Green Mermaid Cottage

Visual artists are often expected to have a really quirky, if not outrageous, appearance. While my art is colourful and often challenging, my wardrobe is all about understatement and elegance rather than shock value. Living by the sea has had a big influence on the clothes I choose. I am comfortable and confident wearing a relaxed, bohemian, arty look and I like mixing bright colours and vintage clothes with interesting patterns with classics such as ballet pumps, black blazers, cardigans and chunky knits. In my choices I prioritise lasting style over disposable fashion. Below are my favourite items, a combination of high street and charity shops buys.  Adding glamour: big sunglasses and big floppy hat Big sunglasses and a big, floppy straw hat give an instant sprinkle of glamour and a bit of mystery to the simplest of outfits. They are also essentials if you live by the sea and/or do a lot of outdoor activities like I do.  Audrey Hepburn style ballet pumps and other fla...

Exercise has always been a great help in managing my long term depression and anxiety issues.   I love my weekly pilates class, leisurely swimming in the sea in the summer, walking in nature and occasional horse riding lessons. I have also tried yoga, tai-chi and going to the gym over the years to vary my exercise routine and keep it interesting and challenging.  One activity that always remained a mystery to me was running.  I must admit that I never understood the appeal and that I looked upon all the lycra wearing runners in parks, on the seafront or on treadmills with a bit of puzzlement.  Where they really enjoying running around like hamsters in a wheel? Being all sweaty and often visibly out of breath on sunny days for everyone to see? none of that looked comfortable or enjoyable to me and I often found myself muttering ‘show off’ as they passed me by… To my surprise I made the decision in January this year to finally try that running thing.  I got...

For the first twelve years of my life I had beautiful, long hair. Strangers in the street often randomly   complimented me on my healthy-looking hair and I was told that I had 'the most beautiful hair in the school' by the mother of one of my classmates. But from the age of 13 everything changed. I went within a few months from Rapunzel to G.I. Jane. My hair was thinning quickly and alarmingly and strands of white hair appeared in my light chestnut hair. My eyebrows also grew thinner and thinner. My hair sings the blues I had to cut my hair short to try to disguise some of the loss, even though every trip to the hairdresser was traumatic as they invariably commented on my thinning locks. The family GP did not offer much help and simply suggested I look into using 'a good hair colour product'. A dermatologist  had a look at my scalp but also seemed puzzled. Stress and genetics were mentioned as possible causes and I was dismissed with the general advice...

Picture this. You are in a train travelling to an office which is 2.5 hour away. You have been worrying about the journey for days, it even affected your sleep. Your stomach starts to cramp.   You are getting agitated. You pray that no one will seat next to you because you know you will flinch every time they will come too close to your personal space. You mutter to yourself and you realise you are making jerky movements with your shoulders. You have chosen to travel outside the 'rush hour' but you are getting nervous because there is a noisy child nearby  and someone's music can be heard even with their headphones on. The noise is like fingernails digging inside your brain. The cramping is so bad that you know you will have to run to the nearest loo as soon as soon as you get out of the train. You worry there might be a queue. By the time you get to the office you are already exhausted. You try to mask how you really feel. If someone talks to you, you force your mouth in...

( Trigger warning: this post discusses mental health issues, including suicidal ideation.)  Throughout my life I have had episodes of severe depression, anxiety and panic attacks. I   strongly suspect that I am neurodivergent as I struggle on a daily basic with noise, busy and crowded environments and using public transport. I regularly feel like I am the odd one out in social and work situations and struggle with relationships.  I am lucky to have a very supportive GP who helped me when I was at my lowest and who gave me access to counselling sessions and the appropriate medication. But I have also accepted that to stay well I needed to make several long term changes in my daily life and constantly work at maintaining my mental health.  Below are some of the activities that have helped me.  MY MENTAL HEALTH ROUTINE  Guided Meditation and  Mindfulness This is something that I started doing during the Covid lockdowns. I discovered YouTube guided medi...