Mostly dahlias, watercolour and indian ink #floral #watercolour

I’m an Ambassador for this brilliant charity, Bookbanks, giving away books with food parcels at food banks. There are two part-time jobs going for Regional Leads in London and East Anglia. Link below. Please share far and wide :)

This week I look at the story behind a single painting: Farm at Watendlath by Dora Carrington open.substack.com/pub/stillske... #landscape #womensart

'It won’t, of course, do: as an account, I mean, of what took place. I tried, I tried for so long to reconcile, to find a style that would express it, to find a system that would excuse me, to construct a new meaning, having kicked the old one out..' #BookSky jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/02/03/t...

Sketchbook drawings of snowdrops rescued from the rain.

Snowdrops on a soggy Sunday #imbolc

Here they come...

Pair of red crested pochard at Finsbury Park, London today. www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wi...

Where the blackbirds settle. Another monoprint and collage from my winter collection. www.deborahvass.com

From the archive for John O'Hara, #BornOnThisDay in 1905, thoughts on APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA, an excellent novel that charts a man’s unstoppable downfall in 1930s America. Highly recommended! #BOTD #JohnOHara #BookSky 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2018/09/04/a...

A small voice in winter. This little wren is part of my new winter collection. #https://www.deborahvass.com/shop

Tears of joy! SCOTLAND HAS JUST PASSED SWIFT BRICKS INTO LAW unanimously! 4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE ⁦‪ MARK RUSKELL MSP‬⁩ ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿by emailing [email protected] now!WOOP!

Tomorrow I'll be sending out a mailing list email. Sign up for * Being the first to see some new prints * An exclusive discount voucher * Exhibition recommendations eepurl.com/ixewjc

From the archive for Edith Wharton, #BornOnThisDay in 1862, my thoughts on THE REEF. An excellent novel in which a foolish American diplomat finds himself trapped in a deliciously complex love triangle (or possibly quadrangle?) with devastating results. 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/04/29/t...

New on the blog today, I've written about more of my favourite London novels. Including books by Barbara Comyns, Iris Murdoch, Muriel Spark and many more! #BookSky #London 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/01/22/l...

stillsketching.substack.com/p/what-survi... This week's post on how Faith Jaques' work survived against the odds.

And so, with one faltering step, it begins - the unstoppable riot of spring

In my Substack post, I return to the work of illustrator Susan Einzig whose extraordinary drawings keep calling. stillsketching.substack.com/p/following-...

From the archive for Nina Bawden, #BornOnThisDay in 1925, my thoughts on her excellent novel, THE ICE HOUSE. A subtle, insightful story of the tangled nature of love, friendship, marriage and the deceptions we are sometimes too blinkered to see. #BookSky 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/09/23/t...

From the archive for Patricia Highsmith, #BornOnThisDay in 1921, thoughts on THE CRY OF THE OWL. An excellent novel that begins in traditional psychological thriller territory only to shift towards something a little more existential by the end. #BookSky 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2018/09/11/t...

I've been reading these over the weekend. Two superb new books out in the next couple of months from @yalebooks.bsky.social

“I’m a remarkable woman..always was, though none of you seemed to think so.”May Morris, English artist embroiderer, designer, feminist and socialist, dismayed by the lack of support for women artists founded the Women’s Guild of Arts, 1907 #womensart

‘This is what they’ve done to him – Gracey, Pinkrose and the rest of them. He believes that right and virtue, if persisted in, must prevail, yet he knows he’s been defeated by people for whom the whole of life is a dishonest game.’ #BookSky 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/01/18/t...

Seasonal fruit graders & pickers required. Work across a wide range of crops, (Hawthorn; Sloes; Ivy; hips & apples etc) Skills at hard-weather, open-field, invertebrate work essential. Open to EU & beyond, all welcome. Team-workers preferred but misery-guts tolerated. No Time Wasters. #Fieldfares

A mosey in the garden brought happy discoveries.

😱ONLY 27 DAYS UNTIL #Catherine😱 The greatest tragic love story ever told – but this time, Catherine tells it herself. PREORDER NOW: 🔗https://shorturl.at/GcvOF @essiefox.bsky.social #bookstagram #readers #Retelling #WutheringHeightsRetelling #GothicLiterature #historicalfiction #bronte

The first aconite.

I wondered what Lolly Willowes would be like reading the second time around. Would it be just as good? Yes, possibly more so. It's utterly delightful and I'm so glad to be reading it again. #NYRBWomen26

This morning, The crescent moon Said to me, "Put away your camera, And look at me The way I am looking At you. In the dark, Just the two Of us Sharing This one Unrepeatable Moment." #moon #poetry #naturewriting

‘Oh dear,’ said Paul gloomily, ‘it really is rather disillusioning. When one’s friends marry for money they are wretched, when they marry for love it is worse. What is the proper thing to marry for, I should like to know?’ #BookSky 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/01/13/c...

After being unable to get into my account, it is lovely to be back on Bluesky again. This week on Substack I look back on two years researching overlooked women artists and consider why some stories keep calling. stillsketching.substack.com/p/following-...

New on the blog today, I've written about CHRISTMAS PUDDING by Nancy Mitford. A delightful farce which satirises the idiosyncrasies of Britain’s upper classes and Bright Young Things while also having fun with the country house novel! #BookSky 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/01/13/c...

"How do we find the stillness within this frantic flow of movement? To regain our balance in the tilt of change, and the still-point amid the chaos." Life amid change. #naturewriting #wellbeing #podcast #mentalhealth #ukcanals 🌍 The Changes that Come url:https://www.noswpod.com/changes-that-come/

This week I look at the luminous work of Elisabeth Vellacott, an artist who never gave up. stillsketching.substack.com/p/the-lyrici...

Competition time! Would you like to win a voucher for £15 to spend in our store? Simply follow us, like and share this post for a chance to win 😊🦋🐛🐝🦇 Full details on picture. #MHHSBD

ICYMI, my latest #BookReview. Thoughts on THE FATE OF MARY ROSE by Caroline Blackwood. A brilliant exploration of our collective fascination with gruesome true crimes, shot through with darkness & flashes of pitch-black humour. Highly recommended! #BookSky jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/01/07/t...

In my @theguardian.com country diary today, I come across a most unexpected bird on the local chalk stream & wonder if spring will bring a flotilla of Brewer's Ducklings. #countrydiary #naturewriting

Another little push for my online creative non-fiction course starting in February next year. Details ⬇️ Currently reading a ton of personal essays, lyric essays, memoirs, anti-memoirs, and other wonderful nuggets and oddities as I prepare for it! 📚

In my first post of the year, I explore the luminous paintings of the artist Mary Potter. open.substack.com/pub/stillske...

Brave little snowdrops today in the Norfolk wind.

“When the dark comes rising, six shall turn it back…” It’s 20 Dec—Winter Solstice Eve—& the day Susan Cooper’s great, cult novel The Dark Is Rising opens. Simon McBurney & I co-adapted a 12-part audio-drama of Susan’s novel. You can listen along, an ep a day, here: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand...

New on the blog today, MY BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2024, Part 2 - recent reissues. Featuring books by Brigid Brophy, Celia Fremlin, Celia Dale, Penelope Mortimer & more! #BookSky 💙📚 @dauntbookspub.bsky.social @mcnallyeditions.bsky.social @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2024/12/19/m...

ICYMI at the weekend…

As the Winter Solstice draws near, it is time to draw the curtains and curl up with something comforting. stillsketching.substack.com/p/a-box-of-d...

Monday = London Review of Substacks @semafor.com's @tomchivers.bsky.social reviews three smart essays by @deborahvass.bsky.social, @henrygjeffreys.bsky.social, and @scientificdiscovery.dev in our daily global newsletter www.semafor.com/newsletter/1...

I am back on Wortham Ling drawing this week. Do come and join me! open.substack.com/pub/stillske...

My amazing wife stepped back from an academic career during covid to focus on becoming a full-time ceramicist. She is now living her best life, making functional yet beautiful pots. If anyone would like a peek, her online shop has just opened...

Defeated by the fading light #drawing

Three cormorants have taken up residence in the alder at the bottom of the garden