Ardrishaig

Was I just going through the motions yesterday, painting this? It felt a bit like it at time. And you can tell. Look at any one particular feature and it is lacking in pretty much everything - shape, hue, feature, contour, depth. Hey, maybe, this is the start of a great art critic career! I hadn't painted regularly for some time; my routines broken up...refreshed by holiday breaks. Time off is good too. Still, there were times during this painting when I really didn't know what I was doing.

I know every practice is good, but...just keep going. Something may happen. Belatedly, I remembered the best feeling comes when you go with something inside you , a feeling, forget the photo images you are copying. Now, it becomes you're own. This happened a little bit. And you can tell it's by me! And in praise of one of my creative warriors and encouragers, Alfred Wallis too!

Despite saying it hasn't ended well, that I've learned nothing from all this practice, I must have learned something. I have learned not to take yourself too seriously, and to accept what arrives. The process, after all, of painting is even more beneficial than the painting. The enjoyment I've had in painting will probably tell you how good a painting I think it is.

And aren't those colours gorgeous?!? Burnt umber and yellows, with flecks of titanium white! I was pleased with the start. And the blues of the sea and sky! The mistiness of the hills! The light shimmering through the spruce tree! It feels like I could have added matchstick men and women in tribute to L S Lowry, but I didn't. I went for a gull, couldn't do it and gave up. Somethings just have to wait until another day...