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Artists and Writers In Their Own Words: Jane Cornwell

Jane Cornwell creates soothing and emotional art that speaks to the soul

I was accepted for Glasgow School of Art age 16 and I loved it…

I have a notebook from school, age 5, with a little drawing of me standing at an easel. I’ve always had a compulsive need to draw, paint and make stuff. Since then I’ve continued to draw and paint. At the moment I mainly illustrate books for adults, however my dream is to write and illustrate my own books for children. As a child I used to copy illustrations by Arthur Rackham, Helen Oxenbury and NC Wyeth, and I would love it if my illustrations inspired children to draw. As an adult reading gives me the chance to ‘live’ other people’s experiences, I love travel diaries and fiction set in exotic places I can only dream of visiting.

Bluebells by Jane Cornwell, available on ETSY

Reading helps to connect children to the world, to their own feelings, to have empathy, bravery and hope

My advice to a younger artist would be: Try to find a steady job doing something you enjoy until you feel confident that a creative career will work for you. After art school I became an art teacher as I enjoyed working with teenagers, I did this for 19 years. I went part time, then began to sell paintings through different galleries, and tried to get accepted for art exhibitions.

I say yes to every opportunity I am given

Recently, I was really proud to have a painting accepted for the RSW exhibition at the National Gallery of Scotland. I also enjoy illustrating books and I am ‘the hoose illustrator’ for The Wee Book Company, a small Scottish publisher based in Edinburgh.

This is my favourite painting. I enjoy drawing and painting my children, they are my favourite subjects

Jane Cornwell commission: Portrait of a new mum https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/784562173/commision-portrait-of-a-new-mum-and-her

This is a recent painting (on the left) of my sister with her new baby, born during lockdown. My sister was exhausted and covered in wires and cannulas which I did not include in this portrait. I tried to make quite a scary time in intensive care seem quite peaceful and relaxed in my painting. I like how an artist can do this in a painting, help to choose what to remember or how someone would like to be portrayed, rather than capture the reality of a situation the way a photograph does. I think this is why I enjoy illustrating books too, it is an escape from reality. It took me a really long time to do this painting of my sister and niece and I’m really happy with it.

I also really enjoy landscape painting, one of my favourites is this watercolour of the woods near where I live

Moonlight trees (Lost in the forest) by Jane Cornwell

This of Redmoss Grasslands, looking towards the Campsie Fells near Glasgow

Campsie Fells From Redmoss Grasslands by Jane Cornwell on ETSY

and also of that strange rock formation on Skye that’s been in lots of films!

Rock formation on Skye by Jane Cornwell

And of course my kids sleeping. They were very excited to be included in this story…

Kids Sleeping by Jane Cornwell

My inspirations…

I love David Hockney’s very careful accurate drawing style and quality of line
I enjoy the humour in Scottish artist Willie Rodger’s lino prints.
I like the decorative use of pattern in Neilsen’s illustrations
Dulac’s use of colour is lovely.
I also love Helen Oxenbury’s use of line and soft watercolour wash, I like her very simple but expressive character drawing.

I like calming peaceful music

I usually just listen to whatever is on the radio. One of my children has Auditory Processing Disorder and prefers classical music, so that’s usually what is on when I’m drawing or painting.

I enjoy walking in the countryside with my family and my dog, Brandy

I spend a lot of time outdoors and enjoy taking photos of Scotland. My husband, Danny, is very supportive, and I enjoy discussing my ideas with him.

Brandy
The Kelvin Valley from Barrhill Iron Age fort
Loch Lomond
Campsie Glen, Scotland

I’ve learned to stop worrying about other people’s criticism

I used to be a perfectionist, but I’ve learned that I can’t please everyone, some people will never be happy whatever I do. I’ve learned to stop trying to please those people. I would say that doing the best you can with the time you have available has to be good enough, nothing will ever be perfect, there is always something to improve. I’ve learned to accept that.

I enjoy doing original artwork for people and illustrating books for other people but I would love to create my own books too

Come and have a look at my paintings on Etsy. My website is www.janecornwell.co.uk

Comforting Thought: Life is too short for anger

Life is far too short for anger. You must learn to repress emotions that disturb your peace of mind and prevent you from standing firm. If you want to stand firm, it is a precondition that you aren’t easily knocked off your stride. We are constantly bombarded with appeals to our emotions – on television, on social media and in advertising. This constantly changes what we want.

Olivia Laing, The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone

If you constantly pursue ephemeral desires, then you can’t stand firm.

If you can’t stand firm, then you aren’t in a position to do your duty.

You should therefore learn to suppress your feelings. It bestows a certain degree of dignity on an individual to be in control of their emotions.

Practise wearing masks. Practise not being offended by the pettiness of others.

From: Standing Firm: Resisting The Self Improvement Craze by Svend Brinkmann

Svend Brinkmann is a Danish Professor of Psychology in the Department of Communication and Psychology at Aalborg University, Denmark. He serves as a co-director of the Centre for Qualitative Studies. He is the author of ‘The Joy of Missing Out’ and ‘Stand Firm.’

People make things to express their need (or fear) of connection

“It seems funny to think that healing or coming to terms with loneliness and loss, or with the damage accrued in scenes of closeness, the inevitable wounds that occur whenever people become entangled with one another, might take place by means of objects. It seems funny, and yet the more I thought about it the more prevalent it was.

People make things – make art or things that are akin to art – as a way of expressing their need for contact, or their fear of it; people make objects as a way of coming to terms with shame, with grief. People make objects to strip themselves down, to survey their scars, and people make objects to resist oppression, to create a space in which they can move freely. Art doesn’t have to have a reparative function, any more than it has a duty to be beautiful or moral.”

― Olivia Laing, The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone

10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #51

The interplanetary movements of celestial bodies is really having an effect on my aura this week, and so I made these notations below to calm myself down, the trembling stopped but suddenly my skin has turned bright green and scaly, might have to check in with you later….

The movement of the sun on the horizon throughout the year is pure poetry

This movement makes an elliptical shape in the sky throughout the seasons. It might generate some confusion for flat-earthers! Via Reddit

Fly away rainbow beauties!

A group of critically endangered macaws are released from captivity into the wild. Fly away far and free beauties and may you find some safe rainforest shelter, food and plenty of opportunities to mate and propagate your species!

Ken Davis – Crystal Clear (full album)

Ken Davis is an Australian composer of relaxation and new age music from the golden era of that genre – the 1980’s. This music puts me into a mode of serene contemplation and contentment. I hope you enjoy it.

The alien world of carnivorous plants and their reptile victims

Two young salamanders find themselves trapped together in the viscous and acidic digestive juices of the Northern Pitcher Plant, a carnivorous plant found in the USA. Around 20% of pitcher plants will keep the skeletal remains of their prey inside of them like this. Via Reddit.

Living Single Matters by Call me Choko

If you were a 90’s kid you would instantly recognise this infectiously joyful theme song from the 90’s sitcom Family Matters. Vlogger and amazing dancer Call Me Choko does a pandemic remix of this intro theme called ‘Living Single Matters’, and he nails the goofiness and extreme cheesiness of these 90’s sitcoms with a dark comedy edge.

Inakadate’s amazing rice art

In Inakadate, a quiet town in the Aomori prefecture, the locals hatched a plan in 1993 to bring more visitors to the area. So began Inakadate’s growing fame for incredibly intricate rice paddy murals. Rice has been a staple crop in the region for nearly 2000 years and so locals honour this. Every year they use four different types of heirloom and modern rice varieties to create gigantic murals in the fields. A 22 metre tower is used to allow visitors to see the whole picture. Each year the town attracts 100,000’s of visitors. Via Wikipedia

Peanut coleslaw by Will Yeung

Sako is an epic dog and he deserves his awards and accolades

Sako, a heroic dog from Kananka Bar, BC, was inducted today into the 2015 Purina Animal Hall of Fame. (CNW Group/Purina Animal Hall of Fame)

Sako is a 4 year old king shepherd. When his 16 year old owner Joe drove his car over a ravine in British Columbia, the dog and Joe stayed down there for two days before they were discovered by a family member and brought back to safety. Joe had a lot of injuries, a broken femur and right collarbone. During the two days at the bottom of the cliff, Sako fought off cougars, bears and coyotes who had come to prey on the injured boy. After this, Sako was recognised by being inducted into the Purina Animal Hall of Fame and became the stuff of family legend over generations. Via CBC

How I Learned To Love My Body Without Falling For Media Hypes by Jessica Maria Baumgartner

There’s a perfect figure for each woman, but it varies. I will never have the Marilyn Monroe shape, or anyone else’s. My body is my own and it has its own needs, just as every other woman’s does.
Unrealistic expectations from both ends of the scale are bad for women’s health. Obesity and skeleton bodies are dangerous and unsustainable. It’s time we accept that every woman has their own perfect figure and encourage healthy habits which allow us to better understand our unique biology.
Jessica Maria Baumgartner

I couldn’t agree more with this. We women learn to hate ourselves from popular culture, advertising and sometimes even our own mothers. It can be hard to feel OK with the body we are born with. I could relate to Jessica’s insights and I love the way she has carved out a much more healthy body image behaviours for her own daughters, even if she didn’t have the best example from her own mum.

Check out more profound, philosophical, amusing and fun posts about spirituality, family life and everything else in between on Jessica’s always amazing blog.

Fishing for Escher by James Fletcher Design

This is a detailed and dimension-twisting fantasy world, I get ancient map vibes as well, it’s incredible! From his website:

The artistic works of James Fletcher are spawned from an imagination of highly detailed, surreal, dark, pseudo-psychedelic alternate realities, often with an aquatic theme, and populated by fantastical scenes and creatures.

James, 42, was born and grew up in and around the seaside town of Plymouth. He is a self-taught graphic illustrator and father of two. He is a featured artist on Acidmath.net, a humanities and spirituality community based in Canada, selling psychedelic artwork on furniture and apparel. Having drawn from a young age, James’ career in design began in 2005, after graduating with honours in Photomedia and Design Communication from University of Plymouth

Growing up reading the work of science fiction and fantasy novelists and artists – John Martin, Evyind Earle, Kevin Walker, Chris Wynne Nevinson, H.P Lovecraft, J.R.R Tolkien and Christos Achillios – and inspired by the imagery of surrealist, illusory, and dark fantasy artists such as M.C Escher, Hieronymus Bosch, Salvador Dali, and HR Giger; James’ artwork features flowing, organic, reality-warping scenes with a comic-esque fine art quality, packed with details for the eye to find.

Via Reddit and James Fletcher’s website.

Nick Waterhouse – Very Blue

I really like the 50’s vibe of this video clip and the song itself. I didn’t know who Nick Waterhouse was until I found him on Youtube, but he now has fully attracted my attention. He has a romantic and old-fashioned Roy Orbison vibe.

Hope you enjoyed these tidbits. If you find yourself transforming into a sea creature from the pleistocene after consuming, I hold no legal liability…

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The Songs of Tangaroa ~ Ngā Waiata o Tangaroa

Te Au o te Moana
Our nation was born
in the bosom of the ocean
where the sea leans
on the land
Our stories are intimately written
in the narratives of ocean canoes
sailings driftings taniwha
whirlpools discoveries
making our world
wider
The salt in our veins
brought us together
to find each other
The unrelenting pull of the sea
tugs in the blood of our ancestors
Ra’iatea

Maori nature ancient The Songs of Tangaroa ~ Ngā Waiata o Tangaroa

The song of Tangaroa is
in every wave foam and sea spray
scattering the seed born of Rangiātea
across the ocean straddled by Kupe
’E kore koe e ngaro he kākano
I ruiruia mai i Ra’iātea’

From Words of a Kaumātua by Haare Williams, edited by Witi Ihimaera

Dr Haare Williams MNZM has been Dean of Māori Education and Māori Advisor to the Chief Executive at Unitec. He was General Manager of Aotearoa Radio. He set up a joint venture with the South Seas Film and Television School to train Te Reo speakers as producers and operators in film and television. He has worked closely with iwi claimant communities and was responsible for waka construction and assembly at Waitangi for the 1990 commemorations. He has published poetry, exhibited painting and written for film and television. He was a cultural advisor for the Mayor of Auckland and is Amorangi at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

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Kintsukuroi or why we are perfect in our imperfection

“There is a Japanese practice called Kintusukoroi or kintsugi which means ‘golden repair’. Kintsukuroi is the art of repairing broken pottery with powdered gold or platinum mixed with lacquer, so that the repair reflects the history of the breakage.

“The repaired object mirrors the fragility and imperfection of life – and also its beauty and strength. The object returns to wholeness, to integrity.

“I am not suggesting that we should see brokenness as a way of strengthening our integrity. Rather I am proposing that the wounds and harms that arise from falling over the edge into moral suffering can have a positive value under the right circumstances. Moral distress, the pain or moral injury and even the numbness of moral apathy can be the means of the ‘golden repair’. For developing a greater capacity to stand firm in our integrity without being swayed by the wind.”

From: Standing At the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet by Joan Halifax

Roshi Joan Halifax PhD is a Buddhist teacher, Zen Monk and Anthropologist who explores the edges of human experience and writes incredibly compelling books about the intersection of spirituality, psychology and human consciousness.

Book Review: Standing At the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet by Joan Halifax

Comforting Thought: To love often means to let go

Sometimes the journey together comes to an end.
Have courage to say goodbye at the right moment.
Remember – to love, often means to let go.
Googie McCabe

Sometimes the journey together comes to an end. Have courage to say goodbye at the right moment. To love, often means to let go. #DwieSiostry #TwoSisters #bookquote @googiemccabe
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Extract from Book Review: Two Sisters: Unsolicited Advice to my Daughters by Małgorzata ‘Googie’ McCabe

A beautiful compendium of universal wisdom that’s simple, wise, soulful and timeless. I fell in love with this book as soon as I saw it. The illustrations and words are by my wise and kind friend Googie McCabe who wrote this book for her two beloved daughters, as a way of healing and dealing with her depression, and also as a manifestation of her artistry, imagination and love for her two girls. It features advice on life, death, love of self, love of others, finding your calling, and how to deal with life’s dark times.

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Book Review: Two Sisters: Unsolicited Advice to my Daughters by Małgorzata ‘Googie’ McCabe

Book Review: One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson

Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery.

Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Publisher: Black Swan Publishing

*No spoilers.

Set in Edinburgh during the height of the Edinburgh Festival, this is a mystery where various characters are intertwined and nested together in a complex and entertaining way. It begins with a road-rage incident that is witnessed in the Cow Gate (a bustling part of the city) by many people. The narrative spirals outwards from there in an elegant and compelling way. Kate Atkinson has managed to capture the vibe and energy of the Edinburgh Festival and the city of Edinburgh in this book, which I really enjoyed. Reading it I was transported back to one of my favourite cities. She is a talented and funny writer, who is able to weave dry humour into her books making them really entertaining. The story itself rockets along at a fast pace, keeping you pinned to your seat. I have also read and reviewed Not the End of the World on this blog, a collection of short stories set in Edinburgh which were also great – sweeping and epic in scope. I heartily recommend this book for a diverting and fun ride into Edinburgh’s seedy underbelly and equally seedy middle class. It’s amazing and really funny!

Travel: Walking through the ancient past in Edinburgh — Edinburgh

Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #50

Hoooooey! the 50th edition of 10 Things! In this fat and bulging edition, we take a foraging foray into some rude relics, some ethereal ambient music, a few risque clips from the olden days, some inspirational animals of past and present and we journey into trippy realms with scientists. Hope you enjoy it.

The rare, rude and unusual by Bon Repos Gites

Bon Repos Gites is an amazing and quirky blog about Breton history and culture. This week is an exploration of rude historical monuments and artefacts in Brittany.

The church in Lanrivain contains a rather charming carved wooden statue depicting a reclining Virgin breast-feeding

Images of reclining Virgins are quite rare in Western Europe but there are ten others, dating from between the 15th and 17th centuries, to discover across Brittany. Unsurprisingly, the sites of these “Virgins of the Milk” were once popularly visited by expectant mothers or those women experiencing difficulties expressing milk.

The church in Lanrivain contains a rather charming carved wooden statue depicting a reclining Virgin breast-feeding

What these images lack in artistic refinement, they surely make up for in imaginative power
Bon Repos Gites

More cheeky, quirky discoveries here

Lost Forever: Thylacine by The Nature Nook

Nature Nook’s blog is an interesting mix of British wildlife, beautiful creatures on the brink of extinction and those that are now lost forever, like Australia’s now extinct Thylacine, an amazing marsupial that resembled a striped tiger. You may remember they also did a post about hte Dodo and the Quagga. Read more about this species, now lost forever.

The bone-crunching jaws of the thylacine, operated by powerful muscles, could open extremely wide, up to 120 degrees. In fact, it could achieve the ‘largest angle of gape’ of any known mammal, beating even the clouded leopard. The fact that we so desperately want the thylacine to still be out there is unsurprising. We feel guilt over its extinction.
Nature Nook

A cheeky woman pinches men’s bums in London to promote sexual equality in London – 1971

I found this strangely amusing. I can’t help but wonder…when did this kind of thing become out of bounds and not ok and why is everything so boring and PC nowadays?! Perhaps if a man was doing this to a woman it would be harassment, but a woman to a man… it seems more fun and not harmful. Why is this? perhaps we have all been conditioned in some way, write below what you think.

Originally tweeted by BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) on June 24, 2021.

A vulture hitchhiker cruises along with a paraglider

Imagine the unexpectedly joy and bliss of gliding alongside a chilled out vulture who comes and hangs out on your selfie stick for the most perfect shot in all the world!

Originally tweeted by Wholesome Page ❤️ (@wholesomepage) on July 29, 2021.

A seahorse mum gently cajoles her babies out of her

Swim away little ones…weeeeeee be freeeeee

Via Reddit

A 1 hour mix of Alberto Balsalm by Aphex Twin

My favourite ambient producer, the reclusive, mysterious and enigmatic Aphex Twin.

Creepy 50’s beauty competitions

Beauty categories included:

Least concave rib-cage
Bloodiest steak
Nicest shaped paper bag head

Via Monsieur Pompier’s Travelling Freak Show on Twitter

The macabre monster mash-ups of fantasy artist Patrick James Woodroffe

Don’t ask me to explain what is going on here, I’m just an astral tourist…

The late Patrick James Woodroffe (1940 – 2014) was an English artist, illustrator who specialised in fantasy science-fiction artwork, with slightly menacing and always compelling art that plunged into surreal realms. He collaborated with well-known musicians throughout his life, has a number of bronze sculptures on permanent display throughout the world and wrote several books. Something about his art captivates and draws me in.

Via Deep Thot on Twitter and Patrick Woodroffe’s website

The Lollipops – Naked When You Come (1966)

Mysterious and melodic music from the 60’s

We might be living in higher dimensions, but our senses can’t tell yet

“A particle can be here and then it can be there faster than the speed of light…all of it is very mysterious”
~ Neil DeGrasse Tyson master of inter-dimensional trippyness.

Reassuring tofu based ASMR video

If you are unsure about tofu or find it menacing or flavourless, this video is here to reassure you that it’s very cosy and homely to eat.

Some words from Basho: Spanish Woods

One of my favourite bloggers that I’ve been following for many years is Spanish Woods.

Amidst the splendor of the scene,
and the silence
I was filled with a wonderful peace.
BASHO

from Morning Mist
Thoreau and Basho Through the Seasons by Mary Kullberg, 1993
Via Spanish Woods

Ryoan-Ji zen garden in Arashiyama, Kyoto. Content Catnip 2018 www.contentcatnip.com — Ryoan-Ji zen garden in Arashiyama, Kyoto. Content Catnip 2018 http://www.contentcatnip.com

Where to monsters come from?

A strange journey through a history of a spooky word – Monster with YouTube’s most criminally underrated linguist: Alliterative

When twin souls meet: Robin Williams met Koko the Gorilla

In 2001, the unforgettable and soulful Robin Williams met with the unforgettable and soulful Koko the Gorilla at The Gorilla Foundation. Following the death of her gorilla companion, Williams made Koko smile for the first time in six months. They laughed, embraced, tickled and played together.

In 2014, when Koko was told of Robin’s death, she signed the word “cry” in sign-language. Koko died in 2018 peacefully in her sleep, of old age. Rest in Power Robin and Koko, I like to think that you both are together now beyond the veil in a gorilla-human embrace.

When twin souls meet: Robin Williams met Koko the Gorilla

I hope you enjoyed this bumper edition of 10 Things. 50 editions long and many more to go. Let me know what you think below…

Ancient word of the day: Uncanny

A Journey into Childhood Nostalgia at the Muzeum Zabawek in Kudowa-Zdrój, Poland

The ancient word of the day is Uncanny. This is the feeling of encountering a landscape, person or object that is both frightening and unsettlingly dissonant. Freud coined a similar word for this “unheimlich”— which is to say, eerie and both homely and unhomely. I’m sure you would be able to recall some uncanny encounters, where things just weren’t quite what they seemed!

The strange streetscapes in a Tokyo without ads

Robert Fergusson and the Uncanny

For this some ca’d him an uncanny wight, The clash gaed round, “he had the second sight.” – Poetical Works of Robert Fergusson (published 1773; OED’s 1st citation of uncanny as “associated with supernatural arts or powers.”)

Welcome to a strange and forgotten alien world: Socotra

Source: Archive.org

Mark Ryden's gloriously uncanny paintings — Mark Ryden’s gloriously uncanny paintings

Italian uncanny

Perturbante

Sinistro

Inquietante

Gather up the night: An eerie hotel causes confusion on Melbourne's Eastlink freeway — Gather up the night: An eerie hotel causes confusion on Melbourne’s Eastlink freeway

German uncanny

Heimlich: The things that creatures do secretly when no one is watching.

Adam Hillman's symmetrical foods are oddly satisfying — Adam Hillman’s symmetrical foods are oddly satisfying

Dutch uncanny

Onheilspellend

Beklemmend

Travel: Weird subway ads in Japan — Uncanny in the Tokyo subway

What uncanny experiences have you had in your life, that you can’t forget about?