Simplicity versus Chaos
Navigating a busy, attention- stealing world as a parent in the creative industries, a North London and art framing guide and a short homeware shopping edit, because of course I couldn’t resist.
Today, with all the terrible news, chaos feels like the only thing that unites us. Like a tap dripping in a faraway bathroom, a memory from my feeble Classics GCSE reminded me that Chaos had something to do with the inception story of the Greek gods; a quick internet search proved I remembered correctly. In Ancient Greek mythology, Chaos was the primordial void that existed before the creation of the universe. A vast emptiness, still and formless. The void almost sounds peaceful; nothing like our modern understanding of chaos as noise, confusion and complete disorder. It made me wonder if perhaps the relationship between simplicity and chaos is not a linear spectrum, but more like a horseshoe. Although they seem like opposites, they actually curve back towards one another. Not enemies, not even so different. As with a magnetic force, they’re just two sides of the same energy. One pulls; one pushes.
Another thought which keeps attracting my attention on my biweekly commute is Newton’s Third Law of Motion (although in my memory it was his second law). I did Physics AS (showing my age) after finding the GCSE exciting and quite easy. Our socially strange teacher pushed the class to work to its limits and, as the only student not doing maths, I struggled. However, like all moments when I have found things difficult and chaotic, I tried even harder. Past paper after past paper, I ended up getting the median mark, an A grade, amongst the group of brainy mathematicians. Which brings us back to Newton:
“Whenever two objects interact, they exert equal and opposite forces on each other.
Or: every action has an equal and opposite reaction.”
I find this law applicable to life. Like the doomed Physics AS level, the work you put in, is the work you get out. Not the same, but relative to the mass of the object or thing you are trying to affect. The good work you put in will come back to you. Not in the way you expect, but in a karmic swing of the pendulum. Effort = Effect.
The amount of effort you put into the world is related to the amount you care about the things that are important to you. Many concepts I used to care so much about have gone out the window since becoming a parent twice over. When getting office supplies one day in Exmouth Market, I told the man in the ironmonger I didn’t care what the strength of the light bulb I was getting was, as it was just for the studio lamps. He looked me in the eye and said in a sing-song voice, “Don’t care was made to care.”
I’ve since googled the whole rhyme, and it’s bleak:
“Don’t care was made to care
Don’t care was hung
Don’t care was put in a pot
And boiled till he was done”
Still I think sometimes not caring is essential - especially for tired, creative parents trying to earn a living in a city. To survive and make anything at all, I’ve had to let go. Tune out the noise. Preserve my energy for what matters to me.
I’ve come to believe that a good, hopefully happy life, sits in the balance of opposing forces. A private, personal seesaw. Each of us decides how ours tips, without the judgment of others, or worse: society’s “ideal” version of balance. These are the opposing forces of my life in a simple list:
Push / Pull
Less / More
Care Don’t / Care
Peace / Excitement
Noise / Silence
Vanity / Modesty
Simplicity, I’ve found, is the only way I can balance it all. With various jobs, passions, and a side of planting design study, I’ve pared back everything else. With parenting, that means fewer scheduled activities unless my kids request them. For my eldest, I’ve quietly made reading the main focus. It feels like one small, manageable thing we can do together that doesn’t create too much resistance around learning. He doesn’t want to do much extra work to “catch up”, so I’ve stopped trying to push. Reading is our quiet middle ground.
Swimming lessons made the cut of effort I am happy to make. I love to swim, and we spend every holiday by the sea, so swimming confidence feels like an essential life skill for the kids. To survive the Saturday onslaught of “chlorine and urine”, I’ve learned that a good pair of pool sliders and a strong coffee make the ritual almost enjoyable. Sometimes I also swim in the adult pool. A moment of calm in the tornado of a weekend with kids. Four years on and the oldest kid can swim and the other one is weeks away from swim sufficiency.
Simplicity has meant giving up on some things:
• Clean clothes every school day (although my mum says this is exactly what prompts schools to alert child services)
• Clean faces unless it’s bedtime or heading to school
• Brushed or washed hair; once a week will do
• Clothes I would have chosen myself
• Trying to ban TV during the week. It’s essential during dinner making, and occasionally dinner clearing, too. We don’t have it on in the mornings unless it's the weekend
• Expectations. I really try to let my little people be who they are, as I don’t want to push them into some wish fulfillment for my child-self. This is true in all areas apart from my daughter’s (my) dolls house and Sylvanian Families collection
• A wide range of vegetables at mealtimes. Only a small selection of the rainbow is eaten at home, however they do manage to eat it all at school
However, I do sometimes feel foolish when trying to calm my mind with the importance of simplicity especially when I want to do lots of things: drawing, planting design, gardening, cooking, parenting, cleaning, daydreaming. This is especially true when I listen to people who radiate focus. I recently heard a Shaolin monk, Shi Heng Yi, interviewed by Steven Bartlett on his podcast The Diary of a CEO. He spoke about the power of concentration on singular goals. The monk talked of distractions being similar to placing your fingertips, one by one, into a placid lake and watching the water ripples emanate from each touch. As I understood it, these multiple ripples were wasted energy, undermining the powerful tool of focus.
But I’m not sure that analogy works for creative people. Although this might be guilt talking, I don’t think that having many fingers in many pies, or lakes as this analogy goes, does create a sea of wasted effort. Maybe for artists and makers our lake is much smaller and all our differing creative splashes make the ripples collide. Perhaps this is where the energy lives, in the collisions. When one ripple crashes with another, ideas expand and the disruption makes something new.
And yes: sometimes it’s a mess. But sometimes, the wave that makes it to the shoreline of our mind is the one worth keeping. Clarity doesn’t always come in the silence. For some of us, it comes in the noise. In the chaos.
A Simple Guide to Framing Art Prints
1. Let the artwork sing
Framing obviously starts with the art itself. A clean-lined thin black or oak frame can make a bold graphic print work well, while a softer and lighter limed wood might suit something more delicate or with finer detailing. Think of the frame as a quiet companion, not the star. Or like eyebrows - the frame to the eyes.
2. To mount or not to mount, that is the question
Mounts give breathing space between the print and the frame, and they can really elevate a more average piece. This is especially the case with smaller works like postcards. I usually go for an off-white mount for a subtle lift, but sometimes skipping the mount feels more modern and direct. For larger works float mounting (like my swimming pool charcoal below) is a classy and simple way of framing art and is a personal favourite if budget allows.
3. Choose materials that protect
If the print or art is one you love, use acid-free backing and UV-protective glass to help it last. These details aren’t always visible, but they matter. This is especially true if you’re hanging art in bright or sunny spaces.Though many people are snobby about acrylic glass in a frame it is much more UV blocking than standard glass and also lighter in weight for weaker walls or hanging in rental properties. If budget stretches and you are framing professionally I would always ask for the cost difference of museum glass versus normal. This glass fully protects the work and stops the glass reflecting with strong light and obscuring the work.
4. Think about scale
A bit of contrast in scale can be lovely. A small print in a generous frame feels considered and gives the work room to breathe. Don’t be afraid to go larger than you think. This being said, I always go for the thinner aspect frame I can for larger work.
5. Frame it yourself or call the professionals
There’s joy and major cost saving in DIY framing but they tend to work much better for standard A sized prints or 30 x 40 cm work. A trick to using standard size frames for an irregular sized artwork is buying a bespoke mount with the correct aspect for your work to sit inside the standard frame. Mounts do however look a lot better when the ratio of border around the work is equal but this is something to consider if you want to use a vintage frame too. For valuable or emotionally resonant work a professional framer can work wonders. They’ll guide you on proportion, preservation, and all the little details that make it feel finished. Prices range from £50 to thousands of pounds if you are framing something very large with all the trimmings.
A selection of my favourite people. Prices in ascending price order:
Postery
A new find for me with impressively cheap prices. Here is my work in a standard A4. The frames look way more pricey than they are.
Nielsen Alpha
Georgia from Partnership Editions got me onto these frames. I only really use the white oak. Super sturdy and they use real glass. Standard sizes only. The Cherry Print is in A3 here and framed with this.
Easy Frame
The truly in between option for bespoke vs. off the peg. The frames are average quality and much better for A4 to A3 size work. I like their coloured thin red gloss frames. They only do acrylic, not glass. They also make the best mounts to any size. You can even choose a double mount. I did pink and green for this bear print.
Tim Petch
A local guy that I found through Instagram when he framed one of my riso prints for a client . Very happy with his prices and quality. My new go-to framer.
Pendragon
They frame for the Tate and other top galleries. For small work it isn’t that expensive and they are true artisans.
Lacy Gallery
They have a large selection of antique frames and can amend the size to fit your work. A very bespoke option.
Home Shopping Edit
North London Guide
I made this list for a new friend who is a mother at my daughter’s school. She has lived for the last 15 years in De Beauvoir and grew up in Gloucestershire so hasn’t trodden the pavements of North London as I have. I made a more general guide to London here.
This one is split into things for adults and places more aimed at those with kids. I live in Seven Sisters / Tottenham and grew up in Highbury so the list is skewed to things very local to me.
North London Recommendations
Adults:
The Bull and Last - Parliament Hill pub.
Mario’s - Kentish Town - haven’t been there since I was a kid with my Dad but I am assured it is still great for breakfast.
Brouhaha - Japanese and cocktails. Cocktails and dreams almost.
Middle Lane Market- Deli and cafe near Priory Park. See also their new wine bar Bonne Route
Park Road Lido - heated lido in Crouch End. With grass to lie on and large evergreen hedges for shade.
Bonne Route - next to Harringay station and is a little French style wine and snack bar. Open some evenings.
Pizzeria Pappagone - no notes on this neighbourhood gem.
Kids:
The Toy Project - A second hand toy shop in archway for charity.
Gillespie Park - A nature reserve near the train tracks of Finsbury Park.
Highbury Fields - A swimming pool, a playground with a long slide and sandpit, Georgian splendour and a Dusty Knuckle van for coffee and bread based snacks.
Stationers Park - A great playground for all ages which is unusual. Superb freshly baked banana bread with chocolate chips at the cafe.
Priory Park - Dynamic playground and paddling pool. Near the middle lane market for enormous sandwiches and frozen margaritas.
Highgate Wood - Ancient woodland, very decent cafe and giant playground. Queens Wood next door is also nice.
Waterlow Park in Highgate- Sweet park has bucolic views. A short walk from Hampstead Heath by way of Highgate cemetery.
Kenwood House - Free and beautiful. Great Gainsborough paintings.
Parliament Hill - Ice cold Lido, short walk to the ponds for those over 8 years who are strong swimmers, splash pad, playground and running track. Cafe in the Lido is also top notch..
Estorick Collection - A collection of Modern Italian Art near Highbury Corner.
Jackson’s Lane - Affordable theatre for young people.
Lordship Rec - B&X track and miniature 1930s road system for kids bikes and scooters.
Recently
Chelsea Flower Show
A backdrop I painted for the Chelsea Flower Show for Kent Wildflower Seeds and their collaboration with the wild-farmed whisky Fielden. The field was inspired by a Hockney watercolour and the other side of the stand by the rye fields with flowers that grow alongside the whisky production. A favourite narcissus bulb stand below.
New York
Some highlights from my first trip away without the kids. My favourite cafe Dimes which we spent most of our meals at. Also Matisse IRL and the classical sculptures from the Met.
Merch
The Earth Things Plant
I’ve not had a chance to grow Cephalaria gigantea which is a giant scabious yet but I love everything pale yellow at the moment and it can get to an impressive 1.8m. I also love the lavender coloured smaller version Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue'.
Thanks for reading. The main body of the text was proof read by a friend who an English teacher. You know who you are. Thank you.
A lovely piece. Simplicity all the way for me too. 🤍