11) Highs & Lows

Life has been full of new experiences over the last year – most of them very positive and exciting. I’ve found new doors opening for my art, one of which has been a number of requests for tuition. I’ve often discussed my techniques informally with people at Art Group, but booking a one or two hour session and being paid for it, demands that I really come up with the goods and meet the needs and, to a certain degree, the expectations of each individual. This has proved most enjoyable and I’ve learnt a lot in a short space of time. Being part of Open Up has been worth it if only to advertise my services as a tutor and I’m keen to hone my teaching skills yet further. I was really thrilled to be asked to do a demonstration this Sunday at the Hallam Art Group Spring Exhibition. Generally I don’t do demonstrations because people like to see a completed painting at the end of it and I work too slowly for that. I tend to do talks and slide-shows instead. What I have always done for Open Up is have a piece of on-going work available, and my materials spread out, so that I can demonstrate on a small portion of the picture when required. I’m really looking forward to Hallam – to see if I can concentrate on the art whist talking it through with a larger audience.
One of the less positive experiences over the past three weeks (but no doubt character- building) has been the illness and subsequent death of my mother. She was taken ill on Easter Day and against all the odds survived for ten days, but it was a roller–coaster ride with several false alarms. I tried to plan the Hallam demonstration and my preparations for Open Up as thoroughly as possible, knowing that things would almost certainly go “belly-up” at some point. I don’t need to get any more work produced but I do need to be “bright-eyed and bushy tailed” for both the demo on Sunday and the Open Up Launch Party at the City Hall on Monday. Fortunately, I feel tons better now, after a couple of good nights’ sleep, but motivation and concentration don’t come easy at a time like this!