I'm back! - Sketches, Holiday photos and July plans

Hi everyone!
I am back from our holiday!

We came back on the 27th of June, and had a couple of days to settle back into our lives, unpack, refill the fridge, we had a family dinner...etc...and now, it's time to get back to work. :)

✿ OUR HOLIDAY ✿

We had a wonderful holiday, and I'll be honest, I feel incredibly sad that it wasn't longer. I would probably have needed at least another week to feel like the holiday actually happened, haha. It all feels like a dream!
Being home is nice, and I am excited to start creating again, but we came back to very noisy neighbours (who has band practice at 11pm on a Sunday night?! WHO?), the sound of the road all night, a hole in our bank account...etc....So life, basically, ha.
But the holiday was great. I'll put a few pictures below in this post! 

We went to Corsica, a french Mediterranean island I used to go to when I was a kid with my family, so it brought back tons of memories, and all the feelings I had about holidays as a kid.
I found seaglass, sea shells and eyes of st Lucia (a small "shell", that is in fact the operculum of the Rough Turbo, and is considered a lucky charm in Corsica, and can be found in jewellery shops, or easily enough on beaches around the island. I remembered finding some when I was a kid, and honestly, little excites me more than finding natural treasure, and I spent a good portion of my holiday time looking for those. And found so many! It makes me so happy!), swam in crystal clear blue waters, got stung by cute little jellyfishes, and bumped into an octopus I thought was a rock. It was tremendous. 

We went to two different towns, the first one was a historic citadelle town in the north of the island, called Calvi, and we were lucky enough to get an Airbnb in the citadelle itself. The picture at the top of the post is of the view from our bedroom. It was so quiet and so peaceful, it literally felt like it was healing my soul. Goodness, the feeling of waking up to faint church bells and the sound of birds, and the sea far below, was pure gold. I want to cry when I think back to it.
We stayed there about 4 days, ate delicious sea food, went swimming, read on the porch overlooking the sea, and generally did very little. It was the perfect beginning to the holiday.

Our path down fro the flat to the town

I tried to paint the view from our porch, but I failed somewhat, haha. I still learned a lot though. 

We then drove (well, I drove, as I am the more experienced driver) 4 hours down to our second location, Ajaccio, a bigger town in the south west of the island. The drive was incredible, we saw the inner island as well as the coast, alternating between stunning mountainy landscapes and breathtaking sea views with windy cliffside roads. It was simply magical.
I was quite worried about driving, since I have not really driven properly in France (it's on the other side of the road from the UK), nor had I ever driven a french car. We chose an automatic, so I wouldn't have to worry about gears, but I also never had driven an automatic, so that was also new. It obviously all went fine, and I am very glad we had a car, but that was an experience, haha!

Ajaccio was the main part of out trip, and our Airbnb was super lovely, with an extraordinary view of the bay, and only a 3min walk to the beach.
And honestly, we did nothing. It was glorious. We ate pastries in the morning, played board games, read, ate, went swimming, ate, drank spritzers and generally lounged around. It was amazing. 

The view from our balcony 

Ajaccio

It was hard for me to shake the guilt at the fact I wasn't really drawing or painting, but I had decided early on that I needed some time where I did as little work related activities as possible. I love drawing, it is obviously still a hobby for me, as well as a job, and is still my preferred activity, so I did a few loose sketches, that I'll insert below, but I was getting so close to burning out completely before we went on holiday, that I decided it would be better for my mental health to not put any pressure on myself to make art, unless it felt like the right thing at that moment.
I think it was the right decision, but it does mean I don't have much in the way of holiday art, or sketches, to show you this month, I am really sorry! 

Before we left for our holiday, my boyfriend gifted me some graphic novels, and I devoured them all within the first couple of days of our holidays.
I LOVE graphic novels, and I have often been asked if I would like to make my own one day. And up to now, I had always thought I wouldn't, that I am not much of a graphic novel artist, as I don't particularly enjoy repeating the same character design over and over, I don't think I would be terribly good at reproducing likeness, and I don't think I am skilled enough to convey dramatic emotions, movement, and action, in a way that would help an intricate narrative.
However, reading all these comics actually planted a seed in my mind, and I think I am definitely warming up to the idea now! We'll see...Maybe a bigger project for the future, who knows? I have always loved writing stories after all...

That's everything from our holiday!

Part of me wishes I was still there, on the beach, with nothing to do but look for shells and chase after octopuses, but I am also happy to be home, and I have a millions ideas for paintings and sketches, that I am excited to start working on and share with you!

✿ JULY PLANS ✿

First, I want to thank you all for your super kind comments on the posts that went up while I was away. It made me laugh when I saw you telling me off for posting. Don't worry, all my posts were scheduled in advance, so I wasn't working while I was away. I made sure to plan everything before I left! But thank you for your concern nonetheless, you are the sweetest! 

Now, July is going to be another very busy month, as I have to put together my 4 videos for my Strathmore workshop. I will be prioritizing this this month, as I have a contract to honor, but I will do my best to also keep up with my commitment to you, obviously, and I'll do my very best to get all your rewards out this month too. we'll see how it all fits together. 

You can read more about my upcoming Strathmore workshop here.  

Artwork

As always, I have tons of ideas for pieces, but given that my month will already be taken up by the course, I will probably run out of time to do everything, as usual (I always think the month is going to be way longer than it end up being, hahaha).
However, I want to submit a piece to the Beautiful Bizarre Art contest, which ends this month, so I would like to get Dust done. We'll see.
I also have an exhibition in London in August (in a Crypt!), for which I need to frame a few pieces, and I'll share the details with you soon.
AND, I also got asked to participate in a show in Portland, Oregon, and I should receive the supplies for it soonish, so I'll keep you updated about that too!

June rewards
I believe that the only thing I am missing for June is the painting for the print of the month, and sending all physical rewards.
I will be aiming to finish the painting this week, and have all reward shipped next week. 

The June Print will be of this piece.  

 ✿ REMINDER ✿ 

Quick friendly reminder that if you guys would like  print of this painting above, Aevum, you can grab one on my store, and as patrons, you get a 40% off discount with the code ONEYEAR. 

See the full post here :  https://www.patreon.com/posts/patreon-discount-27623174 

I also uploaded print of The Key, Fortitude, Unravelling and Moondust, for which your regular codes should be working.

You can find my shop here.  

That's all for now!

I hope you are all well, and that you had a wonderful summer so far. 

I have big plans for the next two months, and I'll share everything as I go along, I'm excited to be back!

Take care lovely people,
See you very soon,
Best,
M