Diary and Calender Time!

My diary this year was a lovely soft cover, day to a page, A5, with hourly appointments and ruled in a narrow feint so that each line represents a 20 minute slot. The feint ruling was broken so that the outer part of the page could be used for lists.  There was a pocket inside the back cover for loose papers and a matching page marker ribbon and elastic to keep the book closed.  I've become very attached to it. It was by Ryman, but unfortunately neither they, nor anyone else, have produced one like it for the coming year. Ryman still have a soft cover, A5, with elastic, day to a page Monday to Friday, but Saturday and Sunday are on one page and there are no times marked for appointments. I'm going to have to make do with another, hardback appointments diary, and it's left me feeling unaccountably grumpy that I can't get exactly what I want.

On a brighter note, I spent years feeling dissatisfied with the calendars generally available, with their boy bands, cute kittens and country scenes, but have found a way around that - buying calendars from friends who are artists. I don't know what it is, probably something to do with creative spirits, but a number of the dancers I know are also artists of one sort or another.  We all need support and it gives me great pleasure to promote their work!

My friend Gwen Davies produces a lovely Lunar Calendar, which shows the main phases of the moon month by month, the eight festivals, and is scattered with small seasonal flowers, fruit and so on. It's very pretty and reminds me of her lovely henna art. This year, she produced a time-lapse film on the making of the calendar. Enjoy!

Gwen is also the maker of a couple of my favourite pairs of earrings! You can also find her calendars, wheel of the year and cards on Etsy.

I've also treated myself to a calendar by Katherine Soutar-Caddick, Dancing Cat Design, another friend and artist.  She has been producing some gorgeous illustrations for books of folk tales. I love her work, which has the feel of myth and magic just beneath the surface of the real world.

There is so much beautiful art available, why go with the mass produced stuff? So much better to support artists directly and get something more beautiful, useful and special. The real difficulty is in choosing from all of the wonderful arts and crafts out there, and the artists working to make the world a more beautiful place!