Sketches and Snippets

What can I say about this...? It was supposed to be a lifestyle shot for the most recent print to be added to my Ko-fi shop, but as you can see, this little fluffy one has stolen the show! I’d really been missing having a cat around the house, and was lucky that I chose just the right time to call Lothian Cat Rescue; they had 10-week old kittens almost ready to go, although they stressed that they would not hold onto any kittens for us, and they would have to be checked over by the vet before they could be...

It’s true. I do like stuff. Not just any old stuff… but I acquire things and am often reluctant to let them go. I live with a man of similar habits. Our home is a modest two-bedroom semi-detached cottage, built around 1910, to house mineworkers from the local Lady Victoria Colliery. The pit closed in 1981 and subsequently became home to the Scottish National Mining Museum. The cottages continue to be popular both with people local to Newtongrange and Edinburgh commuters seeking more affordable property. We’ve been living here for 15 years, always changing things around, striving to make the...

Today I have something I'm quite excited about to share with you.  As a thank you for all the fantastic support you've given me over the years I've created something special just for you.I made this design 'Flying High' last year when I was exploring a coastal theme and learning how to use Affinity Designer software to create digital designs.It's now available for you to download FREE or pay what you want from my new Ko-fi page  https://ko-fi.com/julialaingstudio  Or you could choose Blue Rope Tangle, which is also FREE. If you're not familiar with Ko-fi yet, it's a site where...

Summer holidays are far too short. Hands up if you agree! It's been more important to me this year to get outside and spend time in the sun and fresh air. Feeling those warm rays on my bare arms and face has been sheer bliss after such a crappy year. At the end of spring, the long winter combined with lockdown had left me feeling pretty low and physically awful from spending far too much time indoors. I wondered what I could do that would put my health first and decided to spend July and August in the garden drawing...

What creative pastime have you always wanted to try? Whether it's drawing, photography, embroidery, designing your own clothes, planting a flower bed, designing cards, making patchwork quilts - whatever it might be...the best time to begin is today! If you want to form a creative habit but haven't got around to it yet, it's likely you are putting obstacles in the way. I've certainly done that before. Although I studied art for 4 years, leaving art college with an honours degree in painting, and eventually becoming a self-employed, designer/maker, I deeply regretted neglecting drawing and painting over the years. Every...