Alright guys, bear with me - I am about to attempt something as of yet unseen: writing a newsletter in one sitting. On an ordinary day this might be mediocre levels of impressive but today it’s Guinness World Record level of achievement because I can also confess I didn’t go to bed last night until 6am. This is because I was at the A&E unit with my husband for 7 hours waiting for him to get an X-ray after he fell off his bike and his face became very well acquainted with a concrete step.
My house has turned into somewhat of a hospital ward - Juan’s on the sofa sporting the kind of bruise that would make a peach feel inadequate, Ollie is currently sashaying around in a pair of Juan’s underpants, selotaped onto his body to stop him licking at a wound left from a tick bite, and then poor Spud, who is sporting a literal black eye has been loping around the house in his cone wondering when his story got demoted to the second paragraph of this intro instead of being the headlining event. (Don’t worry, more info in the pupdate).
As for me, I’M FINE GUYS. I’M OKAY. I’ve done 2 loads of washing today, taken a carload of crap to the skip and now, yes, the newsletter is getting written. It’s also only ONE WEEK away from Pittenweem Arts Festival (*SCREAM*) which means now is my only chance to check in with you all and get some writing done.
SO! Shall we stop dilly-dallying in the entrance hall and make our way through to the next section of this newsletter? (And if you see any spelling mistakes along the way today, LOOK AWAY!)
Thank god I had some photos of the driveway to share and a witty pun pre-cooked for the title. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I can confirm that the giant eyesore which has been our front driveway for the last 2 years has finally had a facelift - one that would make even Kris Jenner’s frozen jaw drop and have her ask me to pass on the name of my surgeon.
Here are some before and afters:
Soooo satisying. If anyone is looking for a recommendation, we used City Surface Solutions Ltd - they were a recommendation from the builder who worked on our kitchen and they were fast and professional so I’d happily recommend them to other people!
You know me, that big brown patch of soil isn’t going to be empty for long. I’ll be filling it with lots of wildlife-friendly plants soon enough.
Which reminds me! I wanted to ask you guys - do you have any TRUE native species in your gardens? I recently found out about the importance of including true native species for insects - not just ones that are broadly ‘good for wildlife’ in the general term but ones our local insects and birds have evolved with over thousands of years (feed/breed/raise young on etc!) For example, Yarrow is a true native and is an excellent plant for a broad number of pollinators - it’s also very pretty and exceedingly tolerant of poor soils and drought conditions (once established) so with our changing climate this is a great one to add into your garden. I got some plugs from celtic widlflowers - you can get 5 for £6.35.
Alternatively, if you only have access to a balcony or a communal garden, you could invest in something like wild marjoram - it needs very little watering so excellent for pots! You could make a little bee survival station using a larger pot with some native herbs and a little water source. Perfect for small spaces.
I want to encourage you all to include wildlife friendly plants in your garden because our environment is really in a sorry state at the moment. There are so many wildfires throughout the world, including at Arthur’s Seat here in Edinburgh due to hotter summers caused by climate change:
It’s time we all stepped up and made tackling climate change a pillar within our lives. It doesn’t need to be full of doom and gloom, my own environmental action brings me so much joy! You just need to find what you’re good at. For me it’s tree planting, fundraising through my work and then I recently just joined my local community orchard which I love! It’s time to all step up to the challenge - there is so much to be hopeful about, but the window to take action is closing and I don’t know about you but I’d quite like there to be a nice comfortable planet for my niece and nephew to live in when they grow up.
Gardens make up such a large area where birds and insects can feed so lets make sure we are providing a lush banquet for them! <3
Oh goodness it’s just round the corner! This year has been so busy but I’ve still managed to get some originals together for the show. You can have a peak here in this newsletter at some of what I have on offer, and then if you’d like to come you can check out the flier which I’ve also added. I will be sharing my exhibition space again with one of my best friends Phoebe who is an extremely talented jeweller!
So here is some of my new art, the pics were taken whilst I was choosing frames:
Here’s the tiny originals I’ve managed to create (I know, only 4 this year can you believe it, but they are really good ones! I’ll try do some more for Christmas!)
If you’d like to come along, it’s running from Saturday 1st August until 8th August and if you’re not familiar yet with Phoebe’s incredible jewellery check her out here.
We will be open 10am - 5pm every day and look forward to chatting with you all!
Offical Website with Info Here
This is my most requested workshop! I know lots of you want to know how to paint black fur - this workshop should give you the skills to be able to have a go at painting your own cat or dog afterwards. I can’t wait to see what you all create - my facebook group ‘Tori’s Painting Club’ has grown to 1.5k followers and is always full of all your wonderful work!
This workshop is beginner-friendly (yes, really!) I have taught well over 100 workshops both in person and online, so I know how to break things down into simple steps (plus I think my style is quite easy to learn as it’s so forgiving!)
The live workshop is happening Tuesday at 7.30pm UK time (you can join from anywhere in the world!) but it is also being recorded so if you can’t make the time grab a ticket anyway as you can do it in your own time!
There are two ways to get a ticket. Either on my website (cheapest option!) or via Eventbrite (they charge a small extra fee but sometimes easier for those of you in the US):
If you don’t want to miss out on future workshops, you can join my workshop mailing list - just drop me an email at hello@toriratcliffe-art.co.uk to request to be added!
If you’re eager to get painting, I have some of my past workshops available to purchase on my website, including the latest dog and Tuxedo cat workshop which have been hugely popular!
Ollie thinks he is a ninja. And to some extent, he is. The second I’m opening the dishwasher door: he is there. Silently standing behind me, poised as still as a heron ready to strike… I pull the door down to reveal the rack of dirty plates and he seizes his opportunity, flying out from behind my legs, pink tongue oustretched, I watch it whirl around with the force of a helicopter propeller as he begins to desperately clean up as much food off the plates as possible before the inevitable scolding.
Ollie’s tongue is developing a bit of a reputation in this household. To explain I need to give you some extra context: Our other dog Spud, who is now 10 and a half, has been growing a little benign wart on his eyelid. This wart has been a considerate tenant. It has caused no trouble, no irritation. If you invited it to stay your house it would arrive on time with a box of Ferrero Roche and then helpfully strip the bed the morning after. This wart has asked for nothing and caused no trouble. Unfortunately, to its detriment, it has caught the eye of Ollie. Or rather, the tongue…
Always happy to weedle his way into areas where he’s not wanted (like the dishwasher) Ollie has slowly became obsessed with licking Spud’s wart. It became his own personal chup-a-chup lolly.
The thing is, eyes don’t really like to be continuously licked by tongues, and over time, Spud’s eye took quite a battering and the result was that poor warty had to be unceremoniously evicted earlier this week by a vet (at great expense - particularly considering it was a wart that was causing NO TROUBLE.)
So now, Spud is in a cone for about 2 weeks whilst it heals - all becaused Ollie couldn’t keep his tongue in his mouth. I have since caught the little troll sticking his head inside the cone for a lick a couple of times and I grab him at the speed of light as I see £100 notes going up in flames in front of my very eyes. I can only hope that when it heals he loses interest or I fear one day he’s going to lick Spud’s eyeball right out of its socket.
I’m sure Ollie thinks he’s helping, but really he needs to accept responsibility for the damage he’s inflicting. His tongue is a weapon. He reminds me of ‘Typhoid Mary’, the cook from the 1800s who denied she had typhoid and continued cooking for multiple families and passing on her disease and killing people despite many attempts by law enforcement to stop her. Ollie, your tongue is a loaded weapon. Keep it off Spud’s eye and out the dishwasher.
Of course, as you read in the introduction, Ollie’s tongue has also been wreaking havoc with his own health and wellbeing as he’s been using it to worry at a tick bite on his stomach. So, this evening he is sporting a pair of Juan’s very fetching grey underpants, sealed with leopard-printed paper tape. I’m sorry Ollie, but the world needs to see:
Here’s Spud in his cone:
Yes it’s a sorry household today! But at least it’s finally raining here in Edinburgh (I just hope that it’s reached the wildfires up in the highlands!)
Anyway! That is it for today - oh, you know what, I didn’t share a pet portrait and I really wanted to pop one or two in here (you know, because I am a pet portrait artist and supposedly that’s why I started this newsletter HA)
So, here are Nell and Fly:
And this is Pango:
I am now booked up a YEAR in advance! There MAY be christmas spots opening up for this year so do reach out if you want to be on the reserve list.
I also fell behind with my list this summer because I have been sidetracked with a couple of BIG projects which I can’t reveal yet but when I do you’re gonna be like “ohhhh okay we get why you were so busy last year!”
Anyway - hope to see some of you at Pittenweem, and the rest I shall catch you in the next newsletter! Take care guys!! Go invest in some true native flowers for your garden!! xxxx
Admittedly I did already share this one on social media already but come on it’s such a good one. Those teeth!!
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