This is a bit like dipping my toe in the water. It seems an age since I picked up a brush and I would swear that I could almost hear them creaking as I painted this!! In truth, it hasn't been that long at all really, I think it just seemed an age because I had made the conscious decision to take a break. An example of how elastic time can be when influenced by our own perceptions. It's nice to get back to landscape painting, especially an Autumn scene, a season that pretty much passed me by last year. I hope everyone has had a good start to 2014 and, if not, that things will improve soon. I had a good start. I sold two pictures at the gallery and, (drum roll), I've had a proper diagnosis at long last and will have an operation in March, I just need to plod along till then. It's amazing how a light at the end of the tunnel can make one feel so much more positive!! My own lack of creativity has been more than compensated for by my wife Helen. Half way through last year she decided to take up sewing after years of abstinence due to lack of time etc. What's happened since is incredible. Our modest home is rapidly filling with quilts, skirts, purses, baby wear and bags of every size, colour and design. She now has a number of craft fairs in her sights for the coming year. Her achievements have inspired me. For my part, the ideas are starting to flood back almost as rapidly as the rivers in the west of England. It's time to get going again!! Watercolour on Saunders Waterford 140lb ROUGH.
