A short Sabbatical - at home.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the bad luck to have another driver run into the back of my car. I was stationary, he was watching the lights at the intersection not  car in front of him. 

Since I would be without my car for at least this week, I decided to take the opportunity to take a sabbatical - in my Studio. There are no classes - the Studio is closed for the winter break - I have no appointments or obligations - I have uninterrupted time to draw and paint. 

I start each day with a walk in the park across the road from my home. Each morning I vary the route, sometimes walking up the road to enjoy the sunrise. The downside of this route is an increase in traffic noise, but well worth it for the beauty of the sky. Here are some images on my Instagram page - Early morning colour

Once home, I settle myself in the Studio and get busy. Mid morning I take a short break walking up the road to Deja Bru Cafe for coffee. While there, I have time for a quick sketch, then it's back into the Studio for the rest of the day.

Monday 26th June

Tuesday 27th June 

Regular (and sometimes) irregular blogging

Visual artists do not always find that words come easily, and it’s often hard for us to get into a regular schedule of writing blog posts. Writing time is more often taken up with drawing, painting and sometimes just planning the next painting in a series. Preparing work for exhibitions, as well as planning teaching topics also takes precedence.

There are countless resources online to help a blogger stay on track including: having a blog writing day where multiple posts are planned and written in one sitting; and there are many wonderful brainstorming ideas for topics. The snag is just sitting down and getting on with the writing. I know I'm not alone as I read frequently of fellow bloggers taking time out.

My plan to blog once a week often falls woefully short of that goal, and recently this has happened more and more.

My excuse - I've had a very busy studio time. It’s likely to remain that way for a while. A new project is a large painting for a local business. I'm on a virtual journey to Paris.These photos give a glimpse of the scale of the work.

Suffice to say I’ll be busy - very busy…