Play

This is my first painting after the Christmas and New Year period. The first week after New Year, I had no urge to paint. Whether I painted in the second, depended on an image coming up on our Sunday walk. Fortunately, one did. I'd love to paint that. Or this scene is asking to be painted! I want you to paint me! I'd be happy, I told myself, to have a paint-free January. Painting is stressful. Just take a break. Didn't I need to spend more time on writing?

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But I had a picture. With great excitement, I set up in no time. I really wanted to paint, to spread a palette, to apply paint to the brush, vary my brushstrokes, try different combinations of colours, even how  do you make green? I'd forgotten and thank goodness for swatches I'd done earlier and the colour wheel (yellow and blue). 

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I like this start! Oh, but what if you make a mistake, muck it up. After all, you're not so good, not as good as you think. Oh, dear, where was this voice coming from again? I simply wanted to pick up my brush again and play, like a child does. A child doesn't worry about what others think. They simply play. Only when they get older do they begin to fear criticism and judgement.

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And so , I played. I would have liked to have done a better painting. This is the best I could do at the time. At one point, I took myself off for a walk around the house. I took a moment, looking out of the backroom window. then, I did the same through the front window. Returning to the easel, I stood back and looked at my workplay. It gave me a moment of clarity and then away I was off again.

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Partly, the need to complete a painting in one or two sessions is down to me working on my kitchen table. I can't leave anything out. Perhaps, that might change in the future. But you paint where, when and how you can.

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And the bonus is my palette paint. Akin to freewriting, I clear away my excess paint by making a freepainting. These are lovely to do, require no thought. Best if you don't. See the latest results under Cards.

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