Well, what an interesting couple of years. Since my last blog post I've been back in my old job in Norway, moved house, changed website hosting, got paid off again, seen the world come to a halt in a pandemic, resumed painting and returned to my original website host, (and breathe)
Moving house certainly hadn't featured in our plans, until it did. Once we decided, it all moved fairly rapidly and I can honestly say it's been the best thing we've done for ourselves and our family, and if you follow me on social media, or know me, you'll know our views are stunning.
The views are what brought me back to the canvas. Losing my job and seeing the world descend into loo roll insanity left me feeling disconnected and lost. Certainly in no frame of mind to create.
Eventually though, it became too much, the sunsets began stacking up in my Google photos album and I found myself making a folder, “2020 skies”, and began picking the good ones before I realised why.
Then I was painting, and as I did so, I went over all the little things that had nudged me in the right direction. Finalising the layout of the conservatory into a social space with room for my little paint/brush trolleys and easel, some kind of sanity prevailing in the outside world, at least in Scotland. I also let go of any unhealthy attachment to my career in Oil. It was sheer chance I found my way into it, and sheer chance that I found myself out of it. It got me this far, but it's gone. Like baby teeth or yesterday's weather.
As my painting progressed, I of course highlighted it on social media, where interest grew. Eventually it sold before being completed and the next one sold before it was really begun. You can't really encapsulate the feelings I had during this. Painting is entirely personal. You create something from a thought inside your mind, a feeling from your heart, and lay it out on a canvas for all to see and judge. I think I'm realising now that it's the emotions you can express in a painting that carry across first. Like the aroma from the kitchen of a wonderful or horrifying meal. I think, when I'm analysing my work, as a piece develops, I'm really checking if there's any encumbrances to those emotions. Does the true voice of the painting hail clearly or is there something muffling it.
