Little Pieces of Sunshine!

We carry our stories. From place to place… moment to moment.

When sadness fills us… weighs us down, leaves us feeling heavy; a story from another can lighten our flight, help us go higher once more.

Help us soar. Help us turn on thermal. Twist on a pin in air bound happy.

Warm our souls. Raise us up, in joy and in journey.

This weekend sees me travel to a place I know well, by now. In the walls of the great and mighty @bowhousefife the wonders of artists and designers, craftspeople and talented folk of @eastneukopenstudios will gather to show you how we think, and make those thoughts into pieces you can own for your home… and your heart.

So delighted to have been invited along again, and hoping my new artworks will help lift you up, just as they have lifted mine this last while, in their making.

10-4 both tomorrow Saturday 1st and same again Sunday 2nd November (November has come around fast!)

#JennaMartinLeitchArtist
#scottishartist
#housemartin
#migration
#travels
#lostatseawhilstsafeondryland
#inflight
#artforyourhome ...

Where you can find me over the coming weeks 🤍

#fifeartistsandmakers
#scottishartist
#whatsonfife
#JennaMartinLeitchArtist ...

The departure of the House Martin’s in autumn, is a reminder that the summer months have ended and the colder months are on their way.

Folklore stories were told that, before the migration of Martin’s was understood, of them becoming Robin’s for the winter. Changing in body so as to sustain and survive the winter months.

Also told, was of them sheltering within trees to make it through.

The magic and wonder of migration, and far off travel also astonishes me. How a singular bird can travel thousands of miles, with only an inner map of its very own. In built, and provided by nature itself.

Just phenomenal. Magical whichever way you look at it…

#housemartins
#themartinfamily
#travels
#lostatseawhilstsafeondryland
#JennaMartinLeitchArtist ...

I’ve been busy prepping and packing up my drawings, paintings and products for this weekends @eastneukopenstudios Christmas Art and Craft Fair, at @bowhousefife

Open from 10-4 both Saturday and Sunday, there will be a myriad of wonderful Fife based creatives with their creations on display.

The perfect place to start some festive shopping. Or even just for a browse for some inspiration!

We would love to see you there.

#enos
#fifeartistsandmakers
#JennaMartinLeitchArtist

📸 @jillyjillystudio ...

Taking a moment to stare into the blue. The brightest skies and the golden yellow of leaves coating the woodland floor. The day palpable in its joy provided.

We lit candles in our home last night. The darkness early, with clock falling back, and the chill in the air, as if making sure we don’t forget the days are marching on .

Seasons changing.

We found…

Hope in the darkness.

A shining little light. A beacon.

The first of many.

#hopecandle
#makingspacesothelightcangetin
#JennaMartinLeitchArtist
#clocks
#beacon
#hope ...

I’ve been updating my website with pieces of writing. Journal posts to mark the passage of time. One each month.

I admit they lagged a bit behind, but the words were written during the passing of each month through the year.

This image, from the one for July. A tale of a wedding. Of love and of friendship.

This girl spoken of, has been by my side through most of my life. From near and from far.

We walked on my last trip to see her. Speaking afterwards, of how much we wished we could do that same simple thing, weekly. Just the two of us, wandering in nature and working through our worries.

Alas, she lives very far away from me. So maybe we should walk and talk… by phone as the next best thing.

I’ll pop the link to the piece of writing in my stories. I’d love for you to take the time to read it.

Jen x

#JennaMartinLeitchWriter
#JennaMartinLeitchArtist ...

I love to read, and recently I’ve read some beautiful stories.

I have a book by my bed, to read as I drift, and also always have numerous on the go, audiobooks for whilst driving or walking.

Favourite recents audiobooks being ‘Rebel Rising’ by @rebelwilson , ‘The Long Shoe’ by @realbobmortimer , and ‘Your Pace or Mine’ (for the second time!) by Lisa Jackson. Stories of all types, autobiography, fiction and running tales.

I also love a good ‘self help’ guide, to help me grow, otherwise, as a person, and to aid the way I reflect on the world. ‘The Let Them Theory’ by @melrobbins and ‘Feel Great, Lose Weight’ by @drchatterjee have both felt really beneficial.

I’m still within the tales of ‘A Thousand Threads’ by @nenehcherryofficial. I’m savoring this one, as I really don’t want it to end. Neneh’s voice reminds me of Maya Angelou. Rich and like caramel, the stories she retells of her life and her loves, music and homes, is just gorgeous.

Tomorrow, I head to @toppingsstas for another talk with @holliepoetry , and as I so frequently say, being amongst words and books and the stories behind them, adds a huge amount of joy to my life.

Today began, with a run which began in the dark… as I opened our garden gate, a tawny owl hooted from the woodland, and the crackle of autumnal leaves gave the illusion to my ears, of rainfall, even though it was dry.

The light filtered through the heavens as I ran, and by the time I was home, it had settled in day.

I compose as I run. Words and phrases trickle in to my mind, and I always look forward to moments when back at home, to jot them down in my journal.

I recommend a run, or a walk, to meet the light as it too welcomes the day. A precious at least half an hour, to soak in the early vitamin D.

I recommend a book, to compliment our everyday, and to enrich it. It adds a depth and an intrigue, and always feels like a baton passed on. A joy to pay forward.

I’ll keep telling my stories and I’ll keep reading others.

It’s a way to brighten.

It’s a joy… the light always finds a way.

#JennaMartinLeitchArtist
#JOYimprinted
#makingspacesothelightcangetin

📷 @jillyjillystudio ...

Seven years ago… very nearly 8! It was April 2018, when I went to a day with @fifecontemp held at the @adam_smith_theatre in Kirkcaldy.

There were wonderful, and inspiring talks and conversations. Small group situations also, where we had to discuss, in a brief synopsis, our hopes for an idea we had… for our artistic plans and small business ideas.

I’d never been to such an event before, but, along with my friends we headed along. Spoke of our dreams and came home, feeling inspired to move forward.

To make a credible ‘something’ to reflect our artistic and design endeavours, and send them into the world.

I found this photo the other day. From that event. From upon the table before me. Words contained in tiny notebook. Yellow biro laid upon. I remember speaking these words so intensely, attentively and hopefully.

The group all listened. I’d held them that long… the words of encouragement that followed, have stayed with me. They ‘felt’ what I had said. They had been moved by my ‘why’. My reasons, the place I was coming from.

My essence hasn’t really changed. My work has moved on, yes, but my clarity and purpose, still stems from my same beginning.

The beginning will always be the beginning. Our worlds move on, though, from there, and continue. I always imagine it as a wiggly life line. Turning and rerouting. Hilltops and vales. Through woodland. Through moorland.

The words remain on the page. The story suspended in my day to day thereon.

“A renewed beginning”

Here I am. Still.

#JennaMartinLeitchArtist
#JOYimprinted
#payitforward
#inspireandbeinspired
#helpingyoufindyourhappyasigoaboutmylifefindingmine ...

I went for a run bright and early last Sunday morning. A new place, with fields unfamiliar to me. The South Rhins, down in Dumfries and Galloway.

A wonderful and much needed visit to see my best friend and her family. And to celebrate her Mum and Dad’s Golden Wedding Anniversary. 50 years of marriage, with stories told of how their lives had evolved across those years.

So very aware of the passing of time, the photos shown in sequence on screen, highlighting, how fashions change and styles move on.

One thing evident though, the love is what threads it all together. Carries us through and onwards. Unfolding and stitching each piece of the patch work as we go.

The fields, on that morning, felt like just that to me. A patchwork. Patterns unknown to me. The shining sea in the distance, like a silver thread, just out of reach.

I saw a black bird, large and aloft. Heading towards ground before me, to my left. I knew it was larger than I’d witnessed before.

It was a raven.

I’ve never had the joy of witnessing a raven before, and it stole my breath. The running had taken me to this new remote wild. The raven had arrived, to keep me company.

It stayed there. I stopped. Took it in. Close to me. It was huge!!!! And felt like magic.

I drew this rook a few years ago now. For my Mum, Rook was her maiden name. So to see this raven, on a weekend we celebrated the parents of my second family…. It gave me goosebumps.

I only ever imagined I’d see one in the Tower of London… which seems ridiculous, but I always imagined them in a kept situation. Not amongst the glorious wilds. Doing as they pleased.

I’m so glad this one stopped to greet me.

#Raven
#JennaMartinLeitchArtist ...

A falling feather, suspended between panes of glass. Intricate upon the finding, intricate upon the drawing, the painting, and then the carving from paper. It’s fronds, its quills.

Finding a feather, is like experiencing a moment. A message from a somewhere. Placed on ground before me.

Sometimes, as I drive, I see a feather fall. Presuming a bird has just flown up out of eye sight; a piece of plumage, pulled away from its body, as the flight took hold.

To draw or to paint a feather, somehow makes it permanent. Like a letter or a tale, placed on paper. Held tight in an envelope. We open them over and over. Retell the story held. Remember the person they are from. The time it was sent.

Letters. Feathers. They feel one and the same. To me.

#foundfeathers
#originalartwork
#ScottishArtist
#JennaMartinLeitchArtist ...