Gallery Blog #1

We all know how things went back in 2020!

That was the year I made the change!

Call it a midlife crisis if you will, but actually I spent years fantasising about returning to the artists life style. Obviously, it was going to differ greatly from the 1990s. For example I now have a husband, teenagers, a house, guinea pigs, and the internet. 

Eventually though, I did it!

Unfortunately, it wasn't until I was in the throes of menopause, a 'Menty B', a loss of grip of the nursing role, and, oh yeah, a global pandemic, that influenced my decision to return to painting.

However, my initial attempt to paint portraits of the guinea pigs proved how rusty I was and how much I'd changed over the years. The last time I painted was about 14 years previous.

 I'd dabbled a bit in my spare time with some of the old oil paints that I put in the loft. Obviously, it was better to stick to the job at the time. Painting was a form of stress relief.

A pivotal moment! I see Flint the cat!

Rosie

The modified version of Sweetpea! Looking less like a surprised, furry toblerone!

Sylvie

I took me till 2021 to get painting seriously. 

The Art Club series returned to Channel 4 as we had gone into another lock down.

I'd heard of Grayson Perry's Art club from the year before. Someone told me about the week they did 'pets' as a theme when they'd heard I was making the piggy portraiture. I was trying to paint them before leaving the job because the activities staff wanted to put on an exhibition, in April! Of course, that didn't happen. Just as well though! I was too late to submit them for the Art Club too.

So in 2021, I caught up on that first series, and prepared some pieces to submit for the second series...

This will continue in the next chapter.