So when faced with the concept of drawing my naked body I was confronted with myriad body issues and of course the new issues of mobility and disability (as the assignments have requirements I cannot physically fulfill).These assignments have required me to look quite laterally at the exercises and at myself…. The other exercise was not brilliant – it was supposed to be full size and the physical requirements made me do it a different way that I don’t think worked I was too emotionally invested…. The one today was quite clinical – very grays anatomy – this helped me get past some body issues to create it properly with a certain amount of clinical attachment.

I have been playing with other art forms and not really doing my assignments so I am very bad. but halloween is coming up and I have a good kitchen again so I am getting back into cake and cookie decorating and baking and I am sewing my costume too. after halloween I will definitely be getting back into my assignments!I promisewhy are you looking at me like that?I have to!

(well as soon as my chiro gets back and I can actually move but oh well) I actually got the courage to visit Making Life Easy and am now the proud owner of a reacher, a dressing stick and a cane that is actually appropriate for my injuries…. Next we will be looking at a reclining lift chair (electronic, it will lie me back and help me get up without effort – this will reduce the strain on the injuries) and rails for the Loo so that I can get myself up without bringing my cane in with me!!I can’t believe it has taken me this long to get all this stuff but for a long time I was optimistic that I would heal and any purchases like that would be a waste of money and space…. My doctor has been telling me for some time now that it will almost certainly be permanent and all we can hope for is an increase in mobility so it is long overdue that I just admit that I need help and move on. These tools are here for my independence and if they can help me lead a normalish life and let Liam get back to work so much the better.I do feel a little like an old lady tho – thankfully lift chairs now come in quite attractive microsuede!

It is highly textured and, although you cant see it in the photo (its pretty bad, I will re-shoot it later) it has a lot of colors like red and purple…. Not really – and that is another reason why it is important, it is the first piece that is so part of me that I really don’t care what anyone thinks (except Liam)…. It’s from Family Guy’s Chris in one of my favorite episodes ‘A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Bucks’ “It’s partly an expression of my teenage angst but mostly its a moo cow!”

I dont know if they are working yet but it is probably too soon to tell.I have a new HUUUGE canvas (it doesn’t really fit on my easle) but I dinna know what to put on it.This raises the question Liam asked me when I was working on my vietnamese musician…. maybe it reminds them of someone or something or a time in their lives – or maybe they just like the face…. I love faces and what they tell about the person beneath, but I think they are not where I want to be right now.

Last night I made a decsion that while I love my Vietnamese musician (I feel like I know him now, I think his face is beautiful) I am regressing back to portraiture mode and beginning to lose some of the looseness I have gained. I also don’t really know where I am heading with him, I can’t find an ideal place for the instrument that won’t overweight the composition and his shirt is going nowhere. So I have put him aside for now and have started a new piece.Liam and I were talking last night and came to the realization that my best works are really the ones that I have done quite fast.

I was in therapy before the accident for this precise reason and didn’t really grok it until I had the forced time to reflect.Because of my drive in the corporate world I neglected everything, my body, my health, and what I wanted…. I completely repressed my urge to paint and draw to the point where every time I started doodling at work I became overcome with depression and I stopped being able to see the colors and light the way I used to…. I might have had a breakdown by now (I was well on my way) and would never have rediscovered my art. So, while I am very over the pain and impairment, I think the differences this accident has wrought in me are mostly good.

Some of it is funny, some is relevant and worth taking on board.the art life: Words of Advice for Young Artists #1I like the part about giving up a lucrative IT career! (not that really had a choice when you come down to it)“It’s easy, find a job that pays well enough to cover the bills and buy the paint, make babies when your still in your twenties, spend every waking minute summing up life and don’t forget to keep a journal so that when the kids leave home in your forties you can really remember what it was like to be young and revisit your creations with the experience of it all” – Lindon Langdon.hey – I am creating a journal! it does all have a point!

I have backslided majorly this week being in some of the worse pain I have felt since the accident. I am still here, I have not been painting because of the pain but my current piece is going well.I have realized that my goal of painting at least an hour every day is not particularly possible all the time so I am amending it to trying to do at least an hour of Art things every day…. I will make an effort to post more as I enjoy writing about the wacky world of art so I am planning to include more of my inspirations, more shows (as I have a goal of attending more openings) and the occasional nugget of arty farty crap that reaches my eye…