Table of contents for Issue 6 in Project Calm

There’s nothing else that refreshes us and prepares us for the day ahead quite as effectively as a good night’s sleep, so this issue we’ve truly succumbed to its call. Learn how to wind down with a self-administered hand massage and read our tried and tested tips to prepare your environment and your head for dreamtime. On that subject, take note: a bedside journal will help you capture those nightly narratives. Fiction writers share how to weave the ridiculous into the sublime, while we look at ways to further unblock latent creativity.…

Most of us are fascinated by dreams. Even if they are scary and we want to forget them, there’s usually a moment when we wonder about the combination of events that the psyche puts together. Mary Shelley used a monster from a nightmare to create Frankenstein. Stephen King, the horror writer, is said to have dreamed the entire plot of his novel, Misery. E B White, author of the children’s classic Stuart Little, about an adventurous mouse, was inspired by a dream about a talking rodent Often, as in these tales, dreams contain fantastical characters who do strange things; dreams can have mythical elements, rich and vivid imagery. Like fairy stories, which also have archetypal characters, longer dreams may fall into three scenes and form the classic story arc of…

Once upon a time, in a promising century, a wealthy pirate built an enormous mansion and covered its walls with glittering coins. He filled the house with four-poster beds and lace as fine as a black widow’s web. He took a wife, who bore ten children. And then, he fathered an eleventh child. In another century, the grandchild of the grandchild of the eleventh child stood, barefoot, under ripening mangos and tall palms and dreamed of entering the pirate’s mansion. When, one day, the girl’s wish finally came true, she found the corridors dark and mildewed, the bedrooms caked with dust. She scraped her bare feet as she ran, trying to escape the pirate’s legacy. In the next century, the grandchild of the grandchild of the grandchild stood next to…

1 SHOW UP FOR YOUR ART EVERY DAY Whether you’re a writer, a painter, a knitter or a weaver, The Artist’s Way says you need to show up for your art every day. Rather than simply hoping inspiration will strike, we should all make a regular space every day for our creativity to play. It’s surprising how inspiration arrives when you’re ready and open to receive it! 2 KEEP FILLING YOUR CREATIVE WELL Creativity needs input. We need stimulus to get our ideas flowing, to keep things fresh. So make sure your creative well is full by taking yourself on regular outings to art galleries, the theatre, to classes and for walks through places you’ve never visited before. Make dates with yourself and stick to them. 3 CHOOSE ENCOURAGING COMPANIONS…

I found the programme supportive when I was on my own. I’m a bit of a compulsive reader so there was a temptation to read ahead and avoid doing the work. (You actually have to do the work!). The Morning Pages were really great. I did them for some months. Since then I’ve picked up the practice again for weeks at a time. One of the things I’ve found is that I really have to stick to the whole three sides of A4. It’s only at about page two, or two and a half that I’ll get a breakthrough, and something a bit fresh will come through. I still do the Artist Dates sometimes. One of the things that’s come out of that practice is the way I now really…

A good woollen sweater or blanket has a sort of nostalgic comfort that seems extra soothing on cold days. Celebrating this traditional material in our warmest and most comforting possessions unlocks a special story in itself. The word ‘wool’ evokes images of warmth, cosiness, countryside idylls and springy sheep. However, the term wool has increasingly been abused in the fashion and textiles industry with items and fabrics made entirely with acrylic being wrongly labelled as ‘wool’. Recently, there has been a strong movement to reconnect wool with the flocks and producers that bring us this special raw material. Campaigns such as Wovember and Campaign for Wool are educating audiences on the importance of celebrating wool before we lose a heritage industry that spans centuries. Tucked into the Dorset Coast is…

1 FROM THE ARCHIVE Lucienne Day was one of Britain’s most pioneering and influential designers of the post-war generation. In the centenary year of her birth, John Lewis has re-issued some of the designer’s most enduring archive designs. This collaboration goes back years. Lucienne was a fan of the John Lewis ethos and with her husband Robin Day, the furniture designer, they enjoyed a long and productive relationship with the company including a 25-year period (1962–1987) working as design consultants to the high street retailer. The collection includes four new cushion designs in different colourways and two fabrics to buy by the metre. ‘Graphica’ is a distinctive spidery style inspired by electricity pylons. ‘Calyx’ is now available in mustard – a vibrant pattern featuring cupped flowers in abstracted form that…

Think about how you inhabit your most private space and what you do to cultivate a sense of selfcare there. Like it is for me, it might be a place that fulfils a few aspects of loving yourself well, from the enjoyment of styling yourself every morning or journaling to start your day off with a clear mind, to the end-of-the-day ritual of kicking off your shoes, getting into your favourite pyjamas, and snuggling up with someone you love (including cute pets) to watch a movie with a calming candle burning nearby. Whatever the things that bring you comfort, confidence, and peace, keep investing in them within your bedroom. This is your most intimate space. 1 How do you like to take care of yourself? 2 What brings you rest…

We all have a can of the stuff under our stairs or in the garage, saved for emergency touch-ups when crayons enthusiastically meet the wall or cooking with red wine gets a little splashy. But consider taking it a step further – would the brickwork look beautiful with a fresh lick of white paint? The fireplace? Perhaps your wooden floorboards? Maybe a key piece of furniture or a headboard could shine with a light lacquer? Prep your surface and layer on a few coats of pure white for total delight. PAINT IT WHITE 1 Bare bricks encapsulate the industrial look, but you can create quite another, design-studio vibe by painting them white (see left). The owners of this townhouse stripped the wall right back to its Victorian chimney breast and left…

Plants have become my reason for getting up in the morning. Once upon a time, I had a similar relationship to plants as most people do – they filled an empty corner of a room, if one died, I eventually replaced it. My Haworthia became a turning point. It grew despite me. I began to really look after it, researching what it needed. So my relationship with my plants developed. I started to understand the environment they each needed to thrive. I was also drawn to terrariums and the idea of plants as art. There’s something about placing something under glass that elevates it and gives it importance, like putting a painting in a frame. It’s also linked to the advancement of botany in the 18th century – as new…

Hygge. That funny little word you may never have heard of two years ago, but are probably more than familiar with now. Meant to describe a Danish concept that’s largely untranslatable – yet understood to mean ‘cosy’ – it’s become synonymous with woolly socks, hot chocolate and a roaring fire, and is apparently what we all need to be embracing in order to become happier. It was even one of the Collins English Dictionary’s words of 2016. The hygge craze came fast and it came hard, with nine books published on the subject within just a few months, and articles telling you how to ‘hygge your home’, ‘have a hygge Christmas’ and even ‘hygge your holiday’. It’s not hard to see the appeal of the concept – Danes are consistently…

Every day there is a reason to be thankful; for that heart shape in the foam of your latté, for waking up to sunshine instead of rain, for those simple but special moments that make you smile. However small, moments of gratitude can be reflective and solitary, or, for special occasions that deserve more attention, they can be celebrated in groups of family and friends with festive music, dance, food, and creative cultural customs. Expressions of gratitude are embedded in every culture in unique and fundamental ways, often displayed and celebrated in annual festivals throughout the year. Coming together to celebrate in thanks provides cultural cohesion, a sense of harmony, and a great reason to eat, drink, and be merry. For many, gratitude is inherent within these gatherings as it…

TAI HANG The Chinese fire dragon dance is a spectacle of fire crackers and drums winding through Tai Hang in Hong Kong. An integral part of Chinese culture, this dance of festive fury is steeped in history with origins from over a century ago. Long ago, when the small village of Tai Hang was ravaged by a typhoon and the plague on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, fortune tellers decreed that a Fire Dance should be performed for three days and three nights during the upcoming Full Moon to stave off these evils. The huge dragon was made from straw and covered with incense sticks with firecrackers to light up the night sky. Dancers and drummers joined the parade to create a fiery ancient ritual that is still performed…

PONGAL The traditional Pongal dish is a sweet rice dish,which is allowed to boil over to signify plenty for the year a head Pongal is a four-day harvest festival celebrated in Southern India during the winter solstice in January, when the sun has reached its southern-most point. One of the most important Hindu festivals of the year, it’s a traditional celebration giving thanks to nature by celebrating the life cycles that provide us with grain. It takes its name for the Tamil word meaning ‘to boil,’ hence the traditional Pongal dish served is, of course, boiled! This sweet rice dish is prepared with rice, moong dal (split yellow lentils), jiggery (palm sugar), dry fruits, sugar and milk and cooked in a new clay pot over an open fire. According to…

I don’t know a single person whose life has worked out the way they’d planned. We live in a world of expectations, especially here in the west. It starts when we go to school: Pass your exams. Get into college. Get a good job. Get married. Buy a house. Have kids. Live happily ever after. And yet life so rarely unfolds in such a linear way if that’s even the life you want. Jobs are lost and marriages end. Longed-for babies never arrive. We realise we’re a square peg trying to fit into a round hole and the more we try to control the less control we actually have. Control is an illusion, a way to navigate fear when faced with so much uncertainty. The older I get the more…

1 NAILBERRY NAILS IT Want a healthier manicure? Nailberry was founded in 2012 by beautician Sonia Hully after she noticed that her customers were experiencing dry and damaged nails. Whether the result of lifestyle, pollution, or from one too many semi-permanent gel manicures, Sonia developed polishes to help combat these concerns, while being vegan, cruelty free and halal. Nailberry’s award-winning L’Oxygéné breathable range is free from phthalates including DBP, formaldehyde, alcohol, parabens, animal derivatives and gluten. Phew! But there’s no shortage of pretty colours. We’re dying to try out Glamazon and Cherry Chérie this winter. From £13.50, nailberry.co.uk 2 SIMON AMSTELL’S LIFE LESSONS Comedian, screenwriter and director Simon Amstell was transformed by his gift for performance as a child; painfully shy, he only started to come out of his shell…

STRETCH 1 Sit on your bed and dim the lights. To warm up your wrist joints, circle both hands outwards five times, and then inwards five times. STRETCH 2 Interlock your fingers and stretch your arms out in front of you, palms away from you. Take three or four really deep breaths. Unlock your fingers. STRETCH 3 With your right arm straight and palm facing up, stretch your fingers back with your left hand to stretch the inside of your wrist and forearm. MASSAGE 1 Place a few drops of massage oil in your left palm and work it into your hand using stroking movements. Apply a light pressure in a circular motion. MASSAGE 2 With your left palm facing down, hold your left wrist with your right hand. Use…

EXERCISE 1 – PATCHWORK YOUR DREAMS My recently published short story chapbook, The Chemist’s House, was inspired by the dreams I had, over many years, about the house where I grew up. The title story, reproduced here, opposite, gives a flavour of the house and the characters within it, via series of dream fragments. If you have several dream fragments about a place or situation from the past, write them down in the present tense then put them together. Move around the fragments until you find a satisfying shape and a movement within the piece. You might discover surprising themes and end up writing a much longer piece. You can do the same with a recurring dream, which often has subtly different elements. Try different tenses and different points of…

I want to dance with a man who is kind and patient and taller than me. I want that feeling of being so connected to someone that all of our movements are one. It’s late August and I’m working at the takeaway pizza place back in my hometown, staying with my parents on a blow-up bed in the back room, saving for a ticket to Peru. It’s too hot in the pizza shop and I am trying to understand an order a child is placing. She reaches up her sticky hands above the counter. She wants a cheese sandwich, I think, but she’s asking for it in a weird way, like she doesn’t have words for these simple things: Butter. Bread. Cheese. A man comes in and I forget about…

When I first bought The Artist’s Way, I did some of the exercises, then left it on my bookshelf, hoping that I might absorb it by osmosis. Morning Pages seemed impossible to me. I am not a morning person. Eventually a friend gave me a shove and we worked through the book in a group, which really helped. I did have a problem with the God bits. But by substituting the word ‘God’ with ‘Universe’, I was able to take it on board (I get on fine with the Universe). The Artist’s Way reminded me that fun is important. Play, downtime, silliness, a willingness to fail are all essential components of a creative life. It also allowed me to gain some distance from the critical voices inside my head. Since…

Of all the forces of nature, wind seems the most poetic. Harnessed by writers across generations and borders, it’s often synonymous with change; shorthand for a life upheaval. This issue, we meditate on the feeling of being carried through these times, as if supported in a current. What happens if we simply let go and allow it? If we consciously decide to accept the things we can’t control? Working with nature rather than against it is a theme that continues into our feature about the British wool industry – small scale production with a big heart (and happy, healthy sheep).…

1 BY WILDERNESS Wild by Cheryl Strayed Aged 26, after the death of her mother and her own heroin use, Cheryl decided to embark on what became a 1,100 mile journey of self-discovery along the Pacific Coast Trail. She describes herself as “unmoored by sorrow” and so turns to nature, facing high temperatures, rattle snakes, bears and a period of “duct-tape bootees.” She says she sought something in this wild natural world “in order to save myself.” As she travels, Cheryl works through everything that plays in her mind. 2 BY ISOLATION The Summer Book by Tove Jansson Written in 1972, this is one of 10 books the creator of the Moomin family wrote for adults. It focuses on an elderly artist and her six-year-old granddaughter, who every summer come…

Wind chimes were common in ancient Rome, eastern and southern Asia, and our ancestors knew a thing or two about the soothing effect of bells and suspended wooden tubes clinking and tinkling in the wind. Made with driftwood and bells, this modern version creates soft tones to drift through your garden with every small breeze. This project is great for using old bits of jewellery as charms. Beads and other metal pieces would make pleasing additions too. You need: Embroidery hoop around 16cm in diameter, drill with 2mm wood drill piece, driftwood pieces, yarn. Hester used a pink cotton from Katia Monaco in colour 13, selection of charms and bells, scissors, sanding paper, needle Step 1 You will only need the inner hoop for the chime (make another one with…

WINTER GLOW TAP HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR PAPER LANTERN FAIRY LIGHT TEMPLATES We have included four template sheets to make 12 paper lanterns in the shape of elegant pyramids. If you want to make more, just copy the template as many times as you wish. Each lantern has a leaf design marked on one side, which you can cut out to create the pretty window effect. Or, leave the lanterns as they are to softly diffuse the light. Alternatively, you can cut your own designs. Or try using a bradle to poke holes through the paper to make a pretty pattern. Gather together your template sheets, a string of low-heat LED bulb fairy lights, a sharp craft knife, a ruler, a bone folder if you have one, a cutting mat,…

We all love collecting something. Since childhood, the act of finding a complete set or filling a little curiosity cabinet (or tin box) with lovingly sourced items is both a comfort and a thrill. Perhaps our collections have gotten a little more sophisticated over time: china, wines, art… but the nostalgia remains. And one of the wonderful things about collections is putting them on display. Vintage white crockery stacked on open shelves, black and white photographs framed on the wall, even pristine white storage boxes beautifully labelled in your home office – show off your belongings in their best light. GROUPED TOGETHER 1 Collect beautiful porcelain door knobs of varying shapes in the same shade and add them to a lovingly restored piece of furniture. This is tactile collecting to the…

Nothing says ‘crazy stupid love’ like orchids. Personality doesn’t really come into it for orchids; they’ve come to rely upon their looks and perfume. Some will flirt outrageously, luring in their pollinator by disguising themselves as an object of desire. The Orchidaceae are widely spread over both hemispheres and are made up of over 25,000 wild species, making the orchid family one of the largest. There are two main types: epiphytic (growing on trees) and terrestrial (growing in the ground). There are a couple of different options for growing orchids behind glass, depending on the needs of your plant. I’ve given some tips over the next few pages, but always attempt to replicate the plant’s natural habitat by researching it in advance. Intimately getting to know their habits and quirks…

TRAVEL We’re striving to make the season of goodwill last all year, wherever our journeys lead us. This issue we’re exploring the ways we show gratitude across the globe. In celebration of sustenance, physicality and creativity, here’s to counting our blessings even more poignantly when we’ve also experienced the flipside. Light and shade, smooth and rough… life comes with both. And when we’re better equipped to navigate the hard times, that’s where our mindful practice shines. So take yourself for a walk or a spot of fresh air somewhere beautiful, near or far. Take it all in and simply give thanks.…

FESTIVAL DAY-O Bajans honour the end of the sugar harvest in August with dusk to dawn parties and calypso beats a-plenty. Pulsating Calypso music is the focus of Barbados’ ‘Crop Over’ Festival, a week-long summer party in August celebrating the end of the sugar harvest. An upbeat genre of music, Calypso was actually born from a longing for home by African slaves, who, working on sugar plantations in the Caribbean, were stripped of all contact with their homeland. They communicated through song and forged a sense of community in doing so. Usually led by one individual called a griot, these songs eventually became the voice of the people, and of social conscience. Originally sung in French Creole, Calypso soon became Caribbean ‘folk’ music and an integral part of the festival…

DIWALI Vibrant paper lanterns and rangoli patterns created with colourful rice or powder are key to this Hindu celebration. This Hindu festival gives thanks to the triumph of light over darkness, or good over evil, and is often seen as an opportunity for new beginnings. Over five days in October or November, houses and shops are decorated with candles, lights, and traditional earthen lamps, or diyas, are lit. A kandeel is a colourful paper lantern with a wooden framework, and in earlier days they were set afloat high as an invitation to the spirits of their ancestors to come back home for the festival. This is why a kandeel is known in Sanskrit as ‘lantern of the sky’. KOLAM Bright kolam feature geometric shapes and natural motifs like flowers.Over the…

GRATITUDE MIGRATION Arts and creativity are used as a means of healing and expression, which can also heal rifts in society. Founded in 2010, thousands of festival-goers head to the seaside hamlet of Keanesburg, New Jersey each year for an epic weekend of sun, butterflies and magic. Here, the vast beach is transformed into an oasis of education, music, dance and creativity Gratitude Migration is a self-sustaining ‘pop-up’ festival, a truly collective experience. Its website (migratewith.us) describes it as “a world where life becomes art and dreams become reality.” The festival has helped revive the economy, and bring people back to visit each year. Therein lies the ripple of gratitude, coming full circle. The ethos of the festival is to use art and creativity as a means of healing and…

JESSICA BATEMAN Jessica is a freelance journalist based between Athens, London and wherever else the wind takes her. Her work has been published in The Guardian, The Independent, Vice, The Pool and Refinery29. When not writing she can be found exploring. Jessica takes a closer look at hygge on page 100. twitter.com/jessicabateman SIAN ANNA LEWIS Sian is a travel and outdoors journalist who loves to lace up her walking boots in order to seek out wild landscapes and a bit of space. She also edits award-winning blog, The Girl Outdoors. She inspires us to explore the great outdoors for three different types of hiking holiday on page 124. thegirloutdoors.com ALISON POWELL Alison is a writer and yoga teacher based near Bristol. She is co-founder of WriteClub and runs retreats. She…

TAP HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR DREAM CARDS You can use your dream cards in different ways. Shuffle and pick a card at random to guide your focus for the next day, or draw a couple of cards before bed, meditate on how they interact and what they mean in your life right now. You may dream up some solutions to current situations. We have included two pull-out sheets featuring 12 beautifully illustrated, folk-inspired dream cards and a bedside table box to hold them in. These cards are our take on tarot or oracle decks, designed to help focus your mind on particular areas of your life. You can use them to meditate on the topic you pick at random, prompting thoughtful consideration and greater insights. You may even be able…

My father’s alone in the empty house, although he died years ago, long before my mother. Hollow-eyed, he’s listless without the family around him, without a job to do now the pharmacy’s closed. In the day, I forget about him and his inability to cook anything apart from crisps and treacle toffee. At night, I’m back there again, sleeping with a flea-ridden pet chicken. In the morning, the garden is a wide savannah where mammoths roam. One threatens the chicken, and then disappears. “They're only Disney cartoons,” my brother says. “The stuff of fairy tales. They pop up on the neighbour's lawn too. No damage done.” The next evening, refugees cram my old bedroom, one leaning against the airing cupboard in rough clothes that scratch and redden his skin. I…

I first came across The Artist’s Way many years ago. Originally published in 1992, it’s still lauded as a life-changer by all sorts of creative people from actors to weavers. I had an itch deep inside that told me I needed more creativity in my life. I was working full-time as a schoolteacher, but secretly wanted to dance and to write. I wanted more from life than going to work and occasionally scribbling lines of poetry in journals that I stuffed in the back of the wardrobe in my bedroom. Julia Cameron’s workbook promised to inspire confidence, to deal with self-doubt and to help me embrace my latent creative potential. That sounded just the ticket. The Artist’s Way is an internationally renowned self-study course in “discovering and recovering your creative…

I’d published poems and fiction when I was young, but my profession became psychotherapy. Discovering The Artist’s Way was significant in my return to writing, particularly the practice of Morning Pages, Julia Cameron’s version of free writing. I could have been put off by the codspirituality Cameron prescribes. But I enjoyed making cards with pithy epigrams. When I was stuck, they helped me to break through. I also valued Artist Dates. My first date was an afternoon at the Bath Toy Museum. This opened a deep seam of material for writing. My decision to walk every day, alone, probably also got started by The Artist’s Way. I’d find lines of poetry coming to me. When this had persisted for over a year, I thought, ‘Well, I’d better take this seriously’.…

1 THE JAPANESE GARDEN There’s a reason that the Japanese garden is of constant fascination to westerners. These tranquil and intricately planned landscapes are shorthand for style, history and precision. Over a thousand years of stunning design are celebrated in a new book, The Japanese Garden, which offers fresh insight into its art and culture, through a carefully curated collection of Shinto shrines, Buddhist temple gardens, Imperial gardens, tea gardens and contemporary urban designs. Author Sophie Walker is an expert garden designer and maker who looks at how the aesthetic has been used as a tool for religious, philosophical and poetic contemplation for hundreds of years. The Japanese Garden by Sophie Walker (Phaidon), £49.95. 2 ETHICUREAN WASSAIL Want to go wassailing this winter? This ancient custom takes place in orchards…

What inspires you most and why? Most of my inspiration comes when I’m exploring somewhere or trying something new. I take lots of photographs, which help me capture an idea, or I will scribble a sketch down on any bit of paper I can find. When did you realise you wanted to be an illustrator? I’ve always loved drawing and attempting to interpret the world around me visually. When I did a term of illustration during my foundation at Chelsea College of Art, something clicked and I knew it was for me. When do you feel most relaxed? Predictably, when I am drawing! Throw in a set of headphones, a train journey and a cup of coffee and I’m zen. Unfortunately these times are rare now as I have an…

ISLE YARNS Nestled in the rolling hills of the Isle of Purbeck, England is home to our family farm and where we produce pure worsted spun yarn. What our customers say... “So springy and a pure joy to hold in my hands” “This yarn has a lot of energy! I am quite smitten with this Isle Yarns Wool from the Isle of Purbeck” isleyarns.co.uk STEPHEN AND PENELOPE Tune out, turn off your phone, and make something with your hands. Knitting has been shown to be calming, and with a great side effect of creating something warm and cosy! Find your calm. Find your centre. Find your inner knitter. stephenandpenelope.com/yarn/kits HEYJAY HAND DYED YARNS Individually hand dyed yarns make for unique and special projects. They make your carefully handmade item a…

How do you make a home your own? With personal touches, artistic elements, a warm glow, cosiness and plants, plants, plants! We cover all five (or should that be seven?) this issue, from stylist Moorea Seal’s tips for creating the sanctuary of your dreams to terrarium maker Alyson Mowat’s expert advice on indoor greenery. Specifically, we’re talking orchids – fragile beauties to be handled with care. They need downtime too, just like us. So surround yourself with fairy light lanterns and the true meaning of hygge, which we also delve into.…

If there’s any room in a home that reflects your most genuine, vulnerable self, it has to be the bedroom. It’s our own personal sanctuary, the space most deeply connected to personal wellness and self-care – rest, relaxation, and self-expression in particular. When we were kids, self-care and self-expression in a bedroom had a lot to do with how we tacked up posters of bands we loved and drawings we made, strewing our clothes all over the floor and jumping on the bed. For adults, it typically manifests through soaking up sleep, spending time with someone you love, retreating into your own quiet space, or choosing clothes that define your personality. Whether you’re a single person who enjoys total self-expression in your bedroom or someone who shares the bedroom with…

Cottons, linens, wools – all are varying shades of white and cream in their natural state. Be playful with the sheets, hankies and blankets in your possession – bring them out of storage and put them on display. Vintage ladders look beautiful propped up against a wall holding your clean white tea towels. Stacked up, silky white napkins look crisp on a kitchen counter, and there’s nothing more inviting than a plump, freshly laundered white bedspread. Layer different textures together on a sofa to banish any sterile connotations that white holds, and create a homely, cosy atmosphere. Sheer fabric curtains allow softened daylight to filter through. A floaty canopy above the bed adds a playful feel. DRAPED WITH STYLE 1 Patch together vintage hankies and cut offs from old sheets to…

Victorian London was a suffocating place. Polluted and grimy, it was not an obvious environment to indulge a passion for botany, but it was there that botanist Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward invented the Wardian case. The precursor to the terrarium as we know it today, its invention changed the future of botany and plant exploration. In 1829, during a stroll in the countryside, Nathaniel found the pupa of a Hawk moth. He placed the cocoon, along with its organic matter, into a hermetically sealed jar and took it home. To his surprise a fern sprouted from the organic matter and thrived in the jar, and the moth’s meagre existence was forgotten. He had discovered that an uncontaminated atmosphere, moisture and appropriate light provided the ideal environment for plant growth. This discovery…

When is there moonlight? Winecup in hand, I ask the deep blue sky Not knowing in those celestial palaces on high What year it is tonight I long to fly on the wind Yet dread those crystal towers, those courts of jade Freezing to death among those icy heights Instead I rise to dance with my pale shadow Better off, after all, in the world of men Rounding the red pavilion Stooping to look through gauze windows The moon shines on the sleepless The moon should know no sadness Why, then, is she always full when dear ones are parted? As men's grief and joy, parting and union So the moon is bright or dim, waxes and wanes Always some flaw, and so it has been since of old My…

With the roots of agriculture reaching back 12,000 years, feasting on traditional dishes during festivals reminds us of our heritage. Cultivating and collecting crops was, and is, enormously hard work, so successful harvests deserve to be praised and revered. Yet in today’s world, food is something many of us take for granted. According to the United Nations, one third of food produced for consumption – 1.3 billion tonnes – gets lost or wasted every year. Meanwhile, around one in nine people in the world are undernourished. It may seem impossible to achieve a global food balance, but recognition and appreciation of providers of food can go a long way in the right direction. How can we show our gratitude for food today when it is so plentiful, yet often squandered?…

What’s been your biggest inf luence on your drawing style? Travelling; exploring new places and meeting new people. It makes me more open minded and informs the stories and narratives I like to tell through my work. What other artists inspire you and why? Maria Kalman, because of the way she tells everyday stories, and combines painting and narrative. Also all my friends who are awesome, and make amazing things, and we support and encourage each other. And Kate Bush. When did you realise your artistic calling? I’ve always wanted to be an artist from when I was a kid, I would draw and paint all the time. But it wasn’t until I studied my art foundation course that I realised that illustration could actually be a career path. When…

EXPLORE NORWAY’S EPIC COASTLINE WITH INNTRAVEL Norway’s 1,190 coastal fjords are all glorious but the most beautiful of all might just be Hardangerfjord, where forests meet wildflower meadows on the edge of the sea in one enormous panoramic landscape it’s impossible not to feel calm in. Follow it on a week-long self-guided trek with InnTravel, whose holidays are all about setting a gentle pace and stopping to smell the roses (well, the Norwegian bluebells) along the way. Walkers hike through woodland, past tiny villages and isolated farms, past picturesque lakes and waterfalls, and over epic suspension bridges spanning the fjords. Stay in cosy fjordside hotels each night, where you can relax tired leg muscles in a traditional Scandi sauna, enjoy spectacular views, and refuel with plenty of sweet cardamon skolebrød…