Moving through.
Painting through discomfort.In my recent quest to ignore perfection, I picked up my sketchbook and sat on the floor of my new lounge with all of my art materials sprawled across the floor. Embracing mess is new, but it feels very comforting, like I’ve ignored my best friend. I felt like a kid again. It was great. I decided to sketch a weed that’s been taking over my new garden, it’s everywhere — it’s beautiful, even if it’s a pain.
Viper’s Bugloss: A hairy plant with dense spikes of bright blue, funnel-shaped flowers (I LOVE THIS BLUE). Found on chalk grassland, sand dunes, cliffs and disturbed ground (SO WHY IS IT IN MY GARDEN?), and is in bloom from May to September. It provides food for a range of insects, including Buff-tailed and Red-tailed Bumblebees, Large Skipper and Painted Lady butterflies, Honeybees and Red Mason Bees. (LOVE THIS).
I initially sketched with a blue marker, and my usual go-to blue fine liner, but I felt the urge to screw it up… something I used to do A LOT. I instead paused, and popped some music on, and kept going. I opened my gouaches and moved through the discomfort. In the end I actually loved what I created, it took me back to the Winchester School of Art print room, and I might make it into a fabric sometime. Proud of myself for pressing on.
