload. However, it is the making of art that has been the most transformative and I don’t think I expected that. Sadly, working outside the van has not really been possible as the Highlands are a very blowy place but there is still time. A visit to Culloden Moor inspired a piece that sat with me for a few days as we trundled west. The battlefields were covered in seedheads, far too many to ever be able to count and it provoked a feeling of deep loss in me for all the souls that lay undiscovered in that beautiful place. I wanted to create a piece with seedheads where they were turning to seek the light.

Enough said.

Our travels have taken us down more single track roads than I care to ponder over but the destination is always worth the journey. We discovered one of our favourite places on the planet after a particularly long single track road - Port a Blaigh campsite was a destination of choice for a couple of nights and it really is a magical corner of the world. We met a lady emerging from the sea that moved to this wee place 40 years ago despite there being no infrastructure but that is why she loves it. The campsite shop is nothing short of epic as it fuels the local community as well as those passing through. I am vegan and I rate it one of the best stores I have ever visited.

Great wifi meant I could work from the van overlooking a beautiful shore and later, go for a much needed paddle.

Travelling north was our default mode so we headed up the coast stopping off for coffee and seeking out good spots for the nights. Durness was a destination but en route we discovered this……

The beach at Achmelvich Bay is absolutely stunning and if you walk a wee bit further from the carpark you get it all to yourself. Excellent. We are travelling in and out of the NC 500 and I can quite understand why so many locals regret being on this route as it is campervan city and, on the whole, we avoided the very busy places. I am not a fan of crowds.

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Durness was at the end of yet another long stretch of single track road but, for me, it was the most ‘real’ place on the journey so far. The local spar shop was off the scale in what it offered community members and visitors alike and the coffee and sandwich from Cheese N Toasted has no comparison. However, in my world it was the craft village, Balnakeil, that truly took my breath away. All the artisans live and work in what was MOD buildings. I loved all the studios but one, in particular, captured my heart. Cast Off Crafts is home to a lovely lady who took up residence 14 years ago. Like me, she works with waste materials and never throws anything away. A charming oasis of beautifully handmade items and inspiration that will last a life time. Please visit if you can.

I have supported lots of makers on this trip so far, just as it should be. The tiny craft shack honesty box was another favourite and it has given me the idea to do something similar….

I am writing this from a campsite in Gairloch so that we can do laundry etc and continue to sit out a nasty storm. It means I can upload this and anything else I need to do. The drive here was nothing short of spectacular but I do think you must be quite hardy to live out here as it would be bleak in the winter. Beautiful but bleak.

From here we are heading to the place I have most wanted to visit in the UK - Applecross. Ever since I watched Monty Hall’s exeprience of living in Applecross for 6 months. It captivated me and then I found a beautiful property for sale nearby with access by boat….goodness was I tempted. We have a night in a glamping pod on the peninsula to look forward to but not before travelling to Torridon and Shieldaig.

Living and working in the van has taken on a routine of its own and hubby and I are just going with the flow. The world beyond this experience feels a long way off and it has been so good for the soul. Now we feel like we are 30 something rather than 60 something. We wake with the dog jumping on the bed at silly o’clock and have tea in bed with the backdoors flung wide open. We wash with a bucket and have become experts at using google maps to seek out public toilets! We drink far too much coffee but walk for miles every day. Chores are still taking forever to be completed and we are fine with that. We problem solve throughout each and every day and I find some quite moments each day to work. As an artist I gather as I wander and then start from there. Van life suits us well even when a huge storm hit and we had to retreat to a campsite to sit it out fearing that the van would topple over (not sure about that experience)……

The whole experience so far has reminded me to be humble and grateful but, at the same time, be more willing to live outside what I perceive to be my comfort zone. It might only be a short experiment but it has already taught me so much more than I believed it could. The strength I am gaining from this travelling time will, no doubt, live within me forever.

Until the next installment.

If you would like to support my work you can buy me a coffee and I will probably use the funds for fuel in the van! Thank you. xx

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We have only been on the road for 3 days as I write this but I did want to try and capture this digital nomad experience as it unfolds and we move through different stages.

We are in a campsite in the Cairngorms National Park spending a few days with our daughter and her partner. The weather has been very kind so far so we don’t feel we have been tested on that front yet. We expect to do a mix of wild and campsite stays during our time away. Maybe if we were a bit younger it would be all wild but we do like a hot shower! We have a couple of portable solar showers on board but are yet to try them. The other benefit of staying in a campsite is wifi and that is useful (but not critical) to this experiment.

Because we are visiting family I hadn’t planned to work these first few days and had pre-recorded things to give me that space at the start of the trip. Being flexible comes naturally to me after years of working as a freelance artist so this is nothing new. We are also experienced van dwellers taking every chance to get a way for a few days. We never tire of waking up, making morning tea and flinging the back doors of the van open to greet the day. This is endlessly captivating and how all our days should begin. Our view these first few mornings has been this line of pne trees with a woodpecker and lots of red squirrels for company.

Moving around this part of the Scottish highlands immediately shifts our sense of scale, space and our place within this spectacular landscape. I think it is important to feel small in nature from time to time to remind us how unimportant we are. This week published a podcast I was fortunate enough to be in (if not now, when) and in that I talk about our relationship with the natural world. This becomes acute when you inhabit a large space like the Scottish highlands that just fills you with a sense that we are part of something much bigger than us. Those that know my work well will know about my interest in place and space and how they are capable of shaping identity. In the podcast I also talk about the importance of asking ourselves good questions and I include in that ‘what do we want?’ and, more importantly, ‘what do we need?’

Navigating the world out of a van brings this into a clearer view although hubby might have something to say about the number of art supplies we have with us! He would, in fact, probably be right. I already feel that some of the things I have packed I may not use…… don’t tell him I said that though. I like the simplicity of van life. I like that everything seems to take ages to achieve and that that is a good thing. You can’t rush your morning routine or your evening routine and inbetween everything just tumbles out of the day.

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I have been a landscape artist for many years and I appreciate just how important it is to sit and stare at open landscapes. It has the capacity to still and quieten our busy minds and that was the case when we went to a RSPB reserve to view the birdlife, other wildlife and the place they all call home. What a place to call home.

Taking each moment as it is intended rather than living within moments is another slight shift on conventional wisdom. I don’t think us humans should be so concerned about living each and every moment. I think we should be more interested in letting moments filter around and through us and taking the time to just sit and stare sets us all on the right pathway. A pathway with endless possibilities and endless joy. Living in a van offers that to us in spades as the mobile nature of our existence makes each day a journey.

I have become preoccupied with micro versus macro worlds and find they both have equal merit. The natural world is my teacher of choice and she never fails to impress. Who doesn’t love a good teacher? Living and working from a van also teaches me how to live within both those worlds in pursuit of perpetual curiosity. Moss kingdoms speak to my spiritual mind that seeks evidence that living things have passed through this space before me and will again, after me. In my world moss is a kingdom that sits quietly on the planet but for which we should be so grateful. The life that moss supports makes it a special part of the planet we all call home. In the Highlands we have encountered a lilac hue to the moorland heather not seen on our island. I welcome that difference as it makes the heather softer somehow and, given the special habitat that it is, there is a place for softness. Ground nesting birds would probably agree with me!

Finally, let us dwell on the concept of planning. Some folk love to plan. I do not love to plan. Therefore living in a van speaks well to me especially if I don’t plan. The minute I overplan the experience takes a different shape and I lose my sense of contentment. My days find me rather than the other way round. I respond to the changing weather and shifting locations with relative ease and that makes van life easier. As I write the only creative activity has been stitching in the evenings for a community project i run back on the island. However, once family time is over I will be working in my sketchbook, art journal and more as I travel. I can’t wait. Working in and around the van helps me to see the world I live in far more clearly and I think that refreshes my creative mind. You might have to be the judge of that.

If you want to follow my small updates head over to my micro blog over on Tumblr and I will pop up here again next week with far more to report and consider.

Will be back soon….Fiona xx

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If you would like to support my work you can buy me a coffee and I will probably use the funds for fuel in the van! Thank you. xx

Every year is the same for me. As the days shorten and the light begins to fade I am mindful of childhood dreams about the old curiosity shop that Dickens invented. I made it into something far removed from his version and, over the years, it has reached deep within my creative world and influenced what I create. This year is no different. A couple of years ago I took this a stage further and created a small corner of my studio and made wee items that would not be out of place in my old curiosity shop. I took the idea and the photos to my facebook page and promptly sold everything on the shelves. I think I might just have tapped into a collective understanding of the old curiosity shop.

In my shop everything has a purpose and everything is either recycled or upcycled. With a bit of a magpie spirit I made wee pouches, notebooks, candles, bookmarks and more that would, pretty much, all fit in the palm of my hand. One thing has always been missing from this annual creative journey and that is a printer’s tray. Have you seen the prices of these on marketplaces? Then, last week, at the village market the stallholder next to me took one out of a box and popped it on her table. In less than a second I was off my seat and had it in my hand. Tentatively enquiring how much she said £5. £5! The deal was done in another wee second and I don’t think I stopped smiling the whole day. It is not large measuring only approximately 15x9 inches but, importantly, it has 30 wee spaces in it, each needing to be filled. So the challenge begins as I carefully measure the sections and begin my plans.

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If, like me, you believe that everything has a place and a time this printer’s tray arrived in my life just as I am packing our van for a month away testing out the life of a digital nomad. I won’t be allowed to take it with me as I am already pushing my luck with all my art supplies and a small Etsy stock box. However, all I really need to know is the dimensions of the spaces that need filling. I had already planned to make small items when I was travelling so this printer’s tray arrived in my life just at the perfect time.

So begins my Old Curiosity Store and the joyful creative journey that it demands. I always find that setting some simple boundaries around a creative project leads to better outcomes, for me at least. The other boundary is that no two things should be the same and my final consideration reminds me to recycle or upcycle as much as possible. I can feel my creative cogs and my dreamscape of the old curiosity shop has taken residence in the front of my brain. We shall see where this takes me and I will share here as I go.

When travelling I want to work with the notion of a portable studio and set up outside as often as Scottish weather permits. If you want a more regular update on how this trip and wee creative project is going you can follow my tumblr micro blog HERE.

We are off to visit our daughter, , for a few days and take some time to decompress. When you decide to take a month away there is a lot of work that has to go into making that happen and hubby and I are both a bit frazzled. Molly lives in the Scottish highlands and she has a super bookshop and cafe right on her doorstep. That will do nicely. After that visit we then head north west to Ullapool and then north again from there. This is designed to be a slow wander along the west coast of Scotland and possibly along the north coast. Once we turn round it will be a particularly slow route back.

I have already shared that I am going to operating my full business portfolio while travelling and we shall see how we get on. I think that might make an interesting share in itself? Thank you to those of you that have already found your way to my new digital Payhip store - I recognise some of the names from here in my customer list. That is very kind. I do apologise that my Etsy store looks so sad but let’s hope I can find some time to make for that shop as well while away. That said, I already feel the Old Curiosity Store dominating my creative thinking.

Next time I pop up I will be on the road so let’s see where that takes me. May I take this opportunity to thank you all for your support of my corner of the virtual world. I am hugely grateful. Until next time, Fiona x

Thank you to the folk that have bought me coffees. I have saving that wee pot of money to help support this trip. Yes, I am the kind of person who still has a piggy bank!

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This is one of the most magical times of the year as the days shorten and darkness finds our evenings. I am always ready.

To create small lights that just illuminate the immediate space around them is captivating. These small lights remind me to go through the ritual of changing my spaces in my home ready for the quieter months. My tiny sewing room is always hanging out for its annual declutter and organise and my studio is waiting for its autumn make over. Even my sofas are aching for their warm blankets made by my late grandmother. It is time for woodland walks and gathering and an autumnal wreath for my kitchen. These rituals help to welcome a new season and feed my creativity.

We might be weeks away from setting our open fire but that doesn’t stop me getting ready. I nudge hubby to gather and chop wood and I make natural firelighters from things I gather from the forest floor.

My handmade kitchen fireplace is my pride and joy and I never tire of looking at all the small pieces of pottery gathered from the shore.

I am settled…. However things are a little different this year.

The wood is not chopped and the firelighters are ready but packed away for now. The sewing room is a mess and my studio is not having its autumn makeover. The blankets have not appeared on the sofa but they have been washed, dried and folded and are now in the van. The exception to this lack of autumnal preparation is the lights. There is never a good reason not to light candles and pop strings of lights in hand decorated vases.

Our preparations for autumn this year are all about a month long trip away in our van. It is an experiment. I look at all the vlogs and read all the blogs about folk that live a digitally nomadic life and I wonder how easy it really is?

Well I am about to find out. I started moving my art business online during covid as many folk did and I haven’t stopped. During lockdown I discovered online teaching and decided I quite liked it. Since lockdown I have set up a Patreon community and, last year, a paid Substack virtual Book Artist Studio. More recently I have set up a Payhip store for all my digital downloads. In 2020 I set up my Etsy store and it has been a real success that I am very proud of. Earlier this year I got a new micro van that my daughter’s partner converted into a studio for me. I added a new collection, on the road, to my Etsy store that only includes items I make on my travels. So, that is the picture of my business now and now the whole thing is going on the road.

In reality, I have been building towards this for a number of years and when I turned 60 I gave myself a good shake - if not now, when? What was I waiting for? So, I am going to give this my best shot mindful that if it works more trips could be on the horizon. We are travelling slowly taking in all that the west coast of Scotland has to offer. We might venture further but, to be honest, plans are more than sketchy and that is deliberate. We want to wake up in the mornings and figure it out from there.

I am going to be doing my normal blogging here but possibly more frequently, possibly not. However, I am going to record my travels and experiences daily (as I can) over on a new micro blog on Tumblr and you can follow that HERE if you are interested. The writing will be relatively easy in and around the van but I am not sure about making new products for my Etsy store will go or finding post offices for any orders. This is the bit that excites me the most though. I have been planning this for some time and have a range of small projects planned and we shall see where they take me. I am going to set up my portable studio in as many beautiful places as I can find. In the wider picture I am interested to see how this trip feeds my creativity.

I don’t really understand the concept of happiness as I feel it is difficult to grab hold of. However, I do understand the concept of contentment and I hope this trip will offer me that as I figure out each day as it arrives. We could have planned a much more ambitious travel but that would defeat the object of this particular exercise. We want to visit places we have talked about forever. We want to wander, not charge through the experience and we want to do it all slowly.

With a week to go the packing has started in earnest and while hubby grapples with gas bottles and setting up a larder I am figuring out just what art supplies will fit in the tiny boxes he has given me to pack with! Less has to be more or this will not go well. Hubby has a brand new atlas and a red pen at the ready as we are going old school on that front. We are starting by going off the top of the island before travelling to Oban and then diverting across country to spend some time with my daughter and her partner. From there we head to Inverness and the rabbit run up to Ullapool. Once there, that is the furthest northerly point we have visited in Scotland. We will meander further up the coast before probably turning round and travelling slowly down the coast back to Arran. As hubby says we could do this in just a few days but why would we? His red pen is seeking out forests, lochs and beaches and the kettle will be on most of the time. He makes the best cup of coffee in the world. Our wee border collie, Frank, is coming with us as he has lots of new sheep to discover and lots more stones to chase into the sea.

Scotland is a remarkable beauty. Let’s see how this goes. First the packing….

Until next week, Fiona x

I have loved postcards for as long as I can remember. I loved collecting them until very recently when I decided to gift them to my customers a few years back in their Etsy orders. I am at a stage when decluttering is very important to me. Besides my collection, I love sending them and I love receiving them. Once they arrive with me they sit on my mantlepiece for a few weeks before being cut up and used in my art activities. They do not go in any bin!

Sending postcards is such a beautiful thing to do. I am sure we are all familiar with the racks of postcards when we are on holiday….However, I am not really talking about those types of postcards. I am talking about handmade postcards that we make with a person or people in mind and then send out. I have shared before my passion for letter writing and I still have my snail mail buddies. There is also a space for postcards I think and perhaps the world might just be lighter if folk sent postcards to each other? Even in the darkest of days it is still lovely to recieve a thoughtful postcard and if it is handmade all the better.

In a recent offering I promised you a postcard and it is below if you would like it. The pdf has a couple on in case you would like to gift one.

Pcard1thistle

5.1MB ∙ PDF file

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This postcard is from a recent trip to Kintyre - the place I decompress in. Our wee Scottish island gets very busy at this time of year and I find that a bit overwhelming so we take the van and pop over the water to Kintyre. Once there, we park by the shore, fling the back doors open, drink coffee and chat. This time, however, I took my work with me as we have a month long trip planned in September so I wanted to test out just how I would manage working from the van. In that time I created your postcard.

Kintyre is a rugged place and a place that feels very real to me. In the south agriculture hangs on as an economy and in the north wee hamlets dot the coastline. Car parks are rare but there are plenty of places to pull over and tumble onto the shore with ease. The shore is awash with wildflowers at this time of year and the sheep stick their heads through gaps in the fence to see what we are up to. You can walk for miles and not encounter another human being. This is my type of place.

I do some of my best thinking in Kintyre and always return to the island with a new sense of purpose. Working in the van turned out to be joyful and easier than I thought. However, it didn’t take long before I was setting up my wee portable studio outside in wee corners out of the prevailing wind. It gets very windy on Kintyre. When we are away in September I will be seeking out small spaces to inhabit and create a working space within and will share how I get on with that particular challenge here on Substack.

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While working away I found greater clarity on how to present my newly updated paid Book Artist Studio space so I grabbed a pen and recorded it visually. Back home I have created a wee mind map showing the different elements folk can expect to pop up in our virtual studio space, I hope it is helpful?

I have a very large cupboard full of a life time of making books, creating art journal pages and my beloved sketchbooks. This Book Artist Studio gives me the perfect place to share all of that as well as working alongside folk on new projects. I have had a flurry of new members so a very big welcome to them.

On this trip I also promised myself that I would release my digital workbooks/tutorials in a more organised way. I began teaching online during the pandemic and haven’t really stopped! This is my world now and it suits me well. Each class came with a digital workbook so I have finally tidied some of them up and popped them into a brand new store over on Payhip. I hope this will allow folk the opportunity for a creative nudge from time to time. I have lots more to add in time. I am grateful, once again, to Kintyre for giving me some time and space to think more clearly. I wonder if other folk have places they go to help them think more clearly?

Back on the island I now have a month to get organised for my trip away. I look at folk who are digital nomads on Youtube and even here on Substack and I am naturally curious about just what this might be like. I have a saying that many of you know ‘if not now when?’ I am adding onto that ‘you are never too old’ and dipping my toe into the world of digital nomads. I am going to run my Substack, my Patreon community and bits of my Etsy store and all of my Payhip store from the van. I want to make new work in new places and I want to record the experience so I might have some references to reflect on when I return to Arran. I am quite sure there will be challenges along the way but I have just ordered a comfy mattress topper and a brand new metal teapot so all will be well! I am not a happy bunny rabbit with little sleep and a distinct lack of well made tea.

Back in 2013 I wrote a blog a day for a project that focused on three different writers living in different parts of Scotland. I thought that it would be a blogging mountain to climb but it soon became an important part of the day. In fact, ending that very last blog post was actually quite hard. Rest easy I won’t be blogging every day here on Substack and tirggering lots of emails! If you would like to follow this wee experiment you can find me over on Tumblr where I will try and share small thoughts and some photos as the trip unwinds. Once home I will work up a reflective piece on the whole digital nomad thing….

Of course most of you know that is my daughter so I feel I have the very best ‘phone a friend’ option for those tricky moments. We both have micro vans that we love but in this trip I am going in hubby’s much larger van. I think a month in a micro van might kill off our 34 year marriage!

So, with postcards in mind I think this would be a lovely way to share so expect a few of those to pop up as well. I also think they would make a super way to record quick sketches as we pass through places that we note we want to spend more time in at some stage in the future. I had better get back to the planning and getting organised. Until next time, Fiona x

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Firstly (and importantly) can I welcome all the new subscribers. I have had a real flurry of new folk wandering along with me interested in their seasonal creativity for which I am very grateful.

Over the last few weeks I have introduced myself to a new medium and it has had some surprising results. Whenever I shift medium there is always the chance that this will happen. It somehow manages to refresh the way I see things around me. This time it is watercolour brush pens and I feel like a beginner all over again. That feeling brings its own energy. I didn’t spend a lot of money as I wasn’t sure if this medium would be for me. I bought the Staedtler brand of 18 double ended brush pens thinking that these would be useful in my studio van.

On the island honeysuckle has had the best year in my memory and I am now already gathering the stems to dry for weaving projects later in the year. The fragrance from the dying flowers still lingers though. I began my journey with these pens focusing on the honeysuckle when it was in flower and scenting the pathway beyond my garden gate. I quickly discovered that these pens like a wee bit of freedom because the moment you add water to the work it takes on a life of its own. The pigments are strong and, at first, I was a bit too careful. I also tried too hard to control but as soon as I pushed through these two barriers I felt a new sense of freedom. The last time I felt like that was when I used Derwent Inktense blocks on fabric. It is truly a burst of positivity.

I am slowing filling up a sketchbook with these pens and it isn’t even watercolour paper. I am saving that paper until I feel ready to graduate! In my wee studio van, parked up in a small corner, I am painting away with these pens and they are releasing the most beautiful memories of summer. I grew up in Cambridgeshire which is a very agriculatural part of the country. During the summer holidays I spent a lot of time on my own exploring hidden woodland paths and criss crossing newly harvested fields. I collected wee specimens from my wanderings and took them back to my bedroom. There I would sit a while and make small books with drawings in them. These books were sellotaped together and stored in an old shoe box under my bed. These were happy moments.

Somehow, working with these pens have taken me back to these long summer days but this time my memories have so much more colour and energy about them. I remember collecting wild flowers in the field beyond my school and pressing them between book pages. I remember the day I found an old, damaged bird’s nest on the footpath and took it home. I made eggs out of plasticene and popped them in the nest. I remember watching wasps building a nest on the side of a fence post only to return a couple of days later to watch them flying in and out of it. In all these memories my new pens appear to have injected more colour and I suspect that is something to do with the concept of freedom. The freedom I feel when I work with these pens now connects me to the freedom I felt as a child growing up in the countryside and spending a lot of time alone. My parents both worked so we were left to our own devices. While my siblings slept much of the days away I was up and out with the dog exploring. Fast forward 50 years or so I am still up and out with the dog exploring and bringing specimens back to my windowsill.

I have never been convinced of the term ‘growing up’. I am not sure we ever really do but what I do know is that our inner child remains with us for life and it does us all the power of good to remember to play. This is where my sketchbook comes in. It is my creative playground and I always encourage my students to keep a sketchbook. This is often met with resistance grounded in a belief that drawing is beyond them. My answer is always the same. How much have you practiced your drawing? Then there is mumbling and we smile. Sketchbooks are about drawing and, with time, the joy of improvement. However, they are much more than that. They are about colour and experiment and the joy of not knowing where we are heading. In my paid Book Artist Studio space I am introducing sketchbook practice as I see it and how I use it in the hope that it will encourage others to find the joy of play once more.

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Sketchbooks in my world tell their own wonderful stories and suggest their own considered outcomes. They are the place that I have the most freedom and with these new pens I actually feel I could take flight! They have reminded me that anything is possible and that staying with the same medium for a while can really transform not only our art but how we view things. I could not have known that these pens would create a viewfinder into my childhood and space for me to look back with joy. I thought they were just a pack of felt tip pens…..

I was in the island charity shop and I spotted a pencil case that someone had obviously hand painted so I bought it. My special pens (as I now refer to them) deserve something better than a cheap plastic wallet. How quickly have these pens pulled up a chair to my creative table and they are, indeed, perfect for my van studio. I am off for a few days to the mainland and my pens will be the first in my artist satchel. I promise I will send you a postcard.

Until next time, Fiona x

Someone bought me a coffee this week to thank me for my writing. How incredibly kind.

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