Wisdom Stew

Battling a jolly summer cold to continue and joyously complete 'Archie's Park' in a burst of activity. Having pointed out my own pitfalls in black and white in yesterday's post it actually made it easier to avoid them today; I was kind of second guessing my own distractions and bodyswerving them as they arose. 'No, you don't need to reorganise the studio shelves now... the letter from the bank can wait....you can find a new book to read later....get on with it!

Not that I talk to myself, ever, that's what I have cats for.

Found a great piece of wisdom courtesy of a friend on Facebook; a list of handy hints for aspiring artists, which are both handy and well thought out by a gallery guy from London. My smaller, less lyrical version is the important bite sized pieces for my own daily consumption, as follows;

1) Have faith; stop thinking you are rubbish or you might as well give up now.

2) Karma. Don't mess people around, or it'll come back to you.

3) Listen to constructive criticism, ignore invalidative criticism. Learn to tell the difference.

4) Promote. Inflow = Outflow

5) Present your work as if it has value. Always.

6) Remember what you do that was good. Repeat.

7) Remember what you did that was bad or useless. Do not repeat.

8) Finish what you start. Incomplete actions make mountains.

9) Stay true to yourself and your instincts.

10) Set the goals and go. Don't waver or doubt, just do it.

Thank you to the originator and apologies for my bastardisation but it really is worth repeating, even if only to myself. A mantra or credo is not a bad thing for the self doubter; I like to remember the moment I idly thought 'What would I do if my life depended on it (painting wise)?' and then slowly it dawned on me that it did!

So, Archie is signed sealed delivered, now I am chuckling happily at my angels in their Holm oak home; this is another one which is just waiting to be painted and I have already laid down the first coat on the tree and cut my potatoes for the leaves; Archie's trees are in a similar vein and so acted as a dry run for this one in a way, which is about 40% tree, so good to get a good technique for it so I don't get all tight when I'm doing it. Having less problem with that now that I have identified it as a problem, mind; no nippy outlines in Archie's Park!

On a more mundane front, but strangely enjoyable, I did the Aldi's run today; inconceivable six months ago this has become a weekly ritual to secure my 99p muesli, cleaning products and whatever handy bargains are set to become the weeks's staples. Looks like a bit of a chicken-heavy week and I think we might be having peppers with it pretty often, but it is truly amazing the variations one can achieve on such basics. Super treat tonight; stir fried prawns with the ends of a few jars of sauces; there really should be a name for this one as it occurs frequently - the 'fridge emptier'? Not exactly catchy... Stu rules. His suggestion shall be immortalised - 'Sauce Melange'. He ain't a chef for nuffink.