September Reflections: Art, Creativity, and New Beginnings

Updates from the online shop, Max's art exhibition, inspiring books, and moments of calm before the Creative Light Festival

The summer has flown, and as we head into October, over fifty people are going to start arriving for the Creative Light Festival in the coming days….. the incoming storm allowing, that is. They will most definitely have a true island experience from the start, that is for sure. Before it all starts, I wanted to share a few things from September.

Online Shop - Coming soon!

I will be reopening my online shop at the end of October for a few weeks. I have a new collection of art to share with you, which is exciting and I have also created a lovely gift box, which will be available in a limited number. It contains everything that you would like to gift someone to inspire them to create, but also feel really well-treated and uplifted. I am delighted to work with Amanda from A.S Apothecary and have managed to get hold of some of the first soap and shampoo bars that she has been developing as a little extra treat in the box.

Included in the box :

Art print - printed on Hahnemühle paper, ready to frame (5x5inches)

Jackson’s Sketchbook in A6, so you can take it anywhere- always!

Three of my favourite art pens for creative sketching and journaling.

One of my A5 notebooks.

A handmade and hand-painted bookmark with a quote to uplift ( please note these are delicate and truly one-offs! )

3 notecards with quotes and photography to remind yourself to breathe and create.

One bar of A.S. Apothecary’s handmade soap or shampoo bars. All handmade on the island using the traditional cold process from Olive oil, Shea Butter and Coconut oil to give a rich, creamy lather.

These will be posted out in early November when the soap bars are ready and postage is included within the UK. £55. To Pre-order message me at margaret@margaretsoraya.com

Nomads’ Cafe

Nomads’ is a small but vibrant and modern cafe in Paisley which specialises in great coffee and cakes. It’s like a hidden gem that sits in an area which has been a little downtrodden historically, yet is only 10 minutes from central Glasgow and appears to be on the up. The cafe is a real asset to the area and is just around the corner from my son’s college. My youngest, Max, had his first art exhibition in the cafe recently, so we all headed there as a family to see it.

Amrit, the owner, welcomed us as warmly as he generously invited two young and talented students to exhibit in his cafe, and this support and innovation by the owner is something that sets him apart. Supporting the arts and giving new artists a chance is touching and something that you rarely see in the age of galleries, either being impossible to get into or becoming a big investment in terms of framing and showing. I don’t blame galleries for this at all, as overheads must be met, but it does leave space for smaller, newer artists to gain experience and also just the sheer joy of showing work. It makes me think of how I can also do something similar when my gallery is up and running. Generosity and support of others is contagious.

Art Exhibition

Max and Willow’s art was on the brick walls of Nomads’, fitting with the modern and quirky vibe. Their “Multicoloured Mayhem” exhibition ran deeper than you might expect. The characters in Max’s art come from dreams and run through each piece with tiny houses, washing lines, fire in the heart, mushrooms, weeping clouds and walking boxes. He has been writing alongside the images, and there’s something natural about the way he works, which is something we all strive for - just reaching naturally into intuition and doing it without overthinking. I know I would always be biased towards being proud of him - particularly his development as an artist/writer, but honestly, I love that he is so authentic in his self-expression through art and wanted to share this with you. I am going to pop some of the art prints onto my own shop when I open in October - until he builds his own website! You can see his Instagram here

Willow and Max created some pieces together as well, and you can see Willow’s work here

Books

I was sitting on the bus back from Glasgow after the exhibition, with my bag of books from Waterstones, when I realised that the selection I carefully made said a lot about who I am today. I realised there was a mix of art, creative concepts, health research, women leaders and resilience, life stories and wellness through calm and rest all in one small bag. Here’s a snapshot of what I bought!

DO/MAKE

I bought one of the DO series of books a few months ago - Do Interesting: Notice. Collect. Share. I loved it so much and gave it to my son after reading it. I hadn’t realised there was a whole series, but then started to notice them on the shelves in Waterstones and found the DO/MAKE book in the craft section. I only opened it a week later to realise it was all about a James Otter who shapes surfboards. Getting back to surfing again is one of my biggest goals, but actually shaping a surfboard may also have now become another. A beautiful, inspirational and gorgeous book and I would urge you to look at this range of books.

Karren Brady - Strong Woman

I’ve always liked Karren Brady from years of watching The Apprentice, so while looking at the business section, her biography caught my eye among the shelves of mostly male-dominated books. Recently, I’d noticed headlines about her weight loss and curated appearance, and at first, I felt disappointed because she always seemed so real before. Then I realised she was simply being reduced, like so many women in the public eye, to how she looks, rather than her achievements. And perhaps I was guilty of that too, by judging her choices. In the end, she can dress and be however she wants to, and I’ll just enjoy reading about her remarkable life.

Living with Chronic Fatigue / ME

This book is really helpful on the basic principles of pacing and post-exercise malaise. Relapses can mean days, weeks or more often months of being unable to exercise and no matter how many years I have been living with post-viral fatigue, I still sometimes push past my limits into relapse. It is actually a great book to help stop you feeling like you are completely insane, and also to manage living a good life with chronic fatigue.

Calm & Rest

I bought these little books just because I love tiny books like these that feel and look gorgeous. They invite calm and rest just by being even before you open the covers.

Thanks for reading, as ever

Margaret x