Notes from the studio. Issue one. This week sees me return to a normal routine. My children have returned to school and preschool and so I get my slithers of studio time back. I thought this would be a good moment to start to offer insight into my studio practice as I myself get back into the flow of creativity. I intend for notes from the studio to become a regular blog post title describing as many of the diverse areas of my studio practice as I can. September has arrived a

Book of Leaves In my research into the Japanese traditions of Haiku and Haiga, that have formed a basis for many of my own works, I found out about the book: Man’yoshu. ‘Collection of ten thousand leaves’, it’s a very early compilation of Japanese poems. An unique work of its time. It was the poetic resonance of the title that first struck me, I pictured (maybe too obviously) a tree in autumn. The title of the book can also be interpreted as a ‘collection of ten thousand word

I find them everywhere. Even in the most concrete, urban places somehow a stray leaf will have blown my way, giving imperfect balance to my day. As foliage, green, they are a part of the tree; the garden; the woodland; the forest. Fallen, on the ground, they are mementos of what was. The autumn makes this passage of time, the falling becomes a spectacle. The abundance of leaves is an accepted beauty, a time to pause and appreciate nature. Rarely the singularity of a leaf is