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Posted
Lewis, thou'rt a clever lad. And, if I may say so, fecund (that's not an insult, look it up...). Far more so than I am - you have to wring work out of me, it takes so long. I wonder, do you generally feel reasonably well, or do you just triumph over your aches and pains and more? I quite often feel below par these days because of arthritis (though I'm ten years younger than you!), and I have some eyesight issues - all of which put me off; but then - I was always very easily put off, even before I had arthritis, cataracts, and big black eye floaters....... so perhaps it's just a question of damn' well getting on with it and stop with the excuses.....
Anyway, I shall take you as an example. I think that since I stopped (more or less) trying to sell (and succeeding now and then) a lot of the impetus to make work has left me. I need to find a new inspiration!
Posted
Just adding a bit to this very interesting and honest discussion. Good for you Lewis for initiating it. I love your work and hope that the historical characters work out for you, loved the Napoleon painting. I was sorry to read of your family situation and hope that your wife's health improves. Interested to read other artists' experiences with this year too. Afraid that I've rather "shut down" somewhat, with not nearly the excuse that you have in the U.K. Am now trying to get back into painting, and not finding inspiration easily. Some recent attempts have gone straight into the bin! Over here (N.Z.) we follow your news with considerable concern as many of us have family or friends in the U.K. I send you all my very best wishes for a very much better 2021 (pity that's not much practical use!), just hope that the vaccines do some good. Carry on creating! Will be checking in more regularly now.
Posted
Thank you Sandra. We live in harsh times, it's unsurprising than many of us find it hard to keep going on the art front. I need to, because it's one of the few things left to me that I can enjoy. I have plenty of time for it, so there's no excuse not to.
I can understand your situation Robert. My wife has had arthritis, and a number of other problems, for years. She was someone who always had to be doing things. Now she can't. I'm lucky in that I'm reasonably OK healthwise, one bane is poor hearing. I have hearing aids but still struggle to hear some people. Irritating...I used to enjoy a chinwag, conversation becomes fractured and at times embarrassing. I need glasses but my eyesight's not too bad.
I have an art desk permanently set up in our conservatory. The norm is for whatever I'm working on to be there on the desk together with the mediums I was using. As they're all water-based I can't make too much mess. Throughout the day I can often do a bit...10-20 minutes, most afternoons I draw or paint. Also, I'm an early riser. Quite often I've done a little painting before my wife gets up...I'd never expected to find myself painting at five in the morning. These days the hour of the day is pretty much irrelevant.
So I never have any excuse not to do something. When a few days go by I worry that the irresistible lure of 'potato-couch-man' status is beckoning. All the time I can do it I must. I often feel down, or disappointed with what I've done, and need to give myself a pep-talk. On this occasion I've done it through these pages. Anyway, it's fun, and an impossible challenge all at the same time.
Posted
I hate christmas.
It's not a good time in this house, and I can't wait for the tree to come down (it's only 'up' for the young offspring that live with us). Vinnie the new kitty has had most of the baubles off the bottom half of the tree (aka 'Vinnie-van-gogh').
We usually try to go away (to get away from the festivities), but this year we're skint and travel is not allowed anyway, so avoiding the mayhem has been difficult. Thankfully though, no major meltdowns have occurred.
I've binge-watched 'Travelers' on Netflix, and 'Britains Historic Towns' on All4, and some awful films that wasted several hours of my life.
I was painting the last cat/dog/random subject commissions until the week before xmas, and on the 'eve, had a message from a gallery that they'd sold one of my pictures, so that was a bonus! I've been a lot of a pajama slob since then, and I'm not sure how to snap out of it.
Send help (or gin)
Posted
Well we've been incarcerated at home - we usually spend Christmas with our children but not this year.
In lock-down once more
and my bum's getting sore
here on the sofa
an idle bored loafer
with nowhere to go anymore.
I hate the TV shows all full of so called celebs and soon get bored watching films - I need to be doing something and as my wife has recently had an operation I don't like to leave her for long spells so visits to the studio are not really an option. So it's scribbling poetry or working on something different which is where my pen abstracts come in.
I can do these at the dining table - thankfully our house is open plan - and I find they are absorbing and great fun. I've started posting them here on POL giving them all the title Pen Abstract which is (in theory) easily picked up by Google and has already given me some success. I might even mount an exhibition of them later in the year if things improve - will they ever?
Posted
Lewis, you've really put a positive insight within your post, despite the negative elements you are embracing life and still living it.
The last two lines in your last paragraph speak volumes.
With the intricate paintings you produce I can't ever think of you as 'potato couch man' — another subject to paint, possibly?
Can't say I'm a huge fan of Christmas, either, I don't go away, just lock myself away, which was made easy for me this year.
So few words conjure a vivid image, Sylvia. On times these little tasks are left by the wayside, good to read you are getting on with such things through your heartache.
Get those exhibition pieces together Michael, it will give some focus for the months ahead. We're supposed to be in another strict lockdown but still the idiots gather. Vaccine or not this will be with us for a long time to come.
Love that verse!
Edited
by C Jones
Posted
Many great responses here. Sylvia, yours the most powerful.
I've mistitled this thread. We can't keep it normal, because it isn't. All we can do is look for fragments of normality. Maybe...just maybe...things will sort themselves out in the coming year, although I suspect it will be a different kind of normality.
