On the road in Devon

by Heidi Schaffner | Sep 21, 2018 | Uncategorized

A helmet and mousse are the only things that will tame my hair!

Due to our motorhome being a big beast, we realised we needed to park up somewhere with space and then have a mode of transport to go exploring. Luckily the beast has a garage! We love push bikes but its not so easy to carry equipment up and down hills, so they curtail our ventures of exploration. It is only a Twist and Go which means when we are both on it going uphill, people sometimes walk faster, but hey life’s not perfect, and any embarrassment is hiding under a helmet!

I have always loved speed in cars and the feeling of freedom a bike gives you and its nippy with just one of you on it, so ultimately it does the job.

We tested it out on our trip to Totnes in Devon for their Open Studios, Arts event, if you didn’t know they happen all over the country around September time so be sure to check out the one happening near you this year. You see such a diverse range of art that you didn’t realise went on near you, it gives you the chance to meet artists you might follow or just do the kind of art you like and I’m not just talking about painting. Totnes is lovely by the way, filled with galleries and creatives alike from imaginative tasty lunches to the interesting architecture of the old town and the contrasts of the work inside them.

This trip gave me a good excuse to meet Artist Yvonne Coomber in person and to see her art up close. I wasn’t disappointed, I felt her love and involvement when creating her work and hadn’t noticed the gold detail before so was encouraged by not only by the way she works so freely which I aspire to but the fact that she is just as focussed and careful about the end result as I find myself being. I think its easy to think that others find the process easy and just sometimes quite literally throw their art together effortlessly. In reality the more I learn about Art, it’s never effortless, a bit like love or anything worth having.

Can’t wait for our next trip, will let you know what’s happening and where we are going in my Tour dates diary.

Antigua, you’ve started something!

by Heidi Schaffner | Sep 21, 2018 | Uncategorized

What a blessing.

It’s funny I should use that word as it was a blessing in so many ways. Firstly, because a very dear friend got married while we were there which was as beautiful as you would imagine and secondly, I was true to myself and made time for my art which in turn released me to enjoy every moment.

My life has changed to the point where if I am not messing about with paints for some days, I feel grumpy and start to begrudge the time whatever I’m doing is taking! So, after waking at about 5am on our first morning in Antigua because of the time difference, then watching the sun rise whilst swimming in the warm sea I was hooked and decided to do it again and again. The few hours spent every morning quietly painting started my day off so perfectly I was ready to do whatever was on the agenda for that day. You could say it was my meditation or mindfulness session for the day.

2018 was also our 25^th Wedding anniversary and so we treated ourselves to a room actually on the beach, now there is no going back we have to do that again! Giving myself that time allowed me to paint a card for the happy couple and to also write a poem as a meaningful gift. I hope it’s a nice keepsake in their wedding memorabilia. It certainly felt good at the time and that’s what memories are made of those special surprise moments. It was such an intimate wedding that everyone played a role in making it special. We had a song; poem; speeches and even some magic!

The Art found in the English harbour were lovely with their bright seascapes; bold skies; colourful people and creative jewellery, my favourite Gallery had to be Fig Tree Studio in the Antiguan rainforest. It confirmed for me that I was going in the right direction artistically, so the whole trip delivered more than I expected.