The Plot

What are the spaces and places you love to go to, when you need to think better, feel refreshed? I'm guessing we all have favourite alternatives to sitting at our desks (however gorgeous the environment) and I wonder what yours might be.

My places mostly involve cliffs and coastlines – big, open, high places where my sense of size and place in the world is kept in healthy check, and life is flowing impressively without my help. Places where I can find some clear air, and distill priorities. Know what I mean? I suspect you do.

As an urban dweller though, I have to find other ways to get out and about, which is where our allotment among the animals at Windmill Hill City Farm comes in. So much of our working life centres on the inertia of screens, but as time goes on I find it's impossible to keep it up effectively without a close-up dose of nature in the mix. The Plot, the farm, is where I get mine day to day, and you know what? I felt its high time to share some of that.

If you're with me in wanting to balance our desk-bound, digital days with being more immersed in the natural order of things, then you might enjoy a podcast series I'm recording from the plot. Someone sowed the seed (sorry!) earlier this year about making a podcast, and it was one of those ideas that wouldn't leave me alone, so here it is. An experiment for now – I'm using no fancy equipment to record it, the editing's shonky, and sound levels all over the place. But I hope you will find space, peace, food for thought and wisdom for our brave work journeys. And some sweet (noisy) animals too. Look out for new episodes every Monday night, each no more than 10 minutes long.

I try to get down to the farm as much as possible – easy, really, 10 minutes walk from home, and on my way in to the studio. It's a beautiful hit of clear air and smelly creatures, both food and people growing. "A place where people grow" is the farm's motto. Sniff.

Anything that helps us work better with our ideas.

Consider this me spreading the muck and the love. 

Find it by searching for 'The Plot Lizzie Everard' or subscribe to the feed directly in iTunes, on Soundcloud.

Settling Again

It's been a really busy little while lately, settling back in the studio after lots of adventures and inspiration over summer. I'm sure you know what I mean!

Along with all those holidays and long, warm days, Summer's a great time to step back and take stock, don't you think? Although I find it does bring disruption to a more regular work flow with commissions and projects. It can be a bit of a 'hold your nerve' time in that respect if you run your own business.

To make ideas sing, to get into the heart of them and find their character, sometimes a change of scene is really helpful. And then sometimes, coming back to settle at your table, and pick up your tools to make them happen is the only thing to do next, even if you find it really hard to sit still! 

But I think the benefits of stepping back are always worth it. Drifting away from summer into autumn now, I have a couple of ideas to share which linger on the inspiring moments of summer a little longer, bring them inside with us, and keep the ideas and dreams flowing through a season of practical action ahead. Look out over the next couple of weeks for those which I'll be posting about.

Meanwhile, life here in the studio is busy as ever – a heap of projects on the go, and personal work to push myself and keep learning. I'm a bit overwhelmed to tell you the truth, but trying to heed Victore's advice that says "Ideas without action are just BS"! It helps to have a work table that feels like a treat to sit down at, and moving into The Forge earlier this year was a brilliant opportunity to switch things up and create a space that will do justice to the plans I have in my head. It's really nice coming back to this after summer, a safe place to let things out and breathe life into them.

No more distractions. It's time to honour the loveliness of all those ideas and get on with making them happen!

Happy settling friends, and may your work spaces be buzzing this autumn.