December has been so busy that I’ve just realised that I haven’t written anything all month.
It’s been hectic at the mill organising Christmas exhibitions. It was free entry over the weekend of my birthday with lots of events and activities for children. We called it Festive Farfield and it was great fun. We had all gathered a few days before to decorate the mill and it was good to see staff, resident artists, trustees etc all mucking in and getting into the festive spirit. We have had a challenging year and aren’t out of the woods yet but our Just Giving site is bringing in some well needed revenue before we become a Co-op in the New Year.
We went to London for a few days and caught up with several old friends for lunch. We saw ‘Follies’ at The National which was brilliant and very emotional, also ‘The Play that Went Wrong’ which was very funny. My favourite exhibition was of Degas Drawings. Although I’d seen most of them many times before, there was something about the way the exhibition was curated that made it special and inspired me to get out my pastels again!
We’re having a great Christmas with family and friends in Manchester. I feel like I’m running a B&B at the moment with different people staying each night, then we’re back to Sedbergh for the New Year.
I thought the following photos of round the corner in Withington and outside my studio door at Farfield sum up our dual life. No prizes for guessing which is which!!
I hope you have all been having a very Happy Christmas and wish you a very Happy New Year.
