Halcyon nights
Halcyon nights in London...
Inspired today's sketch. As a young person with a dyed-black Louise Brooks bob, I spent several years living in a beautiful house in London that was filled with chaos, creative people, and a few mice in the kitchen.
My paintings cluttered up the upstairs landing – people used to have to clamber around them to get to the bathroom.
Every Sunday evening, my house-mate Simon would organise a jazz themed jam session at the local bar.
Musicians would roll up like moths to a little stage-shaped flame – guitars or drumsticks tucked under their arms, and write their name in Simon's book.
These nights were always immense fun, and I remember one singer in particular, for her charisma, take-no-prisoners attitude, and amazing voice. Sharon – I hope you're still singing!
Pearl
Mysterious creative partner
When I put pen to paper, I literally have no idea what will happen.
I just start moving the pen, and images emerge on the page. And so to me, it sometimes feels as though my creative practice is not something that comes from within me, but something that comes through me.
It's as if this 'creative energy' and I are collaborators. In order for this to be a fruitful collaboration, I have to hold up my end of the bargain by keeping myself creatively fit.
This means working on my craft – studying, practicing, researching, training, reading, mining seams of inspiration - but most of all, just showing up at the page or laptop, whether I feel like it or not.
This means taking care of myself in a bigger sense, too – to help ensure that I am emotionally fit enough to handle the inevitable challenges that will always come with perusing a creative practice.
This idea has always been vaguely hanging around in the back of my mind, but was never fully articulated until I saw a TED talk by the writer Elizabeth Gilbert, in which she explores this exact theory. I thought – yes! This makes a lot of sense to me, and helps me to keep a healthy perspective on the work that I do.
I'll paste a link below if you're interested in hearing her speak yourself – I think it's about 20 minutes long.
Good Queen Bess
She was really very un-PC.
But never-the-less, I am a huge fan of Queen Elizabeth I, because I find her brand of 16th Century Girl Power inspiring.
Searingly intelligent, steely, wily, courageous, witty and a style icon to boot – the woman credited for transforming England from 'the arse of the world' (anonymous) to a country worth reckoning with, definitely had something special going on.
Even though she never married, apparently having said, better beggar woman and single than Queen and married - 'Elizabeth enjoyed the attention of young male courtiers like Thomas Heneage, Christopher Hatton and Walter Raleigh, and later Robert Devereux, earl of Essex, all of whom flirted their way into the queen’s favour... The king of France joked that one of the great questions of the day was “whether Queen Elizabeth was a maid or no”.'
Emma Mason
And so, on this festival of St. Valentine's, may I refer you to the fabulous 'Queen Bess', who didn't do things by convention.
My original painting of the Queen now lives in an amazing water's-edge apartment with an extraordinary couple, but prints of the piece are still available at the link below.
Pearl
http://www.pearlbates.com/prints/elizabeth-print
Dancing up a storm
My life was changed on my eighteenth birthday...
…by art. Specifically, it was a ballet piece called, In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated. It was created by the American choreographer William Forsythe for my favourite dancer, Sylvie Guillem.
I was an odd teenager, which would explain why I was at The Royal Opera House rather than the pub but my goodness, I wouldn't change a thing.
I'd never been to The Royal Opera house before – in fact, I had never seen a performance by a world class company like The Royal Ballet before. But I'd read an article about Ms Guillem and seen some photos of her extraordinary legs, and I was intrigued.
And so, I found myself ensconced in the red velvet and gold-gilt cocoon of the the ROH auditorium. I can still remember the sense of hushed anticipation that fell over the audience as the lights dimmed, and the famous curtains swept back to reveal a bare, dark stage. I even recall the faint smell of cleaning solution wafting out to us.
And then... the goosebumps. Followed by a feeling of being catapulted into the next universe.
I'm really excited to discover that the English National Ballet will be performing this piece again this spring. And so, if you haven't heard of him before, I'd like to introduce you to one of my favourite artists, William Forsythe.
The link below will take you a three minute clip from In The Middle on YouTube. Enjoy!
William Forsythe
A kind of magic
'Really it's up to you,'
said Freddie Mercury. 'It's amazing what what the human being can do ...
'For me, the most important thing is happiness; to be happy. And if I'm happy, then it shows in my work. And if I can make other people happy - turn a grumpy face into a smiley one, even for just half an hour - then to me that is worthwhile.'
Freddie Mercury
Pearl
Inch by inch
I've had a few people ask me how I'm getting on with the writing.
I shared with you recently how I tried to go from a standing start to 2,000 words a day – maybe not so smart! I took some advice from some friends and have decided to calm down with the word count quota.
Inspired by my nephew's toilet training sticker chart, I have created something similar for myself, but for words!!
I have set myself a target of 500 words a day, but every time I pass 1,000 words, I get to add a new sticker to my chart. It's really fun to have a good excuse to treat yourself to stickers.
More often than not, I find that I can actually hit 1,000 words, but I don't beat myself if I don't manage it.
I heard about how comedian Jerry Seinfeld did something similar to help him keep up with his writing. Every day that he completed his writing task, he marked a red 'X' on his calendar.
"After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it, and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain," he said. 'Don't break that chain!”
People always tell you to break things down into smaller steps – and as a visual person, I've found that visual cues like this can really go a long way in helping me to get things done.
Inch by inch, anything's a cinch.
Pearl
'Friends' and gritty passion
The great thing about being ill,
is that you feel perfectly entitled to slob around with your box set of Friends. Friends might not be everybody's favourite, but for me the show has always been perfect escapism. In the world of Friends, everything is safe, reasonably predictable, and prettily coloured in hues of purple.
In the special features section, I found a 'making of' documentary. And I discovered that there was nothing escapist going on behind the scenes.
The word passion gets thrown around really easily these days, but wow – I was fascinated to learn about whole squads of writers working on thrashing out scripts through the night, often going on until 6am. About set builders throwing up sets and tearing them down again according to how the stories were developing. About the painstaking post production process – foley artists throwing rice around in a little sound-proof cupboard, editors agonising over which shot to go with...
all so that I can sit in bed with a packet of Jammy Dodgers and chortle my way through another episode.
It takes passion to get through the grit and create magic. Thanks, guys!
And, here's the drawing I said I would share with you today:
Pearl
The right trousers
I was in London this weekend.
A girl stood in front of me on the underground, and I noticed she was wearing some interesting trousers. Three-quarter length, they were black, pleated and silky-looking. I thought about seeing if I could track down where she got them from.
The next morning, I saw another woman wearing the same trousers – and in the afternoon, I saw yet another pair on someone else!
Clearly, I cannot wear these trousers now. But – it kind of goes to show that whatever you focus on, you see more of.
Magic gadget
Alright. I confess.
I was in a technology shop yesterday, the branding of which is named after a fruit. I've always used their products – partly because I'm a sucker for elegantly designed things and partly because I am a technophobe. They're easy to use.
This brand is famous for its slick, sleek and shiny marketing – and as a result, their little gadgets have wormed their way into the very fabric of modern Western culture.
I picked up one of their newest phone models, inwardly marvelling at its perfectly bevelled edges. As I turned it over in my hand, the screen lit up and three adjectives appeared – I can't remember what the first two were, but the third one was 'magical'.
I thought, wow – even when you're at the cutting of the newest, most modern ideas - magic is still where it's at.
Pearl
A little bird told me...
I spent the evening working on this painting.
You may remember her from a few weeks ago. I'm not sure that she's done yet... but at least we managed to agree on a way forward.
I'd started out with a vague idea of creating 'a beautiful woman', but it just wasn't coming together.
When I pulled the piece back out and looked at it again, I realised I was feeling completely uninspired by the 'beautiful woman' idea.
It had to be about something more - there had to be a story.
My painting's stories are always a bit vague - but there's a notion here about a circus performer. I wonder why she joined the circus? The bird is telling her something... but I'm not sure what yet.
I'll let you know if and when the answers come to me,
Pearl
Rowing a bath
Ugh.
So yesterday was a clear day I had set aside for writing – I woke up with acres of uninterrupted hours ahead of me. What a luxury. I'm working on a writing project that I've only spent eight years on so far, but to be fair to myself – it has passed through quite a number of transformations in that time as I work on honing this craft.
And yesterday, I set myself a target of completing 2,000 words, because that's the target that Stephen King hits every day. I can't find the exact quote just now, but in his book On Writing, he talks about how it's important to write a book quickly – 'because writing a book is like trying to row a bath across the sea' – or something like that, and this idea has really stuck with me because it feels very true. You don't want to start sinking.
Not long ago I was sticking to a schedule of writing 2,000 a words a day myself – I was burning through the word quota within a couple of hours. But yesterday – blimey. It took me ten hours – ten hours, I tell you – to manage 1,327.
And so I thought, what do you do when you feel discouraged?
Well. You get up the next day and you start again.
Pearl
Secret spaces
Today's message comes to you from an amazing, secret, magical place.
I'm in my Dad's writing studio, where his best-selling books were created – I've been granted permission! The studio is tucked away deep among the trees at the bottom of the garden, and as such, hasn't been used for a couple of months.
But I was in need of a desk with an internet connection today, and so I set off through the wet grass and leaf litter with a torch and a key.
Behind the creaking wooden door, I found a small but beautiful space. Bookcases neatly stacked with amazing books line the walls, a few trinkets of personal meaning sit on a broad, inviting table, and spiders lurk in every corner.
If struck me how, if you have a creative practice, it's important to keep some kind of space set aside for that special work. Even if all you can manage is a beautiful pencil case with your favourite pencil inside – that's a powerful message to yourself, and also to your creative muse. It's a signal that the work you do has value to you, and that you intend to make room in your life to nurture it and to grow the magic.
Pearl
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Spineful
I love spines.
There's something I find beautiful about the thread of bones that snake down from the nape of the neck. Looking at the spine in a skeleton – and not just human ones - I can't help thinking to myself, what a wonderful piece of engineering.
I'm also interested in the notion of 'having a backbone', or of someone being described as 'spineless.' Maybe I could coin a new phrase: spineful.
The other evening I saw these vertebrae-like marks on the road, and they inspired this little sketch...
Pearl
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Electric magic
'You need to build an ability to just be yourself and not be doing something,'
'That's what the phones are taking away,' said American comedian Louis CK. 'The ability to just sit there. That's being a person.'
I hear of a lot of disparaging moaning about how people these days are glued to their phones, but I see it from both sides. There's a lot of magic tied up in these little boxes of metal and plastic. From my bed, for example, I can have a conversation with someone who is standing on a subway platform in NYC.
This just blows my tiny mind. We are living in a real-life Blade Runner.
However - the internet is still down in my house, and I'm amazed at how 'out of touch' I feel – and this sense of anxiety about not being able to leap into this vast pool of distraction whenever I want has been a little disconcerting.
After all – I use this invisible magic sauce to stay connected to you, don't I? So it has to be a good thing.
But I'm being forced to find more interesting things to do with my downtime than noodle around on YouTube. And it's in these moments of just 'being a person' that some interesting ideas for stories and pictures have come to me.
I've had the headspace to hear them knocking on my door. So maybe this internet hiatus hasn't been so terrible...
However. I'd be lying if I didn't say I can't wait to get connected again :)
Pearl
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Tree imps in the fog
Walking home last night was almost like being on a beautiful film set.
All around me, everything was twinkling with frost.
My feet crunched on the brick pavement, strangely noisy in the thick silence. A heavy fog had rolled in, like a wash of intense watercolour – china white mixed with a dab of indigo.
The street-lamps shone through the fog like gleaming beacons.
And then I looked up and saw these dancing branches – I thought they looked stunning.
And when I think of them now, I can see them morphing into leaping, giggling, gangly-limbed imps...
Pearl
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Kitchen inspiration
Without wanting to get too Gwyneth Paltrow on you...
I don't really agree with drastic dieting in January, but a few extra veggies can't hurt!
And then I noticed how amazing these colours were...
Pearl
Colour me, me
When I was at school, I had a brilliant art teacher called Mr. Stratton.
I was among the first students that he taught and as such, he fondly referred to us as 'the Stratton Originals.'
Apart from having to suffer the indignity of being the only girl in the group, I really enjoyed his classes. He used to let us play rock music while we worked.
One day Mr. Stratton looked over my shoulder, and saw that I was painting a tree. I was about to paint the trunk, and as I reached for the tube of brown paint, he stopped me.
'If you look properly,' he said, 'a tree trunk is not really brown. It's actually a mixture of all sorts of more subtle colours.'
I've never forgotten this little nugget of advice – now I will always look to see what colour things really are before I will go with any preconceived notions of what colours things should be.
And if you want to get philosophical about it, maybe you could apply the same principle to people? Hmm!
Pearl
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Discord in colour
So I began a new painting today.
I had a vision of how I would like it to have turned out – but that's not what happened.
I forgot to photograph the process, but basically, the painting and I ended up having a huge row. So I took a rag to her and wiped all the colour off.
We are having some 'space' and will speak again tomorrow.
