Farewell, Summer

I'll let you in on a little secret: I've been really unproductive over the hot summer months. But maybe that's OK? After all, there's no better time of year to sit back and smell the roses...

If you live in the UK, you'll know what an insanely hot summer we've had in 2025. It's been one heatwave after another and whilst the heat can bring concerns over safety and climate change, I have to admit, I've pushed a lot of my usual concerns to the back of my mind just for a few weeks to just enjoy the beautiful weather whilst I still could.

I know some might accuse me of a degree of hypocrisy - decrying climate change and pressing for greater environmental protection on the one hand, but then getting out there and revelling in the hot weather on the other - but the truth is, I don't get to go on holiday very often (maybe once every 4-5 years), so if the UK occasionally basks in mediterranean heat I feel vindicated in enjoying it. Plus, one thing I've learned from my time on this Earth is the importance of enjoying the little things and finding silver linings to every cloud you can. I could easily have locked myself indoors all summer fretting about the imminent collapse of global ecosystems and it wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference to the climate emergency we face.

One pang of guilt that I have felt quite frequently as I sipped a glass of vinho verde and shifted my chair occasionally to follow the sun as it tracked across our dinky garden was that I wasn't working. I finally took the plunge and launched my art business back in January, so this summer marked the 6-month inflection point. As business launches go, it doesn't stand out as one of the finest: to date I have sold no prints or paintings at all via my website. I sold one AP to a lovely customer on Etsy just before Christmas last year, but needless to say because it was a proof and Esty's fees are so exorbitant I actually lost money on that sale.

Since then I've been working every evening and weekend possible to build up my portfolio. I've rediscovered painting on canvas and even started working with watercolour pencils again. I've spent a lot of money on materials and overheads over the past six months without a single sale to show for any of my efforts.

However, practicing what I preach, even a pessimist like me (I'm prone to depression and bouts of despair) can on reflection find silver linings to this particular cloud. I may not have sold anything, but I have designed a website from scratch, started a YouTube channel, grown my Instagram following from a modest 53 to an only slightly less modest 96 and exhibited in a small local gallery. When I think of all that, which I've done alongside a full time 9-5 job, I think I can be pretty proud of all my little achievements. These things will lay the foundations of things to come, I hope. And if they don't, at least I can say that I gave it everything I had and I got to enjoy the process along the way.

'Kingsmead III', acrylic on canvas, Sep 2025. Copyright Alice Turner

This has also been our first summer in our new home and my first home with a garden, so while I've inwardly berated myself for being lazy, I've also reminded myself of the importance of taking stock and enjoying our little private Eden during those all-too-brief English months when it's actually pleasant to sit outside.

All of which brought me to another realisation: that while many speak of "wintering"; going into a kind of shutdown during the cold, wet, dark winter months to recharge their mental batteries, only to emerge refreshed as the days lengthen in the Spring. But my seasonal rhythm works quite the other way around: I am prolific in crafting, making, baking and otherwise diverting myself during the autumn and winter, when it's much cosier within and there's nothing I like to line my nest with more than the act of creating Art. Autumn and winter are my busy times, when there's nothing else to do with the generously long evenings but make things and be creative. But the late spring and summer months are my time for leaving the cave, venturing out for some much needed fresh air and exercise; to rest, recharge my batteries and enjoy simply being.

As I moved my chair a little once again to chase the sun's rays and drained the dregs of my vinho verde, I resolved not to beat myself up for being unproductive over the summer months. There will be productive dark months aplenty just ahead of me; but right now is the time for "Summering".

A little sketching in the sun, enjoying the chiming church bells just behind our garden wall.

We grew so many sunflowers from seed in our first year in our new little garden. I love how joyous they are! X