From Java with Love - May 2026
Thoughts on avoiding imitation and exploring our own story. What I've been reading, listening to, watching and a tip for trapped wind.
Hello May loves!
How the flying fig did that happen? How are we nearly six months into 2026?!
I’ve been thinking and talking a lot about imitation lately. It happens, the internet is the wild west and we all consume information and imagery in a different way now. Our subconscious stores so much, we are bombarded constantly, it can be hard sometimes to know what comes organically from us.
I try to limit this for myself, by being very careful about what I follow online, what I choose to look at, checking my visual references and being as honest with my self as possible when assessing what I have created and where I have drawn influence from.
We all draw influence from the world around us, but the key is to draw it from separate elements rather than a fully created entity.
Nothing on the earth is new, but there are ways of interpreting ideas from angles that are true to ourselves.
Whether it be writing, creating, styling, concepts, you can always tell when something comes from a true and real place. When we create from investigating our own story, our memories, our lived experience, our research, our observations, exploration and thoughtfulness, you can feel the depth and layers. You just can.
Which is why a large part of what I do is in working with folk to draw out the personal and unique story, whether that be for a space online, in creative work, or in a home.
The process may not be visible, but it is evident in the grace of the result.
And now, the usual monthlies:
What I’ve been up to?
Space, Story, Action! my 30 day home styling course wraps up this week! It will be back in September, so make sure you’re subscribed to this newsletter to get first news when it opens for signups!
If you can’t wait until September, book a 1:1 consultation with me to Tell the Story of Your Home, and if you book before the end of May, you’ll secure it at the currrent price before they go up in June!
Documenting studio life and thoughts on rest, organisation and beauty on Youtube.
Getting invisible retainers to straighten my top teeth. I really miss hot drinks, but it’s also curbing my apple consumption, so that’s not a bad thing.
What’s coming up?
New Art Collection ‘Touching Memory’- prints ~ tshirts ~ hand-held paper fans ~ original paintings - coming in June.
Open Studios - 3rd, 4th & 5th of July at Salem Mill, Central Street, Hebden Bridge, HX7 6HB. Over 100 studios will be opening their doors, free entry, mine included!
Tell the Story of You - a creative guide & consultation for using social media to share your story, your expertise and the world through your eyes. Launching May 31st.
What I’ve been watching:
Widow’s Bay on apple tv. Matthew Rhys in The Americans is one of my comfort watches, he is as brilliant and entirely different in The Beast in Me, and yet again shows a diffent side in this. 10/10 reccomend.
What I’ve been listening to: loud birdsong through the open roof window each morning and the owl calling at night.
What I’ve been reading: A Question of Time by Penny Vincenzi. I love the length of the books, getting to know the characters, the historical details, the way she writes about love and choices the charcaters make. They’re just a bloody good yarn.
I hope you’re keeping well, I’ll leave you with a tip for a sore stomach/trapped wind before I go: cider vinegar in water.
Speak soon (in June)!
Java x
🫶🏻
Thank you Java, it’s always interesting to get someone else’s take on inspiration. I really try to limit looking at other artists on social media on days I’m painting and keep a kind of list in the front of my sketchbook to remind myself to paint from my own consciousness and experience. If I keep things loose and intuitive, it helps keep my work honest. That being said, I thought my style was pretty unique until I started finding other artists who work in a really similar style. Like you say, everything has been interpreted before, we just need to come from our own perspective and block out the influence and noise of social media. I think part of my issue is I’m a natural magpie for beautiful art and creative people so I love that aspect of socials. Thank you for your work, it’s a totally different take on creativity and living a creative life ✨