There’s a particular kind of quiet magick that arrives in early spring.
Not the dramatic kind—the thunder-and-lightning sort—but the gentle, persistent kind. The kind that happens while we’re busy making tea, tidying a corner, or looking out of the window and realising the garden has changed when we weren’t paying attention.
A bud that wasn’t there yesterday.
A brighter morning.
A soft green beginning again (oh I love the greens)!
And that’s what March feels like at Wickwood Cottage: Spring Awakening—the moment when growth begins to stir.
Our word & theme for March is Growth!
Growth doesn’t shout. It whispers.
We often imagine growth as something obvious. A big leap. A finished result. A before-and-after.
But real growth—the kind that lasts—usually starts small.
It’s the seed beneath the soil, doing its work in the dark.
It’s the quiet decision to try again.
It’s the first sketch line on a blank page.
It’s picking up a brush even when you don’t feel ‘ready’.
If you’re in a season where things feel slow, please know: slow doesn’t mean stagnant. Nature never rushes, yet everything changes.
Nature is one of our greatest creative teachers
So much of my own artwork begins with nature—not always as a literal ‘drawing of a thing’, but as a feeling.
The curve of a stem.
The layered texture of bark.
The way moss softens the edges of stone.
The little worlds that exist in shadows: mushrooms, seed heads, fallen leaves, tiny wings and hidden creatures.
Nature reminds us that beauty isn’t always neat. It’s textured. Wild. Unexpected. Sometimes gloriously messy.
And when we let nature lead, we stop trying to force creativity. We start following it.
Working with natural materials helps us slow down
At Wickwood Cottage we’re often drawn to materials that feel real in the hands—especially wood. Whether it’s a piece of furniture being transformed, a handmade display, a crafted treasure, or a painted detail that brings something old back to life… natural materials invite patience.
Wood has grain. History. Imperfections. Personality.
It doesn’t behave like plastic. It doesn’t pretend to be perfect.
It’s honest.
And in a world that constantly pushes speed, wood asks you to slow down—to notice, to adapt, to listen.
There’s something grounding about that. Something that gently returns us to ourselves.
A little Wickwood secret (that isn’t really a secret)
If you haven’t visited our website or read our statement before, you might not know this:
Wickwood Cottage supports the Woodland Trust.
We do it because nature isn’t just part of our aesthetic—it’s part of our values.
Woodlands are homes. They’re habitats. They’re healing places. They’re the kind of spaces that remind us we’re allowed to breathe, to wander, to be quiet for a while.
So, when we talk about “growth” this month, we mean it in more than one way:
- growth in ourselves
- growth in creativity
- growth in community
- and growth in the natural world we feel so connected to
A gentle creative invitation for March
If you’d like to join us in the theme of Growth, here’s a small, simple invitation:
Choose one “spring thing” to notice each day this week.
Not a task. Not a goal. Just a noticing.
A new leaf.
A birdsong.
A patch of sunlight on the wall.
A bud on a branch.
A softer evening.
Then—if you fancy—translate it into something creative:
- a tiny sketch
- a colour swatch
- a short journal line
- a photo
- a quick collage
- a few words scribbled on scrap paper
No pressure to make it “good”.
Just a practice of paying attention.
Because creativity grows the same way spring does—little by little, with love and repetition.
From our cottage to yours
Wherever you are reading this from, I hope March brings you a gentle awakening.
A return to hope.
A reminder that you’re allowed to begin again.
And a quiet nudge to create—not to prove anything, but to feel more like yourself.
Until next time…