Autumn… the branches are becoming more naked by the day as leaves fall, spreading their gorgeous golden cloak far and wide.

I love this time of the year.
I love change. I love all that it brings.

Dark nights… to me they mean thick, cosy jumpers and open fires… marshmallows and home made soups. I have twice made garlic croutons this week alone and the slow cooker has come out of the cupboard once again, tempting me to fill it with flavours in the morning; its promise, in return, to fill my home with mouth-watering smells and delicious delights by evening.

Animals hibernate and our instinct may be to do the same… to turn inward, curl up and hide… to remain indoors as much as possible, crank up the central heating and stay safe and warm. Do you feel that way?

My own instinct has always been otherwise. When the nights draw in I feel the need to get out… and whilst the call of the open fire is there, for me, this is also the season of woodland walks and misty morning photo opportunities. It is the time I encourage the kids to go explore… to pile on the layers and go seek out the magic that nature has to offer… the free food of fallen chestnuts being one of the highlights. Picnics do not stop when Summer ends and our most memorable picnics have not been the sunburned spreads on picnic rugs, but the soup in a flask, savoured whilst perched atop little mound of earth half way on a snowy walk.

But it is not only the urge to get outside that overcomes me at this time of year, it is the desire to connect… to reach out… to learn new skills, make new friendships, feed my soul, warm my heart.

And so, with this in mind, I took my lovely artist friend Laura out for coffee last week. We went, for the first time, to a cosy little coffee shop which had been recommended to me because of its art exhibitions. I had set up an informal meeting with Karen Mercer, the owner, to discuss the possibility of running an art workshop there and, as the morning progressed, an impromptu gathering of artists occurred. In this cosy little space on a railway platform in Enfield, My Coffee Stop became the meeting place of artists, all squeezed into this tiny space: my friend and I, Karen and her partner Gunter, her brother, his wife, an illustrator and her partner who designed and made mugs… all of us coming for coffee, but making surprising connections and discovering common ground.

There and then, the wheels for the first art workshop were put in motion. A date has been set, bookings are being taken and I am gathering the materials and bursting with ideas for The CREATIVE SPACE Workshop. My desire, for this first evening workshop is to gather together a small group of people, not hung up on creating a perfect piece of art, but open to the idea that art can but fun… that they can find joy in the process, connect with people through simple, creative exercises that put the emphasis not on the outcome, but on the process… to live in the moment, take pleasure in simple mark-making and feel free to experiment with materials without fear of making a mess or a mistake.

It is small steps like these – removing the expectation, going back to a childlike joy in creation, being brave enough to start something – anything – that has freed up my own creativity and it is this sense of creative freedom that I wish to pass on.

Will you join me for an evening of art in a cosy little coffee shop on a railway platform and see where the journey takes you…?

Connect, create… don’t hibernate!

I do hope you can make it!

With love,

Julia x