Author: saskia neary

making stuff for christmas


Lots of hearts this year. I never get bored of making hearts and I like having them around me. I guess it keeps me in touch with human emotion and reminds me how important love, passion and creativity are in my life. At the moment compassion is also a bit of a theme and my hearts remind me to extend compassion to myself and others…I have many people in mind as I make them and am reminded of the importance of nurturing strong relationships in our lives that sustain us. Happy Xmas!

lady in my fire

I made this figure a while ago and recently I found her buried in the fireplace. I am not sure how she got there but she reminded me of the victorian shoe we found as kids bricked into the fireplace in Saxtead. I imagine it was for good luck or superstition and was intended to keep the house safe and to ward of bad spirits. This is how I think about my figure and her baby bringing creativity to our home and holding a warm and precious space.

working together

today winni and I were both ‘off sick’. A lot of hours to fill… I wanted to do some painting but I knew I had no chance if winni got even a whiff that I was trying to do something. So we got the paints out together and set up the table as a shared space and to start with we both worked on our own. Then winni decided she wanted to copy my painting and I decided I wanted to copy hers and she quite liked that idea. We got 2 new sheets of paper and sat opposite each other. I followed her lead and this is what we got to. It was a great thing to do. Apart from Winni enjoying being in charge, it was interesting slowing right down and trying to copy her mark making; applying the same pressure, moving the paintbrush in the same way and so on. It wasn’t at all easy and I had to hold my paintbrush in a different way to try and mess up my own habitual ways. I felt like we connected and while she did all the thinking and choosing the painting time went on much longer than it normally would. Big achievements!