Daubers Trip Feb 2017
So for me it seems everything needs a reason to be, a reason to do. I have a ridiculous work ethic, I think because I just enjoy it, or I have so much I want to do.
Although the time away from the studio unsettles me, I allow myself ‘painting holidays’, but I still angst about them being a ‘waste of my time’.
Looking at my Tenby attempts, although they didn’t capture the seagulls or the warm breeze they did make me think of colour. They made me look.
When we daubers meet for another painting holiday I decided I want to paint ‘my figures’.
I discovered in the life drawing class on the Monday, an elbow, a thy could be my landscape and as the eastern breeze took hold, bringing white snow and sleet, here was my opportunity to sit by the fire, listen to the dog snore and play with colours. All over the place was colour. Yellows from Barcelona, oranges from Loas and this blue green that seem to come from nowhere.
Then, out on my bike, the white winter sun exposed blue and purple hills and I realised that the landscape is the colour. Llanigon Green at home out the window, Herefordshire Blue, Whitney White on the bridge over the river Wye of the deepest dark blue purple.
So yes to looking, yes to walking, even yes to painting holidays, and yes to Laos because they all appear in my work. And most of all I need to chill out about it, as Graham says, ‘it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you don’t give yourself a hard time about it!’
