My sister, Laura, is a musician and has developed a series of curated evenings with other musician friends called Modern Ritual performed in London at Cafe Oto, Union Chapel and The Barbican. For all creatives there is an element of ritual or habit that we create to give structure to an otherwise unstructured way of being. Over the past couple of years, whilst caring for my 9 year old son during his treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, my painting practice has got me through some hard times but I have also lost elements of the ritual and habit that help to create the right environment for me as a painter.

The painting at the start of this blog has special significance for me, I created the drawings in an ancient woodland on a particularly hard day. I parked the car at Haddiscoe Church and walked into the woods crying uncontrollably. I have found during Hen’s illness that 90% of the time it is absolutely necessary to hold it together, not let the emotion out as it could take over everything and wouldn’t help the situation. I didn’t feel much like drawing but made myself walk into the woods. The combination of moving my body and being in such an ancient place worked it’s magic and soon I could breathe properly, I felt properly rooted to the place and sat to draw for a couple of hours. Time slowed, my senses focused on the sounds in the woods, as I was sitting amongst tree roots I watched a tiny spider walk across my legs and I felt the slow turn of the planet.

I know drawing can do this for me, I know that this, along with my love of paint, paper, colour, drawing, is why I am an artist. I know the creative and emotional freedom I feel when I’m in my studio or out drawing. I know the excitement I feel when in the presence of great paintings, they make everything else drop away. But somehow I forget…. I forget how important it is to me… I forget how it helps me… I forget how other people might feel like this too…

My plan for 2018 is simple…! Reinstate the ritual, get back into the creative groove, make work I love, visit galleries, be inspired, inspire others. I am not the best at routine but this blog is going to be my reminder to myself to focus, take myself seriously, to give myself the time I need to develop as an artist and to be proud of the work I have produced by the end of the year.

This is the drawing that reminds me how to be… Devils Hole, Haddiscoe, Norfolk.

A busy few months approach kicking off with a collaborative project at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust Cley visitor centre. Adrian Lever, an established pianist, approached me a while ago to see if I would be interested in a project he was developing called ‘Confluence’. The concept was for him to perform a piano concert of improvisations with my paintings as the stimulus in collaboration with 2 other visual artists. The performance and exhibition at Cley next week will be the third performance, the other two were last year at The Cello Factory in London and Anteros in Norwich. For more information on the Confluence Project visit www.confluencepianoproject.co.uk 

Norfolk Open Studios starts very soon so I (along with a couple of hundred other Norfolk artists!) have been tidying, hoovering, and rearranging the studio so visitors can squeeze in and have a look around. Lots of paintings to look at as well as some little framed drawings and paintings. I am even working on some rare printmaking, translating my graphic style landscapes into linoprint. I will be open every weekend and bank holiday Monday between 27th May and 11th June 10-4pm. More Norfolk Open Studios 2017 here.

Don’t forget to book up a place on one of my summer workshops too, you can do this through my website and there are lots to choose from. Walking and drawing through the ancient woodland around Haddiscoe Church or Beccles Marshes or a studio day learning about a photographic transfer technique amongst others. Book Sarah Cannell Workshops here 

Looking forward to a day of clearing nettles and brambles at Raveningham with an army of artists today. We are preparing the site for the Waveney Valley Sculpture Trail in August, the sun is shining and it looks set to be a lovely day. Everyone is welcome to join us there.

If you really want to treat your mum (or yourself if you feel like a mum who needs a treat!) why not book her on to one of my Landscape Walking and Drawing one day workshops to get the creative juices flowing and have something to look forward to later in the year?! Find out more at www.sarahcannell.com

I have so many ideas I feel there is never enough time to do everything I want to do. Today I bought a 6’x2′ panel of wood for a painting commission to go into a newly restored house in Suffolk. It’s exciting and a good challenge working to a new format, challenges my normal approach to composition. When I went to measure up the space the kitchen hasn’t been started, the plastering needs to be done along with the flooring but I am pleased to say that the owners were thinking about the painting which would go over the fireplace and tie the room together. It’s an usual size and shape for me to work on so I have marked out boxes in the same proportion in my long sketchbook in order to come up with

a few compositions. I will take these to show the client to make sure I am on the right track. Interestingly this is the second large commission I have created for people who have approached me before their house has been completed. These clients have a vision for the building and the painting is an integral part of the whole.