As much as I would love to have hours and hours to sit and paint, the reality is, it just doesn't happen very often.
Like many of us, to be able to paint for several hours in one go is a luxury and one that doesn't happen as often as I would like.

With running art classes and an impending house renovation calling for attention, I manage to carve some time into my week to play in the sketchbook and lately creating mini landscapes. 

These landscapes are half an A4 size paper,or some are 20cm x 20cm.  The paper has a luxurious feel as it is 100% cotton watercolour paper and is a pleasure to work on.  Allowing myself an hour or so to work on a landscape or finish one off means I am still able to create for my art business. Most importantly, I continue to keep that creative muscle working.   

The joy of time carved out of a busy schedule helps to calm my mind, taking time to forget about what is happening around me, my to do list or anything else that pops up.  

Growing up, I had no idea my grandmother my dad's side was an artist.  It wasn't until recent years I found out she worked with charcoals and watercolour.  I now sit and wonder if this was her stress release from her busy life of being a nurse, mother and living on a poultry farm.

Besides the escapism, the joy of honing my skills with watercolour and gouache on small works. 

You can see some of my current mini landscapes created during these times. 

​Please feel free to leave a comment below. 
 
    

Recently I was asked how many art classes I run. I totalled them up and this year it will be approximately 120 classes. I also attend classes weekly, sometimes if I can fit it in I will attend an extra class during the week.
Being up the front and running a class is very different than being a participant, that's for sure.

What I have learnt running the classes is everyone has their way of processing the reference they are replicating. Every person has their own style. You can have a room filled with ten people, all doing the same reference photo, yet, there are ten different interpretations. A part of the reason to factor in is experience. Art classes have a range of people with varying degrees of creating art. The main factor, I believe is our interpretation of the piece. There is no right or wrong, there is no good or bad. There is no perfect piece, there is no dreadful piece. 

When I sit as a student in an art class, I love the ability to learn from the teacher, experiment, practice and enjoy the process. Sometimes, my work at a class I would prefer to throw in the bin, yet I keep it to learn from it. I enjoy finding happy little accidents, solving problems and developing my skills for future work. I don't define myself by the work I produce in an art class.

I do see from time to time, a person wanting to replicate the reference photo exactly, like a photocopy. They admonish themselves for not doing it correctly or right. Occasionally, there are silent tears and bright red faces as the person tries their hardest to find perfectionism in art. Emotions come to the surface of "I'm not good enough", "my art needs to be perfect", and "everyone else is better than me". Negative self-talk that serves no purpose and is definitely no good.

Take Vincent van Gogh, one of the world's most renowned painters, yet he is synonymous with the term 'a tortured artist'. He died at the early age of 37 and sold only one painting. In ten years he produced almost 900 paintings and around 1100 works on paper.

Sadly, Vincent didn't get to see how some of his works are the most expensive in the world, his art style laid the foundation for future artists and he was one of the most influential artists in the history of art.

So, my biggest takeaway and advice if I may...... enjoy the class, learn the process, develop skills, use what you learn for future work and don't define your ability by what is done on the day. You do you, comparison kills creativity and joy.

What are your thoughts on comparison and self-talk? Share your thoughts and leave a comment below.