The art of slowing down: Lucy on journalling, planning, and finding space for yourself

Lucy has always kept a journal.

Long before the galleries, before the prints on kitchen walls across the country, before the Yorkshire landscapes became part of so many people's homes, there were notebooks. Pages filled with ideas, sketches, plans, and the small observations that eventually found their way into her art.

"I've always needed somewhere to put my thoughts," she says. "A journal isn't just a to-do list for me. It's how I make sense of things. It's where I figure out what I'm feeling before I know how to say it."

It's World Wellness Week this week, and we've been thinking a lot about what wellness actually looks like in practice, beyond the big gestures. What we keep coming back to is this: it's the small, consistent things. The morning cup of tea. The ten minutes before the day gets loud. The notebook you reach for before your phone.

Which is why this week felt exactly right to introduce two new products that Lucy has poured herself into.

THE SELF CARE JOURNAL

This isn't a daily in the traditional sense. It's a gentle prompt, a space to check in with yourself, to ask how you're really doing, to notice what's working and what isn't. Each page is guided without being prescriptive, and Lucy's artwork flows through every section, making it as beautiful to look at as it is useful to use.

We think it's especially perfect for anyone who's ever thought "I should journal" but didn't quite know where to start.

THE DAILY PLANNER

For the planners, the list-makers, the people who feel calmer when they can see the week laid out in front of them, this one is for you. Practical and joyful, it carries the colour and warmth of Lucy's signature style into the most ordinary parts of your day.

A NOTE ON GIFTING

Both products make genuinely thoughtful gifts and we'd be remiss not to mention that teachers across the country are finishing up for summer right now. If you're looking for a thank-you gift that goes beyond a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates, the Self Care Journal is a beautiful way to say: you deserve to take care of yourself now, too.

HOW TO START A JOURNALLING PRACTICE (from someone who actually does it)

Lucy's tips:
- Keep it close. The journal that's on your bedside table gets used. The one that's "somewhere in the drawer" doesn't.
- Don't worry about writing well. Write honestly instead.
- Try five minutes to start. That's all it takes to make it feel like yours.
- Let the page be ugly some days. That's what it's for.

You can shop both the Self Care Journal and Daily Planner online or find them in any of our galleries.