Hello and welcome to Sofa Snippets, a weekly roundup of bits and bobs from my life and work.
If you’re reading this in your email inbox, it might be too long and you might be prompted to read it on the website. Sorry!
This section is mostly about what my Morning Ink practice has shown me this week, and sometimes other general sketchbook insights.
This week’s Morning Ink has, as with most of week, been largely coloured (or not in the case of these early morning black and white drawings) by Covid.
Monday and Tuesday I drew very basic pages and on Tuesday, the Covid fog made spell the day wrong!
Wednesday I seem to have gone all in on mark-making – and trees!
Any the week’s Morning Ink included lots of trees and lots of flowers, two scenes, three cats (four, if you include the lion), two cups, a grid day and a pattern day. I am incredibly impressed that my morning practice has so embedded that I didn’t miss a day. I am sure that there would be a level of illness where I couldn’t do it, though maybe, even then, I would stamp the date and add marks of some kind.
I know that this practice is rarely an illustrated record of anything actually happening in my life. Maybe one day that’s the direction it will take, but it’s not right now. But, even so, it is a record. Of my daily state of mind in some way. Of my creative being.
Elsewhere, in sketchbook world, I am loving the little A6 sketchbooks I picked up and have one sat on my desk that I can pick up in moments between copy-edit sections or a the end of a big PowerPoint and draw a super quick, single picture of some kind.
Playing with colour and texture and shape and line. When I’m at my desk, I am literally surrounded by drawing materials. Though I am largely sticking with the small selection in the little espresso cup and the fountain pens that are permanently next to my keyboard, with the odd digging into the ridiculously extravagant new art supply purchase I made recently of all five new Neocolor sets!
(Morning Ink is a section of my publication that goes out daily. It is not automatically switched on for you so, if you want to see those posts whenever they are sent out you’ll need to toggle them on, via Manage Subscription.)
This section is what I’ve been doing illustration business wise - drawing, outreach, and so on.
I did manage a few bits and pieces… finished off a mini collection to send to my agent. I can’t show you the whole sell sheet, but I showed you a beetle last week and here’s a pattern that went with it.
I also did a very mini dive back into some personal pieces that I’ve left untouched for a few months, during the whole agency-joining period. I talked about this in a Note during the week, and it was interesting coming back to it having dug a bit deeper into my current process and style.
And I also finished off a poster for the agency, too. There’s going to be a big online client art show for art directors and art buyers to view hundreds of pieces of new work within a few curated themes. I’ll be sharing it on Instagram later in the week, but you get to see it here first. If you’re an art buyer of some kind (whether you license or commission art), let me know and I can send your details to Mel so you can get in on the viewings (VIP preview or ‘plain’ client viewings).
Other than that, I have done a very tiny amount of brainstorming for some more new agency art, but haven’t had the headspace to do much of that, really.
This section is about freelancing life, including what I’ve been working on with my educational publishing hat on and just general bits about working from home in a self-employed capacity.
Being sick is one of those times when you yearn for a ‘proper’ job. One that comes with sick pay. (American friends look away now, but over here, for the most part, you still get paid when you’re sick. There is something of a limit and there comes a point when you might only get a small amount, rather than your full salary. But, during my very very brief stints as an employee – I have managed a grand total of two years throughout my almost four decades of working life – I appreciated the ability to actually fully take time off when ill. Though I still felt guilty doing so and always went back far too quickly.) If I had a ‘proper’ job, I would have called in sick and took as much time as I needed to fully recover. (I do wonder, actually, if the prevalence of remote and hybrid working these days means that employers expect their employees back at their home desks sooner than they would their office desks – because the potential of spreading the germs is taken away.)
What I did, though, once I knew that it was actually Covid and not just a random summer cold, was to tell the client of one project (the one with a deadline last week) that I would need an extra couple of days due to having Covid and could I return the work on Monday instead. At that point, if she had said no and that they really needed on the original deadline I would have offered to return the half I had completed and see if she could find someone to do the other half, as there was no way I was going to be able finish on time, in that state. I did also have the potential to ask Chris to do some of it, though he was enjoying his few days off in ages after a stressful couple of weeks so I really really didn’t want to have to do that.
What work I did get done last week – and I was, necessarily, back at my desk on Wednesday – was pretty much entirely editing, with some invoices and scheduling admin thrown in. Wednesday went quite well. Thursday was slower. Friday was fine. Saturday felt really productive (as I talked about in this morning’s Morning Ink) and brought me back to realising how fascinating the book is that I’m getting to edit. I do love that about educational publishing work, though sometimes wonder if I shouldn’t try to branch out into non-fiction editing to get an even wider breadth of material.
And I will also be working today, and am genuinely looking forward to it being a productive one and getting close to finished on the copy-edit and ready to finish something else off next week. And I’ll also need to dig into a couple of other projects next week, in advance of a two-week development edit batch coming in after the bank holiday.
This is the culture section - mostly what I’ve been reading, but might also include TV and film and wider culture, too.
Yes, the theme of this week is mostly definitely how being ill affects me… I hated the full-on fever and brain fog when I couldn’t read. Reading is such a huge part of my life (not even including that it’s a massive part of my working life) and I get such a lot out of it, that I genuinely feel bereft when I can’t do it. That said, I am so grateful for the ability to audio read and did manage to do that on at least one of my bad mornings.
I did a huge amount of sleeping on Sunday and Monday and, by Tuesday, while still sleeping more than normal, I was able to colonise the sofa and watch This is Us and Palm Royale. I did not get very far with A A Suitable Boy before deciding to stop for the moment, until I have my own copy. I was enjoying it and definitely want to read it. I did find that the shortness of the chapters (or sections or whatever they are) made it easier to put down, rather than to keep reading. I know that I would have got past that with a bit more time, but I really need my own copy that I can bend in the ways I need to, without being worried I’ll damage it. All that said, it might have been more that my brain needed something different when feeling under the weather.
I switched to David Nicholls’s You Are Here instead, which is one of the books I picked up in Bath the other week. And that’s working very well. He’s very good at drawing out the little bits of everyday life and writing very relatable characters. And his books (all the ones I’ve read, at least) have that absolute pull to keep reading. The kind where, if you were on a long train journey, you would finish it by the end – or be really annoyed that you were on the final chapter when you reached your final destination. I’ve definitely done that and desperately got back to it as soon as I could after getting in the door.
And other than that, it’s just been more Mansfield Park on days where I could listen and draw (I had at least one day where I got to draw along to Minecraft videos as my youngest was hanging out in the living room, too).
I am really enjoying it and I am honestly not sure how many times I read Mansfield Park since having to study it for A Level. I have read Pride and Prejudice and Emma many many many times. And I’ve read Persuasion and Northanger Abbey a few times. I am sure I’ve read it at least once since A Levels, but I do think studying it to that depth put me off reading it more, rather than encouraged me to do so. Audio reading is perhaps a helpful gateway to re-reading it physically in a few months. And it also makes me wonder if it’s time to re-ready L’Assommoir by Emile Zola, which I studied to a similar depth at university. I have a feeling I did re-read it at least once since then, but it’s definitely been a while.
I think re-reading books at different points in your life is a wonderful experience and you see them in so many different lights. But, sometimes, the knowledge that there’s a copy of that book somewhere, covered in my pencil notes, makes me wary of re-reading. Maybe it’s fear of not being intelligent enough any more to get all the things you’re supposed to get. Or is it a fear of all of that coming back and getting in the way of just enjoying the read?
I would love to know if you have enjoyed re-reading books you studied deeply at school or university, of if you’ve avoided them.
This is the Substack section - Substack posts or publications that I’ve particularly enjoyed over the past week.
I don’t think I’ve read a massive amount this week, though have definitely done a fair amount of scrolling Notes. (I think I also did a bit too much scrolling Instagram, which almost never happens these days, but it’s definitely an easy thing to do while feeling rotten.) I did a bit of a dig into Philippa Perry’s archive. By the way, I am pretty sure I still have some free months to her publication to give away if anyone wants one.
Two posts that I’ve particularly enjoyed later this week, once my brain was back up and running were:
and
This is the food section - meals I cooked, new food I tried, places I ate out, and other food-related bits and pieces.
Food when ill. One of my most common feeling ill comfort foods is the Co-op Mac & Cheese. But I still appear to be sticking to being vegan (I am convinced I will be switching back to ‘predominantly plant-based’ soon, but it never seems to actually happen) so I got Chris to grab me some soup instead - he got the butternut squash, coconut and chilli soup, which was absolutely perfect (I can’t find a link, sorry), though I should have split it between two meals. I did also have at least one day (I think it might have been Sunday) when I just went on a deep dive into the freezer, eating lots of Strong Roots stuff dipped in vegan mayo.
By Wednesday, I was well enough to cook and desperate for something proper. So I made my spicy sausage and tomato pasta (which I don’t think I’ve made an illustrated recipe of yet, so I will put that on my to-do list). And almost everyone ate some of it, which meant there was only enough left for lunch the next day.
So on Thursday, I made my spicy tofu and tomato noodles (yes, spiciness is definite theme at the moment, though especially when ill).
This one I do have an illustrated recipe for, although I have adapted it since then and almost always put courgette in rather than edamame beans (if I’m my eldest isn’t likely to want any, I’ll throw some of them in, too, but she really can’t stand them, so mostly just leave them out).
Yesterday, I went back to quick and easy, with the M&S Plant Kitchen spinach and cannellini bean ravioli, which I really like. Topped with rocket and pine nuts, which is my go to these days wherever I would sprinkle some grated cheese. I was also enjoying having some Jude’s ice cream in the freezer again (it’s on offer on Ocado at the moment - two for £7), because ice cream is definitely something that goes down well when your throat is sore. This is one of the nicest vegan ice creams I’ve found (though I do also swear by Swedish Glace Vanilla). I will go back to trying not to eat too much ice cream once I’m feeling fully better. For now, it’s very helpful and I will feel no guilt.
This last section is for general other stuff - things you might talk about over a cuppa at the kitchen table.
Ooh, I wonder if I need to add a new section here soon? A travel section. It could be an occasional one that only appears when I have something to say about travelling. Which I do, now! (I can’t find an inky drawing that works for it, so maybe I’ll draw one for next week.)
I have booked the Eurostar seat reservations for my two interrail trips that I will be fitting in this year. I have passes that need to be activated by mid-November and was getting to the point where I thought I would have to get them refunded and try again next year. I have not been on a solo longer trip since last spring. I think! Surely not? I am pretty sure that the last time I went somewhere on my own was April last year, to Antibes. I have since been to Antibes with Chris and to Mallorca with our youngest, too. And I’ve been on other shorter trips with our youngest – two concerts in Manchester, and another one coming up in November this year. And I’ve been to see my sister (not enough, to be fair). And I had an overnight in London for a big old inspiration-filled artist date. Chris had his special 50th trip in November, to Japan. (Which we enjoyed vicariously via WhatsApp.) And we went to Scotland to Christmas to see his family (leaving the eldest behind to work and look after the cats). And that’s it. For a variety of reasons, including sorting our finances out and parenting ‘stuff’ to keep on top of. The finances are back in order and I have organised them very well and everything is going to plan, and I feel like an almost proper grown-up, which isn’t bad at almost 52. The parenting ‘stuff’ hasn’t gone away, but I have realised that it’s OK (even, actually, essential) to let the other parent hold some of it a bit more for a some chunks of time. I would love to write all about that here, but it would involve far too much of sharing things that are not mine to share, so I won’t.
I will be taking two trips, one mid- to late September (just after our eldest moves into her first-year halls) and another in mid- to late November (just after returning from seeing Lorde in Manchester with our youngest) - I will have to activate my pass two days before leaving; I am leaving it to the very last minute to use that one up. I haven’t booked anything other than the Eurostar seats yet. But I think I have decided where I would like to go for one of the trips – Strasbourg.
I think Strasbourg would make a great base, and it’s not too far from Mulhouse, where I want to go to visit the Musée de l’Impression sur Etoffes, but where I don’t think I’d want to have a long stay. I could visit Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium from Strasbourg, fairly easily. At a push, I could maybe manage Italy or Austria, too, though probably not. I am leaning toward making this the September visit, but I am not definite as to that, yet. It probably makes sense to settle on it soon, though, as that’s actually less than a month away now, so booking accommodation and any extra fast seat reservations I’ll need shouldn’t be left too late.
And I still get the fun of some more research to work out where the other trip should be. I’m leaning towards Italy. Italy is on my 2025 Bingo Card, after all. But I would also really like to go to Bologna (the book fair) next year, so maybe I should go somewhere else and leave Italy for then.
The September trip could probably, just about, be done without working while away, though it would mean I would have a very busy five days immediately after. There would definitely be a full week with no work, so I’d be OK with that and then fitting in a couple of hours a day for the last few days. But I will decide closer to the time. I will be taking a laptop with me, regardless, because I want to be able to write more easily. So I can even leave it open.
The November trip doesn’t currently have any work booked in during it, and I will aim to keep it that way, but will also be open to allowing some work to creep in if it means booking in a good job.
And that was the week in Tasha Land.
Tell me about your week, if you like. Hopefully not as full of illness as mine!
I hope you enjoy this weekly roundup format. I will still be writing some ‘proper’ posts on individual topics, but I enjoy reading these and it will keep me regularly showing up in your inbox (it has a section of its own, though, so you can untoggle it if you prefer, by going to Manage subscription).