Air

Right now I am sitting on my front stoop, writing my blog in a notebook, but I swear this is not one of those times when I am trying to wrench a sense of accomplishment from self-created difficulty!

I am doing this for a very simple reason: I. Need. More. Light.

Winter + overcast + working inside = seriously dragging myself through January. Even with walking home from my daughter’s school every day, it’s not enough. So I have decided to start taking “light” breaks every afternoon.

An added benefit is that while sitting here three different neighbors have come over to say hi and tell me things about their day. One even had the most ridiculously cute puppy I’ve ever seen, an Australian Shepherd who was on his very first walk outside. (Why didn’t I take a picture? Cute overload is my only excuse.)

So, yes, I would say this break for light thing is working.

Meanwhile, in the studio, I have been trapped by a sea of paintings. First these.

And then these.

Here’s one a bit closer, so you can see what the glazes are doing.

I’m still adding layers to these too.

Here’s an example of how I’m working, with three variants on the same color at one time. Not sure how well you can see that the one container has two tones.

Pre-mixing colors and working from these containers has been such an amazing discovery because of how it allows me to work faster. Working faster means I can work more instinctively, without having to stop and think.

One day this week while I was walking home I suddenly decided to just close my umbrella and walk along in the rain. I did have a raincoat and rain boots on, so it’s not like it was even a big deal, but it felt amazing. The sudden fresh air of not being so careful. Of injecting just a wee bit of wildness into the routine.

That’s exactly what it feels like working quickly, quick enough that my brain doesn’t have time to get in the way.

And that’s what it felt like sitting outside to write my blog, shaking things up a little in a way that didn’t make sense…and yet makes so much sense.

So this week, here’s to figuring out ways to get more light and more fresh air into your routine, both literally and figuratively! We can always use more.