How to find inspiration in January
Visit a secret garden, book a table for one, visit a museum, make something...
Hello and welcome new and regular subscribers, how are you? I admit to liking the fresh start that January brings but I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, far from. So if you’re in need of inspiration save these links for gardens with spring colour, get your pencils sharpened and ready to craft and read about my experience of solo dining.
1: Book A Table for One
A lunch date with myself is something I would never have entertained a year ago. And I’m not talking a quick coffee and a cheese baguette in the local café, I’m talking a proper two course meal in a nice restaurant with table service and crisp white tablecloths.
Last autumn I decided to treat myself at least once a month to something that I really enjoy: eating good food in good restaurants. I think nothing of going solo to see a film or visit an art gallery so why shouldn’t I take time out once in a while to try a new restaurant? Would it bother me to eat alone? How would I feel? There was only one way to find out so I stepped out of my comfort zone and booked a table for one.
I chose Café Deco, just behind the British Museum, because the menu had a good selection of vegetarian options and I liked the floor tiles. I’d had a great meeting with my publisher and was really looking forward to lunch in a buzzy Bloomsbury eatery, cosy with pre-Christmas cheer and pleasantly steamed up windows from home cooked food, hot from the kitchen.
I had an early booking but didn’t expect to be the first diner to arrive. The place was devoid of people except for the bar staff and a young women who appeared from downstairs with a stack of menu cards. I sat at the bar so I could chat to the barman but he wasn’t the chatty type so I took some photographs instead and looked at the menu.
I ordered the pumpkin, parmesan and sage quiche with a green salad and had the homemade mince pie with cream for dessert - it was all so delicious I could’ve eaten it twice. The party of four, who came in after me, were so engrossed in the wine menu that I went unnoticed on the next table and didn’t for a minute feel uncomfortable or self conscious. It took a little bit of nerve at first but I actually found the whole experience liberating. So much so that I’ve booked another date with myself - much to the miffed looks from my family who feel like they’re missing out. Well, maybe they are.
Is the stigma around eating alone gradually diminishing?
In a recent article in The Guardian, and according to the booking platform OpenTable, solo dining in the UK has increased by 14% since the Covid pandemic and attitudes are changing for the better. So, if you fancy a table for one follow these suggestions for a solo treat: take a book (handy if the food takes a while to arrive) or catch up with emails and phone messages, engage with the waiting staff or just take time to relax; enjoy the food and the pleasure of your own company.
2: Visit A Wild Meadow
If you’ve ever come across Dutch landscape gardener and nurseryman Piet Oudolf or seen the film Five Seasons, you’ll appreciate the beauty of his creations: natural habitats with bold planting, tall grasses and sweeping structures.
Deep in the Somerset countryside, close to the market town of Bruton, you’ll find Hauser & Wirth - home to a contemporary art gallery, restaurant and farm shop and the location of the radiant Oudolf Field.
Within the interior cloister of the gallery Oudolf has created combinations of seasonal tones and textures across a 1.5 acre perennial meadow. I visited at the end of November when the grasses and seed heads had turned colours of chocolate, toffee, rust and caramel; winter hues against the concrete Pavillion designed by Chilean architect Smiljan Radić.
The gardens re-open on 22nd January and entry to both gallery and garden is free to visit. The café and Da Costa restaurant is also well worth checking out.
For the gardeners amongst you - Piet Oudolf’s top five grasses for structure, shape & seasonal colour
Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' (Feather Reed Grass)
Nassella tenuissima (Mexican Feather Grass)
Deschampsia cespitosa 'Goldtau' (Golden Dew Tufted Hair Grass)
Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah' (Red Switchgrass)
Sporobolus heterolepis 'Tara' (Dwarf Prairie Dropseed)
3: Visit A Flower Garden
For something altogether different a visit to horticulturalist Sarah Raven’s farm and garden is a must for gorgeous spring colour set amongst the rolling hills of East Sussex.
Drive down pretty country lanes, past charming stone fronted cottages, oast houses and farms to Perch Hill, Sarah’s gardens, café and shop - just ten miles north of Hastings (or 30 from London). In April and May, as the garden and cutting gardens burst into life, visitors can enjoy displays of tulips, narcissi, wallflowers, honesty, wild hyacinths and other spring biennials.
Perch Hill is just over an hour from London by train to Etchingham station and it’s best to pre-book a taxi, to meet you at the station, for the 15 minute journey to the garden. Bookings are now open for April and May. Visit their website for tickets, directions and information on garden open days for spring, summer and early autumn.
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4: Visit A Museum
Galleries and museums can be fantastic sources of inspiration. From artworks, interiors, modern architecture or a visit to a historic building there is always something new to learn or to inspire creativity.
If you’re in London this month you have until Sunday 19 January to see Francis Bacon: Human Presence at The National Portrait Gallery. The exhibition spans more than 50 portrait paintings from the 1940s onwards.
Book now for Goya to Impressionism at The Courtauld Institute, from 14 February - 26 May. The exhibition includes a selection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces from Goya to Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Picasso, Cezanne and more.
Naomi in Fashion at the V&A is a celebration of the life of model Naomi Campbell. Through the work of photographers and designers the exhibition pays tribute to the creative collaborations and cultural impact of Naomi’s extraordinary career. From now until 6 April.
One of my favourite places to visit out of town is Charleston House and galleries, in Firle, East Sussex. The current line up of exhibitions includes Cederic Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines: a radical art school. Artists and partners for sixty years Morris and Lett-Haines founded the East Anglian School of Painting where their students included Lucian Freud and Maggi Hambling. The Charleston exhibition focusses on the artistic careers of both men and features more than 80 artworks including flower paintings, still lifes, portraits and landscapes as well as paintings by Freud and Hambling. On now until 23 February.
Charleston House, the home of artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and their Bloomsbury Group contemporaries is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am-5pm. Every inch of the house is filled with colour, inspiration and beautiful artworks. Tickets and booking information is available online.
5: Make Something
Finding the time for things we enjoy is easier said than done. I’ve been an illustrator / designer all my working life yet my paintbox is slowly gathering dust and I can’t even remember when I last opened a sketchbook. Maybe I’m being unfair on myself - I finished several small paintings on holiday last July and made my own Christmas cards. Even so, it’s good practice to set aside an hour or two to sit and create. And you don’t need an art degree or any experience - it’s all about exploring the things that you love.
There are hundreds of online tutorials and workshops for the more advanced crafts like upholstery, floristry or embroidery (Create Academy has a fantastic range) but paper crafting is a piece of cake and, in most cases, free.
is the queen of collage - her vintage pinboards adorn her Substack and Instagram posts and look great placed above a work desk, a kitchen wall or used to decorate a child’s bedroom. If, like me, you collect postcards, magazine tear sheets and vintage ephemera then you’re halfway there. Arrange your favourite images onto a cork board or stick with paper glue to a piece of card - it could be a montage of holiday snapshots, postcards from a museum visit or random items that have sat in a drawer for months on end.
Make your own greetings cards…
Sketch, paint, photograph or collage your own designs for birthday cards, business cards or postcards. Buy blank cards and envelopes from Etsy or your local art shop and create something your friends will love and make your own heart sing.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s post. As always I love to hear from you so please do leave a comment or ‘like’ by clicking on the little heart. Have a lovely weekend, chat soon…
Wow…I’ve loved every word…you make me feel calm & completely zen just reading about your adventures…very inspirational ideas to try….a reminder to step away from the rat race for a while & appreciate everything wonderful around us…thank you….Adrienne
Thank you, Adrienne, for your lovely comment. I’m so pleased that you found the post calming & feel inspired to try some of the suggestions. As you say… it’s nice, every now and then to stop and appreciate all the small things. Michelle x