Life In April || On happiness, opening commissions and social media
Are we more than half-way through May? Yes. Am I just now sharing an April wrap-up? Also yes. Better late than never, I guess.
April has been a far better month than the last.
This month, I've seen an incredible improvement to my mental wellbeing after tweaking my working environment and leaning on my faith.
My shop has seen a few updates too and I’ve finally opened some commissions on my Etsy.
Although in a bit of a reading slump, I managed to enjoy some good books; I also watched good movies and listened to some good music.
And I’m now sharing a smattering of this month’s musings with you!
An (incredibly positive) update on my mental health
As those of you who read my previous monthly wrap-up will know, March was challenging.
All the stress from the past few months seemed to catch up with me all at once and quickly dragged my mental health back to a very difficult place.
You’ll be pleased to hear that April has been almost a complete mirror of that. I’ve been doing much better and I’ve mostly recovered from the depressive funk I found myself caught in last month. So, what happened? I’ll likely make a separate blog post detailing what exactly has helped, but to save you some precious time I’ll keep things short today.
As I explained in my last post, over winter I had been working as a waitress locally, and the sensory and social load that was placed upon me helped to push me to breaking point. After discussing the situation with my boss, I was able to shift positions at my workplace and so have taken on a back-of-house role throughout April, which has been amazing. Already, I feel like an entirely different person - or, rather, I’m beginning to feel like myself again after a few months of living as my chronically overwhelmed, anxious doppelganger. I’m no longer spending everyday dreading my next shift or recovering from the last. It’s incredible how much of a difference such a simple change to your environment makes.
But that’s obviously not the only factor in this rapid, positive shift.
A large priority for me through April was to place a greater focus on my relationship with God after realising how much I was trying to shut Him out whilst I was struggling. When I find myself in a low place, seeking God is the last thing I want to do: reading even just one verse from the Bible feels like a chore and, instead of bringing peace, sitting with my own thoughts in prayer becomes near torturous. I feel broken and, honestly, that brings up feelings of anger - anger that becomes directed towards God. So, I neglect to spend any time in His presence. Which is ironic, seeing as He is a God who brings healing and respite, and when I need Him most, I try to run from Him, desperately.
Making a conscious effort to spend time with Him through daily prayer and regular Bible study has worked miracles (funny, that) in bettering my mental health. I’m reminded daily of His faithfulness and love, even in my darkest moments.
'When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.' Psalm 56:3 (ESV)
‘"For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”’ Isaiah 41:13 (ESV)
'The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.’ Psalm 34:18 (ESV)
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:29-30 (ESV)
'You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness’ Psalm 30:11 (ESV)
'Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.’ James 5:13
Before I move onto the next topic, I also ought to add that I have been stepping away from social media, in an effort to lower my screen time again (which I have anxiously watched creep up over the past year). I’ve noticed that there is a significant correlation between my mental wellbeing and the amount of time I spend online - something which became apparent to me when I initially got rid of my smartphone a few years ago. Whether it is a cause or effect, I’m not sure, but when I’m uneasy, I often find myself spending a lot of time aimlessly surfing the web, consuming content, and using social media as a sort of pacifier instead of actually facing my uncomfortable emotions and actively shutting down self-destructive thought processes. As a result of this, I’ve made a decision to step back from social media in many ways, and I’ve been working to set up a newsletter to replace it.
As an artist, putting yourself out there is difficult, and whilst having an online presence can do wonders for building an audience, I feel that in order to reach that point I need to drive myself to insanity working for the algorithm overlords. I get this icky feeling posting on social media, knowing it’s something that I fundamentally despise.
When I initially started ScribbleWhiskers, I vowed that I would never set foot on Instagram, as I believed it conflicted with my values and what I wanted from a business, and I find myself back at that belief. I’m talking with my support workers about having help from someone to post on my behalf, or I may decide to dedicate one day a week/month to social media, but at this moment, I want to be rid of it entirely!
Obviously I’m not disappearing from the internet completely. I’m hoping to spend more maintaining this blog and I’m currently working on building a newsletter system.
If you want to see art that I’m working on, hear about what’s going on behind-the-scenes or read more from me, bookmark this blog or sign up for the newsletter here. Every month, you’ll get a look at new artwork, projects and writing, and I’ll share updates from my shop - also, you’ll get a 15% discount to use on my Etsy.
Shop updates: commissions and more wedding stationery
Speaking of my shop… I think here is a good time to highlight some of what I released last month.
Most notably, I have opened up commissions!
As of right now, I’m taking on house portrait commissions. This sort of bespoke artwork would make a fantastically thoughtful first-home gift, or housewarming present. Each piece is hand-illustrated and painted by yours truly, in my unique sketch-y watercolour and ink style.
It’s been a lot of fun working with my first few customers, and I hope to take on more as the months go on.
If you’re interested, find the new listing over on my Etsy.
I’ve also got another set of wedding stationery templates available to check out.
Based on whimsical wildflower meadows and spring days, celebrate the beauty of love with my new floral wedding stationery suite…
I’ve got two options available:
The basic suite: including a save the date, invite, and corresponding RSVP
The full suite: all of the above, plus a matching thank you card, seating plan and table cards.
If flowers aren’t your thing, I also put together a coastal, beach-y wedding suite, inspired by the enchanting South Devon coast I now call home - also available on etsy.
Painting my new home
Despite the fact that I’ve been here for half a year now, I’ve noticed that I still haven’t painted many pieces of my new home in Devon - in part due to the rough mental health slip I had over winter.
To rectify that, I began this month with a new painting, one of my new hometown, Brixham, and its wonderful harbour - including a few of the many fishing boats strewn about within it.
I’ve begun to slow down a bit more when it comes to putting together artwork recently, finding time to study a location a bit more before I jump into a full-on painting. I really enjoyed putting together reference photos and sketches for this one… here’s a look at what went down in my sketchbook before the big piece, playing with some new coloured pencils I received over Christmas:
A quick study in my sketchbook
Sketching places I travel to is fun, but I find it even more rewarding to paint where I live. I step away from my sketchbook with a greater appreciation for the area around me, and all its small pockets of delight. Now, when walking around town I notice how the colours of each building interact with its neighbour, or how rapidly a tree has blossomed and completely changed a scene.
Next time you are walking around your local area, see what you can spot. Where have new flowers sprouted? How many different shades of blue can you see? What building looks the most like a face? Pay attention to what magic exists around you, you’ll probably surprise yourself.
As I experiment with this new monthly format, I thought it would be nice to close April’s wrap-up with a little insight into what media I’ve personally been enjoying and what brought me creative inspiration from the past 30 days.
In future, I may offer this as a secondary blog post every month, but for now I thought I’d cram everything in here!
Read:
Unmasking Autism by Dr Devon Price. A book about autistic individuals that often remain due to habits of masking, the challenges of, importance and benefits of taking that mask off for everyone, regardless of neurodiversity. Reading this helped me to confront the tight mask I have built over recent months, and inspired a whole blog post that you can read here.
I also read Mansfield Park, which as all of Austen’s work was marvelous, but I must say I wasn’t a fan of the pairing between Fanny Price and Edmund. I found myself reluctant to pick up the final chapter, as I just didn’t want the two to get together! Miss Price was far too good for Edmund - something Austen even acknowledges herself - but I guess that is often a reality in love.
Now that I have officially finished all of Jane Austen’s major works, I can confidently say that Northanger Abbey remains my favourite. Spooky abbeys, a gothic-literature-loving protagonist with a wildly overactive imagination, and, dare I say, the best Austen love-interest of all time (he’s witty, he can enjoy a good novel, and he knows a thing or two about muslin. What more could you want?)
Watched:
The Magic Faraway Tree. I grew up forcing my tired parents to read Enid Blyton’s series to me every night, but I’m embarrassed to admit, I don’t remember a lot of the story - largely due to the fact that I was probably asleep for half of it! This movie, however, reminded me of the magic felt within what I do remember of the Faraway Tree, and just how important imagination, family and dreams are to all - regardless of age. Whilst I definitely don’t sit within the target age bracket for the movie, I enjoyed it immensely. Obviously, some creative liberties are taken to adapt the story for modern audiences, but I think it retained that Blyton-esque wonder… wonderfully!
Listened to:
I listen to a lot of the same music. Whatever I have stuffed into my record cabinet or loaded onto my iPod tends to become my life soundtrack, so I fear this monthly music section may become a little repetitive. Regardless, I think it would be fun to try and wrap-up this post with a small playlist of April’s musical obsessions… (plus, maybe it’ll push me to seek out something new for next month)
She Came In Through the Bathroom, The Beatles
Ebony Eyes, Stevie Wonder
The Unforgiven, Metallica
Behind the Sea, Panic! at the Disco
Smile Like You Mean It, The Killers
You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me, Frank Sinatra
Street Carp, Deftones
Again, Flyleaf
And literally anything composed by Clara Schumann
Moments of magic:
(aka inspiration of the month!)
Stumbling across a bird-hotel within a cliff-face along the coast path.
Watching wonderful movies.
The rainbow of flowers springing up in our new garden.
Sunny walks along the coast.
An afternoon reading at the steam railway, as pirates wandered by for the local festival.
Thank you if you read all of that - even if you just skimmed it. I wish there were a way to open comments to make a pathway for communication on here, but I’m not sure if it’s possible.
I’ll try to find a way, but until then, you can keep in contact with me through social media (for now), or by contacting me directly here. I really enjoy hearing your feedback, dearest readers.
Until next time,
Yours sincerely,
Owen @ ScribbleWhiskers
'You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness’
Psalm 30:11 (ESV)
