Largo Arts Weekend 2021

I’ll be at Largo Arts Weekend this weekend, the 4-5th December. This is a mini-version of the amazing Largo Arts Week that takes place in the summer. This event will have 30 artists over 17 studios spread through the beautiful Lower Largo in Fife. Each studio is open 10.30-4pm on Saturday and Sunday. You can find me alongside Cameron Taylor in Studio 6, at 4 Drum Park, Lower Largo. I’ll have a wide selection of framed and unframed prints, greeting cards, calendars and more. I’ll look forward to seeing you there!

This is a great opportunity to explore Lower Largo - it’s an amazing place. Stop at the Railway or the Crusoe pubs for a refreshment, take in the studios (all from local artists) and enjoy walking around this spectacular little village. To view or download the online brochure, please click here.

Christmas Delivery 2019

If you’re kind enough to be shopping with me for Christmas presents this year, here are the recommended shipping dates for Christmas delivery.

For UK Delivery

Order by Thursday 19th December (or Sunday 22nd December on Next Day Delivery)

For EU Delivery

Order by Sunday 15th December

For USA/Canada Delivery

Order by Friday 13th December

These are the recommended dates given to me by Royal Mail - but at such a busy time of year for postal services these can’t be guaranteed unless you select the UK Next Day Delivery service. If you don’t want to be disappointed, order early, get it quicker and relax.

Happy holidays!

Here (no more)

Here are some words I wrote for my Granny's funeral a few days ago. I guess this year in particular I've spent a lot of time thinking about death, how we let it affect the way we live, and what is left behind. The more we choose to ignore it - in a quest for immortality or just to avoid awkward conversations with ourselves and others - the more it builds what feels like the sudden pain of loss. I've tried to find some words that offer some comfort to me for both living and dying - and in case they may do something for anyone else, I've shared them here.

Here (no more)

When I die, return me to the earth.
I'll nourish the soil for the ground's next birth.
As the last becomes the first, and the old, the new,
We may have to learn things that we already knew.

When I die, look for me in the stars.
There's no time, no limits, no distance too far.
Love what I loved and love lives on.
Breathe life into a memory and I'm not really gone.

See, nothing ever stops, so let change be mine.
I don't fear it anymore - it's comfort, I find.
The birds still sing, the sun still shines,
And the rain still falls on all that’s behind me.

So let the little things remind you that I was once here,
Share with me a smile, or whisper in my ear.
But I'll be dancing in the wind, I'll be the wave on the shore,
Here every moment, but here no more.

Written by Hasta

© 2018 Hasta Inc. (All rights reserved)

7 years ago...I Don't Like Hip Hop.

This morning Facebook reminded me that it was 7 years ago that we recorded our first single with The Ordinary Allstars, 'I Don't Like Hip Hop'. Those days seem as far away as they do close, and it's strange listening back to stuff from then - rewarding and occasionally difficult. I often forget we did this sort of lounge remix of the single (which I always really liked, and can't remember why we didn't put it on the CD), so you can listen to it or download it here if you'd like.

(And believe it or not, the Showtime EP is still available on iTunes...)

How many times?

With the way the news is at the moment I have found myself remembering a 16-bar verse I'd written a little while ago that I never got round to recording. There are quite a few of these floating verses that I'm trying to figure out a suitable outlet for... Maybe it will be here, or maybe this will make me try harder to think of another one. 

How many times? How many lines crossed?
I seen a bit of this world but I ain’t found god.
Just people, stuck in between their leaders
And what seems like a hopeless dream.
Now is it freedom, that you believe in?
See the balance been tipped, and not in the favour of reason.
We’ve been misled, the victims of thieving,
And much blood’s been shed in our names, it ain’t even.
Stones from pockets against guns and rockets
The underdog’s not scared, cos he already lost it.
He’s made a decision, to die on his feet,
Cos better that than to live on his knees.
So what’s defeat? And whose is victory?
History repeats, that don’t sound good to me.
Governments lie, been ignoring the warnings - 
I’ve prayed for the day, but now I’m scared as it’s dawning.

© Hasta, 2008

This is a notebook, not a journal.

I've always had a love/hate relationship with blogs. I love the idea of having an outlet for thoughts that don't have another home, but hate the feeling that you've neglected it if you haven't posted in a while. I have always preferred the idea of saying nothing at all, rather than something for the sake of it.

So I will treat this as a collection of thoughts and musings, with no particular intention or purpose. There will be little regularity or theme - things will be posted as they strike consciousness, but never because I feel compelled to say something, anything. Think of it as an incoherent notebook rather than a blog or worthy journal. Choose to read it, or choose not to.