What on earth am I doing?

I woke up this morning, (well I say woke up, I'm sure the cogs don't begin to turn until around 10am and thereafter I have a brief period till around 2pm before I start waning again. I have to utilize this window well.), wondering what the hell I was thinking of starting a blog. What do I write, how can I keep it interesting, should I use ploys to entice people in? Free coffee for every reader? And if you don't drink coffee well, you're in the wrong place entirely!

So now hopefully you are settled with your coffee, what can I say?
I don't refer to myself as  an artist, but art is kind of my sanity, my retreat after work or instead of some days. I have a fear of big open spaces, such as big blank canvases, much like a big empty blog. So if I paint I'm feeling brave, otherwise you will find me neatly in charge of a pencil. Plain old graphite, watercolour, pastel and numerous other types thanks to Derwent pencil factory! My choice depends upon my mood, much like my clothes and my choice of music and of course my subject matter.

I've yet to loosen my style in mark making, but I guess that's a learning curve and probably something that will happen with time. I think what would help immensely is to travel the world with a sketch book, taking photos, making notes, absorbing different cultures, different people and experiencing the new. How awesome would that be! One cannot stick within the comfort zone for too long, there's far too much to see and do out there and a lot of progression to be made.

For now here is a quick sketch I made a couple of months ago. Back in Zambia I made several visits to Lilayi elephant orphanage, run by the David Shepherd foundation. A valuable resource that rescues and rehabilitates elephant calves with a view to eventually releasing them back into the wild. I find animals so endearing and peaceful to be around and these little guys were no exception.

Hey this seems to be padding out quite nicely...there are quite a few words on the page now! Just don't look too interested otherwise I will blush and go all quiet!

~ Sarah

Moonlighting with Me.

So it's finally happened! I've created a blog and I'm loose and wild on the tinterweb, God help you all, go run and save yourselves!


For me this is stepping way outside of the comfort zone, that twilight area that scares the bejeebers out of me, but I'll do it anyway, because well that's just me. This is my space to do as I please, write, share art and be philosophical and as a thinker, there is no getting away from that. That said, this isn't going to be a diary and won't always be intended so literally.

It's been a rough ride in places and a leisurely paddle in others. I dare say the waves could get a hell of a lot higher, though even in the shallows I'm sometimes paddling underneath like fury, but I guess that's half of the fun of the ride and one of the only ways you will learn in life. Like I've learnt how fickle I can be with my art and writing. My ability to study, the way I run a business and the way I view the world (through rose tinted John Lennons or thick cynical horn rims). 

Just as an additional thought, this time last year I was coming to the end of a working experience in Zambia, the first big trips I hope of many more to come. I came home and fell headlong into Christmas. Before I knew it, I was picking my way through 2012 wondering what on earth had happened to my life and had I ever really come home? Many who know me well enough think not. So maybe there is a small part of me still residing out there, I'd like to think that part is running wild with the cheetah's! Maybe I left a small paw print and made a little difference somewhere out there.


My passions will become clear, so I will not bore you with reams of details this evening. So on that note I will bid you goodnight and leave you with a photo of my happy place. An old Italian family run establishment called the Rendevous cafe found on the sea front. Unchangeable in it's 1950's style decor and familiar faces; since being a toddler I've remembered jaunts along to the light house and back, followed by the best ice cream ever with monkeys blood! Happy days!