"The time to relax is when you don't have time for it."

- Sydney J Harris

Strawberry Froglet

Hello friends =)

Apologies for my missed catch up last month.

April went by so quickly, and by the time I realised I was running out of time to put a Substack post together, work projects took over, and, well, then it was May =)

I’m happy to say that after a couple of busy months, I successfully submitted final sketches for two picture books, both on time, and with that happy feeling you get when you can’t wait to get started on colour - its all very exciting!

I LOVE illustrating for children ✏️✨

And so, whilst I wait to hear back from my art directors, I thought I’d take a little rest from picture-booking, catch up on some other bits and pieces *cough- newsletter-cough*, and also try and relax a little, before the next block of work starts.

And it was this idea of relaxing that I thought I’d chat about today.

I’m always interested to hear how others relax? Particularly other creators. Because honestly, I find it to be quite tricky. Tricky to switch off, and tricky to know just how to relax?

Because after years of drawing for fun, what do you do when illustration becomes your main job? How do you get the most out of your downtime?

Like many, I still enjoy art for relaxation. There is something very liberating about sitting down in front of a blank page and knowing that you can draw absolutely ANYTHING you want - no constraints, no pre-determined colour palette, no specific story to adhere to - no annoying page gutters! It’s great - if you can actually think of something to draw that is.¹

But, what about those times when your mind needs a break from pencil and paper, stylus and tablet?²

Well, it may not be for everyone, but I’ve been making oversized, higgledy-piggledy³ mushrooms.

🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄

Crocheting them to be precise.

Mushroom Crochet

I love crochet ♥️

I’m not great at it, but I still love it.

I kind of love it, because I’m not great at it, if that makes any sense at all?

I spend so much time self-critiquing my illustration work, always trying to be better, its nice to enjoy a creative activity without that kind of pressure =)

For me, crochet is the perfect balance between mindfulness and happy daydreaming.

I find it helps to relax my brain by keeping me focused just enough on the task in hand, whilst allowing the busy part of my mind to wander, contemplating the days events and ordering my thoughts.⁴

Crochet is mindfulness for the creative soul =)

Plus, there are so many pretty yarn colours to choose from!

Selection of Autumnal colour yarns.

And when I’m not drawing, writing or crocheting mushrooms, I’m reading.

Reading is good for a budding author-illustrator like me, and I like to read as much as I can. Although I will admit, when the illustration workload is high I often run out of steam for any meaningful reading time.

I made a resolution to add some middle grade fiction to my reading list this year, and in honour of this promise to myself, I recently joined

Rachael Dean

over on Fable.

Book Club Announcement ©Rachael Dean

Rachael has started a book club over there and we are currently reading Pax by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Jon Klassen.⁵

If you don’t have a hard copy and you’re resident in the US, you can purchase the ebook version via Fable.

Be sure to jump over and join us if you fancy it - we’re only a couple of chapters in so far =)

Now, my other New Year’s resolution was to keep my Substack posts from being too lengthy and dull, and so I will sign off here.

I have more unique looking shrooms to create! 🍄

Until next time =)

Caroline ✏️✨

Resource share:

If you’d like to crochet some whimsical mushrooms of your very own, you can purchase this fun and easy, (no sew!) pattern from Diminu Creations.

Top tip: ensure you have the actual yarn and hook size recommended, lest you end up with a higgledy-piggledy creation like mine =)

Copyright Diminu Patterns

1. This is a whole other topic of discussion for another time =)

2. Getting out in nature is always a popular one, along with visiting museums and art galleries, or watching a well directed film. I’ve been getting acquainted with the Wes Anderson collection recently- lots of inspiration to be had on composition and colour theory =) In short, anything that helps relax the brain, whilst filling that creative cup is always a bonus.

3. This is my much used term for when I try to craft something that isn’t very good - similar descriptors also often used include; ‘rustic’ and ‘charmingly hand-crafted.’

4. I’m talking about simple crochet of course - there’s some super complicated patterns out there, which I imagine require far more concentration than I am capable of =)

5. If you have any MG fiction titles to recommend, be sure to drop them in the comments!