For much of this year I’ve been dealing with the consequences of being under too much stress for too many years.  There wasn’t an area of my life that wasn’t deeply affected, but thankfully with the help of a very good psychologist, I’m starting to get back to the things I enjoy – including painting!

I decided to sign up for one of Richard Robinson’s online workshops, because I liked how he broke the process of creating a painting down into a series of steps.  I reasoned that I could complete the steps slowly over time, which would make it seem more manageable (part of the strategy my psychologist has taught me).

The end result is I’ve got my first new painting done since March, and although it’s no masterpiece, I’m very pleased just to have done it.  I also learnt a great deal along the way about planning a painting, the use of colour (and grey), and even how to use abstract brushstrokes to suggest detail.

This one is Genesis heat-set oils on stretched canvas, 8″x10″.