Experimenting

In 2006 I had a period of depression related (mostly) to my husband’s death. As a creative diversion I came up with the idea of giving painting a go. At the time I believed I didn’t have an artistic bone in my body; mainly as a result of having two brothers who are artists, one of whom laughed at my childish efforts to draw. I never picked up a pencil, crayon or brush after that episode.

But somewhere deep inside I must have known there was something there, some urge to play with colour. When I began lessons my teacher was astounded how fast I picked up and demonstrated the basics. Much of it was pure instinct.

Very importantly I discovered that I absolutely love both the process and the results. Painting takes me to a place I don’t go otherwise, where depression never ventures. I’ve painted ever since.

I quickly filled the house with canvas after canvas, and I have so many now that I only paint cards. (I don’t want to sell any, so the canvases are rotated from storage to the walls on an irregular basis.)

Designing my own cards doesn’t only satisfy my creative urge, but it saves me a heap of money, and people really enjoy receiving them.

For a while I painted mostly human figures, then I moved onto landscapes and seascapes, and recently I’ve become more abstract.

The upper card was completed just last week. The one below it is from a month or two ago.

Much of my technique is based on chance. There’s definitely no plan before I put brush to card. I daub away and watch what’s coming off the brush, then I start to see shapes and opportunities to grow each piece into something distinctive. Sometimes total magic happens and I’m astonished by what’s appeared.

Many thanks for all the good wishes yesterday. I’m feeling significantly better now, but have enjoyed another relatively lazy day.