March, a month which holds the promise of lighter days and patches of sweet-shop flowers, heralding the end of another long winter. A month of rebirth and reflection.

A month that - if you’ll allow me to be completely honest - almost left me broken.

During March, my mental health plummeted, and whilst I am seeking professional support and coming out the other side now, it has meant that ScribbleWhiskers has been somewhat left behind for the last few weeks.

Despite being a blog largely dedicated to neurodiversity and mental health recovery, I hesitate to share the ongoing struggles I deal with, as I don’t like how vulnerable it feels - but I believe I owe you some degree of honesty in this monthly update.

Through winter I took up a front-of-house service job at a local restaurant (not my brightest idea, but I wanted a challenge) which has left me physically, mentally and emotionally drained, and I believe this is what caused last month’s burnout. Working as an autistic person comes with its fair share of obstacles, but working in a hospitality job - that by its nature requires such a great amount of social awareness and masking - is another beast altogether.

In March I reached breaking point, but luckily I’ve had a wonderful experience as a result: I decided to hand in my resignation letter and disclose my autism, but instead of leaving, my boss offered me the opportunity to switch to a behind-the-scenes job instead. Now, I’m working almost entirely independently, on my own terms which works far better for my needs - and keeps my mental health from spiralling out of control. Thanks, boss.

It’s interesting how much our working environment affects us, and this whole experience really highlights just why autistic unemployment rates are so high in the UK; with only an average of 30% of autistic adults being in paid employment. Maybe this is something I will cover in another blog post someday.

During this month I also tried to launch a monthly art club, mixing together my interests in illustration and classic literature, but very promptly decided to pivot…

I realised that a subscriber-based system wasn’t something I wanted to focus on, as I didn’t like the exclusivity and, frankly, lack the audience as of right now. So instead, I’ve decided to launch what were going to be my exclusive ‘art club’ products on my overall shop instead!

So far I have dreamed up two different literary collections: based on Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

“Beware, for I am fearless and therefore powerful,”

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein.

“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same,”

Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

It was so much fun experimenting with digital art in making these, as it’s not a medium I’m very confident in. Literature is a huge passion of mine, and what better time to put this out into the world than the National Year of Reading?

I wanted to turn each piece of artwork into 4 separate products: prints, postcards, stickers and bookmarks, which are all now available to purchase on my Etsy if you are interested.

The Wuthering heights collection, featuring an art print or postcard, illustrated bookmark and waterproof sticker... found over on my Etsy!

Artistically, I’ve also been taking a lot of inspiration from my new home in South Devon.

Now that the sun has finally returned here in England, walking is back on my regular agenda - and living along the South West Coast Path has meant doing my fair share of coastal hikes. Getting to explore the beaches, coves and live alongside such interconnected, well-preserved natural landscapes has been a wonderful cure for art block. Walking has been something that has spawned a renewed sense of creative inspiration and an activity that has brought me a lot of peace in such an emotionally-turbulent month.

A set of watercolour wedding stationery templates I’ve put together, all inspired by the coast - now available on Etsy

All of this outdoor exploration prompted me to try my hand at overcoming one of my greatest artistic fears: sketching plein air! Working in public still fills me with a lot of anxiety, but it’s something I want to work to beat, as I think there’s magic in being able to observe the world around you so closely that it makes its way onto your sketchbook page.

So one day I set out along the coast path with the goal to occasionally stop and do a few rapid-fire sketches of what I saw. Whilst not pretty, I enjoyed slowing down, studying the scene in front of me, and roughly sketching down a likeness without worrying about perfection.

Despite leaving with pen all over my hands and a slightly damp sketchbook thanks to the seemingly ever-present British rain, I really enjoyed the exercise and it’s definitely something I plan to keep doing in the future. Sketching in public still makes my heart sink, but I’m sure with enough practice, time and exposure, my hands won’t shake quite so much.

Overall March was a strange month. Mentally, I was exhausted, probably at my lowest I had been in years, but that darkness also lent itself to great beams of light when I’d come out of my own thoughts and resurface for a moment in nature, creative pursuits or prayer.

Mostly, it did suck though.

Yours sincerely,

Owen @ ScribbleWhiskers

“For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light."

Psalm 36:9, ESV