Sunday was the last day of the Bayfield Hall Sculpture Trail, an annual trail I curate in North Norfolk, so I have been spending the week tidying up all the loose ends and making sure that sculptures are returned to artists or settled into their new homes. The site at Bayfield Hall is steeped in history with the ruins of St Margaret’s Church in the grounds and the Glaven, a chalk stream, running through the valley. The trail occurs in the autumn and although the weather can be challenging, and we usually have a storm during the trail, the colours of the mature gardens in the autumn are magical.

Bayfield Sculpture Trail has been running for 4 years and it’s sister trail in Raveningham, South Norfolk, has been running for 9 years and a further 3 years in Earsham, both in the Waveney Valley. There are so many things that I find fulfilling about running the two trails: working with contemporary artists, shaping the sites and designing each trail, supporting artists to create work in an outdoor setting, creating a magical space in nature for people to visit, seeing young visitors interact with and discuss contemporary art, building a creative community, making contemporary art accessible in so many ways. The list really could go on and I could write a book about the projects and benefits of showing art in nature. However, the main thing that I really notice in almost every visitor is a change of pace… Something about them is changed by the experience of spending time walking the trails and by the time they leave the majority of visitors look calmer, happier and slightly floaty! I love to see this and feel that the combination of beautiful natural surroundings and looking at art are the magic ingredients for wellbeing. My sister sent me a link to a podcast which I listened to earlier today and heard for the first time about ‘fractal dimensions in nature’ and the science behind the positive impact of spending time in nature on our bodies.

The podcast was on BBC Sounds hosted by two sibling doctors ‘What’s Up Docs?’ and the episode was ‘Is Nature Good For You?‘. I was slightly sceptical about it being very interesting as I am a person who lives very close to nature and the changing seasons and unequivocally believe in the power of nature on our positive wellbeing. I listened to the podcast whilst doing my admin but became really interested in the research and input from their guest Kathy Willis, Professor of Biodiversity at Oxford University. They talked about the way that being in a natural environment for even a short amount of time positively impacts our physical and mental health. I have been walking daily on the marshes near me and find a sense of calm as I get further from the road and further into the marsh. The combination of the earthy autumnal smells, the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind, the colours as the light reflects off the river or breaks through the trees, the sounds of wildlife going about their business… each of these is picked up by my senses and helps to calm my mind and distance it from stresses even just for a short time.

Beccles Marsh Trail – storm approaching, stunning light but I forgot my raincoat and got drenched shortly after this!

The discussions between the doctors and professor was not surprising to me until they started talking about Fractal Dimensions in nature and something clicked, almost a realisation of what is it that I am so drawn to in nature and why I search out compositions in the landscape. Also, perhaps, part of the reason for the relaxed state of visitors to the Sculpture Trails who have spent anywhere between 45 mins to 3 hours walking slowly through natural spaces with a high level of Fractal Dimensions as well as the sensory information, all of which act as relaxants on the body and mind.

Weavers Way footpath Suffolk.

According to Professor Willis there have been studies which show that a particular type of landscape with a certain Fractal Dimension value was the most beneficial: open natural space broken up with a few trees, areas of sky, perhaps reflections, repeating natural patterns. All of these things are what I spend my time searching for on walks and with students as we approach drawing in landscape but now I have a name for it, a scientific backing to the felt sense that I have in these spaces. We have basically come to the same conclusion! I spend time in nature because it feels good, I curate Sculpture Trails because I can see the benefit to visitors, artists and can feel the benefit myself spending time working on the sites, I draw in the marshes because it is the best feeling in the world.

I don’t necessarily need to be told that the patterns in nature are scientifically proven to be beneficial to humans as I trust my instincts which have told me this my whole life. It did, however, feel a bit like joining up the dots and definitely helps explain the thousands of chilled out visitors I see leaving the Sculpture Trails at the end of a happy, fulfilling day of nature and art. I highly recommend getting out for a walk in your nearest park, footpath, wild area and just taking time to look, listen and sense the space, make the most of the changing season.

Willow, pencil on paper, Sarah Cannell, October 2025.

Wishing you all a creative Autumn and if you are interested in seeing my creative progress or joining a workshop at Raveningham then sign up to my mailing list or follow me on instagram @sarahcannellartist

Beccles Marsh Trail – Autumn 2026

Recently I have been thinking a lot about Hireath. A Welsh word that has no direct English translation, a feeling of homesickness mixed with sadness, a mixture of longing, yearning, nostalgia, wistfulness or an earnest desire for the past.

I guess the closest way to describe it is that I have been suffering with nostalgia. Is this a thing? It certainly feels present and heavy and I have been trying to work out what exactly I am missing and why I am missing it currently. The best way I have found is to sit with the feeling and try to pinpoint what I am nostalgic for. It seems to be that I am feeling Hiraeth for the time growing up in a little rural village in south Norfolk in the 70s/80s, in particularly my sense of freedom, closeness to nature and sense of creativity, anything felt possible but also the world around me was very small. I was in a bubble where school and home formed a small part and the majority of my time I was was out exploring the fields, carrs, marshes, lanes, discovering puffballs, hollow trees, blackberries, tadpoles, owlets, nests, cuckoo spit, willow trees and so much more.

The more I think of what it is I am missing, the more I realise it is the slow pace and time in nature to notice all the tiny worlds that magically exist beneath the crazy hubbub that we have turned human existence into. This is where my creativity springs from, I was grown in the marsh and my creative drive comes from a place of wonder and exploration of the natural world. Central to this is my need to work with a variety of materials with the constant theme of landscape and nature being the thing that holds my creative vision together.

So why does this even matter?! What I am noticing more and more through my work on the Raveningham and Bayfield Sculpture Trails, Woodland Lumiere and running creative workshops is that there is an increasing need for the very things that I am feeling nostalgia for. I wonder whether others are feeling this yearning too? By creating artworks and trails that wander through semi-wild gardens we are creating spaces and a pocket of time that give permission to slow down, amble, notice, listen, feel the sun or the wind and rain. I am noticing that as people arrive at the trails or workshops they are often hurrying, keeping to a schedule and it only takes an hour or two for those same people to change to a calmer more present state of being.

We are aware of so much happening around the world that it can feel overwhelming. This for me is where creativity: art, craft, making, becomes crucial. It is what helps to ground me and bring me back to centre. It is something that I am passionate about sharing and I have been thinking about ways to do this beyond the Sculpture Trails and workshops at Raveningham. We have become consumers but are creatures that are designed to create and innovate, image taking away the necessity for the Bower Bird to create their incredible nests, if Beavers didn’t need to build dams, Woodpeckers no longer needed to build their nests in tree trunks but could order one ready made online, what on earth would they do with themselves? Is a Woodpecker still a Woodpecker if it doesn’t peck wood!!!

My answers to my own conundrum are to turn to making. The autumn always feels especially creative to me as the busyness of the summer turns to cosy studio time. I am working on the following projects in no particular order:

Finishing and writing the book of the ‘1000 Vessel Project – Exploring the power of creativity through adversity’.

Creating a series of zines called Creative Spark which will share some of my favourite approaches to stitch, linoprint, drawing, painting, willow lantern making. The first in the series is a Stitch project which focuses on creating stitched pages for a fabric book, experimenting with embroidery stitches, drawing and colour.

Drawing 12 studies of hedgerow favourites for a calendar of ceramic vessels: Blackthorn, Willow, Winter Jasmine, Salvia, Passionflower, Periwinkle, Spindleberry, Dog Rose, Red Campion, Wild Violet, Cherry and Primrose.

Wishing you all a creative Autumn and if you are interested in seeing my creative progress or joining a workshop at Raveningham then sign up to my mailing list or follow me on instagram @sarahcannellartist

Hiraeth: The wooden path onto the marsh reminds me of my childhood in all the best ways! It is remote and abandoned but for feels full of magic, totally undisturbed apart from the sounds of the reeds, marsh cattle, geese, swans, marsh harriers.

Beccles Marsh Trail – autumn 2026

It has been a long time since my last post at the beginning of the pandemic. April 2020 I was hoping to be emerging from 4 years of caring for my young son through his treatment for Leukaemia but what happened was the whole world was stopped in it’s tracks. It was strange that after we had essentially been in lockdown for so long, shielding my son before we knew what that meant, we had to carry on for a couple more years.

So what has been the effect creatively? I find myself writing this feeling like I don’t fit in one place or another, but then I have never felt like I’ve fitted. I straddle between creative and social worlds – my interests in art, nature, business, people, creativity, wellbeing, community, home, travel all keep me engaged, learning, fulfilled, happy, but I still couldn’t explain exactly where I fit. Maybe no-one truly fits but I am definitely searching for something and whilst it can sometimes feel close it is also elusive and tantalisingly out of reach.

Without wanting to be unbearably positive, our journey as a family over recent years has brought us through the hardest times and into a much better place. I’m not sure if it is to do with attitude or luck or hard work but somehow we have managed to steady the ship and find ourselves in a much calmer situation. All around the world can feel overwhelming but in our small part of the world daily life is currently a lot better than it has been.

My question is always, what is the effect of this on my creativity and output as an artist. I find myself in a strange place creatively and that’s part of the reason for writing this post as I try to work out a way through.

In April 2016 I started drawing tiny vessels; pots, bowls, vases, beakers, lots of shapes and simple patterned decoration for the surface. I remember so clearly when I started these drawings because it’s not something I have ever drawn before and I was sitting with my son and partner waiting for my son’s regularly check up and lumber puncture at Addenbrookes Hospital. The drawings kept me calm but I had no further thought about them and certainly wasn’t thinking that I would take them any further.

In July 2021 I installed a kiln and an electric wheel in my studio and threw my first clay pot on the wheel. I really don’t know how it all happened but I wasn’t finding my usual creative outlet of painting as urgent. I was trying not to panic and think about creative block but kept myself open to pursuing any creative urge. That urge was towards clay, ceramics, pottery and from the moment I touched the clay, threw my first pot and took it out of the kiln I have become obsessed. There is something about the calming touch of clay and water and the grounding sensation of sitting at the wheel that has not only helped me through the past couple of years but has become my new direction.

Inspired by the book ‘Art and Fear – observations on the perils and pleasures of art making’ and the idea of 10,000 hours of practice to reach some kind of mastery I set myself a creative challenge – the 1000 Vessel Project. My thought was that after producing 1000 vessels I would either love it or hate it and will have put the time in to learn the skills and developed my practice. To date I am up to 360/1000 and am still totally in love with the material, process and learning.

I have now set up a community pottery at my studio in Raveningham where I run the annual Raveningham Sculpture Trail. Each week I run sessions with people handbuilding, throwing, experimenting with glaze, decoration and generally having a lovely time. Alongside this I have been teaching students at the University of East Anglia as part of a wellbeing festival, giving one to one sessions to individuals including children from the local Children’s Home, young unaccompanied asylum seekers and supporting professional artists by sharing my studio space.

This has all been am amazing journey and I am happiest when I am in the pottery but I can feel another SHIFT coming. I have been so focused on making and learning and curating and teaching that I have slipped out of exhibiting. This year I will have my work in the Raveningham and Bayfield Sculpture Trails as well as the Post Room in Norwich, CraftCo in Southwold and Octagon gallery in Diss. I also have a solo exhibition planned for 2025 in North Norfolk where I plan to show my 1000 Vessel Project but I haven’t shown my work anywhere new for a while. It feels uncomfortable which is what makes me think I am now avoiding something, my thoughts are either chill in a hammock or push myself towards something new…. The hammock feels like the path of least resistance but I have this tickly feeling that won’t go away, I think it is another creative SHIFT – time to get the work out and about.

Thanks for reading and I hope to start posting more regularly with insights into my creative journey.

This is part of a self help leaflet or book that I have been thinking about writing for a long time to share the coping strategies I found through my son’s 4 year odyssey through Leukaemia, Anxiety and PTSD. We are in close contact with the charity Children with Cancer UK who are doing incredible work to improve childhood cancer treatments and find new cures. We have raised £10,000 for them since 2018 through the Creative Odyssey and Henry’s Odyssey and I was encouraged to write about our coping strategies for their website to help families supporting children through cancer. It will be going on line next week so I thought it would be good to share my thoughts through my blog too as we all need to have a good stack of coping strategies to get through the current Covid-19 situation together.

My son, Henry, was 7 years old when he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, he is now 11 and has been off treatment for 1 year. He is in remission and has good odds for staying cancer free, long may it stay that way.

It has always been very difficult to explain the life altering effect of having your child diagnosed with cancer. People tend to respond with shock, distress, sadness and then often tell you how strong you are and how they wouldn’t be able to cope. Unfortunately, as we find ourselves 3 weeks into the Covid19 pandemic there are too many similarities to the ‘new normal’ of a childhood cancer diagnosis. People are getting an insight into a way of life that becomes normal for many families battling cancer and was a way of life that we were ready to leave well and truly behind!!

On treatment restrictions for us included: avoiding crowded places (theatre, cinema, busy shops), avoiding public transport (no buses, trains, planes), permission to travel from our hospital in advance (even to go to visit grandparents 3 hours away), not being able to leave the country for the duration of treatment, lots of stints of isolation in hospital and at home, having a bag packed at all times for emergency hospital visits, cancelling special events at last minute due to health issues (birthdays, christmas, holidays), giving up my PGCE training and work to become a carer, not visiting our regular family holiday campsite in wales for duration of treatment as it was too far from a hospital, not being able to play with friends if they had symptoms of a cold. All of these were alongside a rollercoaster of life threatening health issues and side effects from chemotherapy and steroids, regular hospital visits and keeping on top of a gruelling medication plan. When Henry finished his treatment in March 2019 we found that we had transitioned from cancer related physical health issues to helping him through extreme separation anxiety and panic attacks. Most of 2019 was spent very gently and persistently encouraging and supporting Hen, making him feel safe again and building his confidence to re-engage with the world.

It was hard, no doubt, but what we learnt as a family was to take each day as it comes, look for the silver linings in the simple things, not dwell on the things we couldn’t do and find ways to make the best of our new situation without thinking too much about the future. A tricky balancing act but mostly we managed to adapt to our ‘new normal’ with some days better than others. Having come through treatment, and end of treatment, I can see now the incredible resilience and empathy that Henry has learnt through his experience. I truly believe that these characteristics will help Henry through his life when dealing with difficult situations. I have learnt that I can get through the hardest of times even when it feels impossible and as a family we have coping strategies and a deep understanding of the importance of appreciating each day. For families that have recently received a diagnosis and are adjusting to life on treatment alongside life in lockdown this has become the ‘new normal’ (an annoying phrase but can also be helpful). I totally understand how incredibly hard the situation is but I really want to let you know that you can do this. It will probably be the hardest thing you have ever done but taking it one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time, things will change, time will pass and the nightmare will become a distant memory.

Henry, his Dad and I would really like to share the things that helped us through in the hope that they may help you and your family too. By counting every tiny achievement each day they will eventually add up to you being able to do more than you ever imagined.

Here is our list of tried and tested approaches to managing worries at difficult and stressful times. We tried lots of things and these were the ones that worked best in different situations.

Counted Breathing

Henry’s number one tip for helping to calm down is doing counted breathing. There are a number of different techniques but the one that I taught him is breathing in for the count of 7 and out for the count of 11. Having done it consistently with him over time when he has needed help he is now able to automatically think about his breathing and focus on it to help himself calm down. For myself I have always found counted breathing really tricky but recently found that breathing along to my own mantra has worked better so instead of counting I use words i.e. breathing in and thinking ‘health, happiness’ breathing and out and thinking ‘love, creativity, fun’ Obviously you can use whichever words work for you personally. You can also access counted breathing and guided meditations for adults and kids on the Headspace App www.headspace.com/headspace-meditation-app

Havening

This calming technique was taught to us by the fantastic Beverley Pearce from http://www.calm-life-wellbeing.co.uk and is a powerful method of calming yourself or someone else. It helps to heal, strengthen and empower our minds and bodies. Henry will ask me to be havened if he is feeling very very stressed. We both sit on chairs facing each other with his knees tucked inside my knees and I very gently stroke both cheeks with my hands from his nose to his ear saying calming “I have got you. You are completely and utterly safe.” This helps to regulate his breathing and calms down the flow of adrenalin. After a few rounds I then stroke his arms from the top of his shoulder to his elbow repeating the same calming words. I think that it is important to realise that after having had a panic attack or very high anxiety you can feel completely exhausted for a couple of hours. If you can then watching a gentle film or having a sleep will help with recovery. Twice Henry has recognised me being very tense and has offered to Haven me, it was very relaxing, although I think the reason I was stressed was because he was winding me up!!!

Meditations

Sitting outside in the woods or garden and closing your eyes for just a few moments can calm the senses as you start to really listen. You might hear distant traffic, birds, the wind through the trees… we used to listen and then list what we could hear. It’s amazing how much more you hear if you close your eyes. We also bought a white noise machine which Hen listens to at bedtime, he likes the sound of a crackline fire or babbling brook. There are also guided meditations at or you can make them up or read them. We used ‘Relax Kids – Aladdin’s Magic Carpet and other fairytale meditations for children’ by Marneta Viegas.

Identifying the worry

Sometimes for all of us it was helpful to try to identify the worry, give it a number out of 10 and try to give it a name. This was particularly useful at home when things weren’t going well and by sharing our level of worry we could understand a bit more why we were behaving in different ways and by understanding each other more we could be kinder to each other. We made a ‘Worry Scale’ with 10 as the most worried and 1 as not at all worried. It was a good way to start the day or check in at various points. Henry’s Dad doesn’t talk about his feelings as much so it was useful for us all to put our numbers on the worry scale and try to talk about our feelings. Some worries are huge and real, like Henry’s cancer or Covid-19, sometimes worries are a product of us imaging the worst possible scenario. In this case we found it useful to ground ourselves in the present by using our senses and spotting 5 things that are blue, 4 things that are green, 3 things that are yellow, 2 things that are red and 1 thing that is purple. It distracts your brain from the worry and gives it a chance to calm down and notice the present instead of thinking about what might happen.

Grandad’s poetry

Henry’s Grandad Mal used to read poetry to Henry’s Mum and Auntie Laura at bedtime when they were little. He also read to Henry at various times during Henry’s hospital stays and while we stayed with them during treatment. In March 2020 he has started recording some of his favourite poems and has uploaded them onto Soundcloud where they can be downloaded for free. They are lovely and calming to listen to at bedtime or anytime when things feel a bit too much. www.soundcloud.com/lauracannell/sets/poems-from-a-norfolk-farmhouse-read-by-mal-cannell

Headphone moments and handcream

As we all know the focus on your child during cancer treatment becomes like tunnel vision. I think it has to in order to get through, but having even a couple of minutes break from thinking about the practical, physical and emotional needs of your child, as well as the intense fears that can creep in, is really important. We often find an incredible strength and resilience kicks in but to the detriment of our own health and wellbeing. After talking to the psychologist at our hospital I realised that I needed to find a few minutes in the day to switch off and I found it almost impossible. I started by getting some headphones and trying to listen to one entire song by one of my favourite musicians all the way through. I found it pretty shocking that even though a tune may only be a few minutes long I needed to pause it a couple of times to check Henry was ok. I worked on building up the amount of uninterrupted time to one whole song, then two and just that brief moment felt restorative. Combined with that I found that keeping a tube of a favourite hand cream (Molten Brown – luxury!!) in my bag meant that if I was finding things difficult I could wash my hands and then use the hand cream and take a moment to breathe in the aroma. This has become something I can do anywhere if I need a moment to relax and take a breath. Exercise –

For Henry’s Dad exercise became his physical and emotional support through trauma. He found it really important to get outside, see his friends at the running club and to feel like things were normal by keeping a good routine. Henry too benefitted from keeping physical as the Vincristine affected his knee joints so he was unable to walk for a short time, we knew how important it was to try to keep up his strength and stamina gently through walking and then when he was stronger and his Hickman line had been taken out lots of swimming and cycling. Hen was given a lightweight bike from Cyclists Fighting Cancer www.cyclistsfc.org.uk and it has really helped strengthen his joints and improve his stamina.

Art and Creativity

I am going to expand on this with my next blog but I strongly believe in the powerful therapeutic properties of creativity for everyone regardless of what artistic skill they think they may or may not have. I teach art classes to children and adults and emphasise to everyone that the end result really doesn’t matter. The process of making is the thing that should be fun, enjoyable and relaxing. Henry has always loved building Lego and loves drawing too. He has also enjoyed making clay or saltdough pinch pots or creatures, this has strengthened his hands and joints as an extra benefit. My sister made hundreds of colourful wool pompoms to help her through grief and trauma and ended up turning it into an art installation as part of a www.raveninghamsculpturetrail.com

Reflexology

Henry has always liked having his feet rubbed gently at bedtime. I was trying to think of ways to help him find deep relaxation as his body was on high alert so much of the time and so I took him to a reflexologist for a short session. I wasn’t sure how he would respond, particularly after experiencing so many horrible procedures lying on a hospital bed, but he absolutely loved it. When we left the therapy centre he said he felt like he was walking on a cloud! I felt that a weekly reflexology session was a good way of teaching his body how to fully relax again after the end of cancer treatment and that everything was ok. I have continued to give him a foot massage every evening at bedtime using a lavender foot balm which I find relaxing too.

Pets as Therapy

This may not be an easy solution but getting Kobi as a therapy dog for Henry was one of the best decisions we made. Kobi is a Jack Russell crossed with a Chihuahu and is the kindest little dog I’ve ever met. Just looking into his face and stroking him has helped Hen calm down and when we were in isolation in hospital talking to Henry’s Dad and seeing Kobi on facetime really helped make things feel ok. For the first few weeks it was challenging as I had to keep everything clean while we were toilet training but the positives outweighed that short amount of time and he has proved more than his weight in gold! We also got a fish tank as we enjoyed visiting the fish in hospital so much. I thought this could be a good home schooling project too but in the end the fish have definitely ended up being my therapy as I find them so relaxing to watch, I didn’t know I could love a tank full of fish so much!!

I really hope you find some of these ideas useful and please do forward my blog to anyone who you think might be struggling. I have used lots of these strategies to get Henry, Dave and I through some extremely hard times, we also tried lots that didn’t work for us. I think that when it comes to managing anxiety there unfortunately isn’t a magic wand for impatient people like me, but I have learnt that practising these coping strategies daily, even when you don’t feel like it, means that they are there to help weather the various storms that life throws at us all.

Take care and be kind to yourself xxx