Just when I was beginning to think that August and September were going to be a leisurely period in which I could settle in to painting, developing ideas from my Italian trip, I had a diary session …. and realised that I am committed to showing material at a gallery in Norfolk during October. The hanging date is only seven weeks away, and I had in mind to put in some new pieces very specific to the coastal context. I did several sketches and collected reference material back in the spring, but other commitments meant that this project went onto the back burner.
Now I face a choice. Do I stay with my current involvement in the theme of my response to Italian experience of war, or do I try to get into an entirely different frame of mind? (It will involve getting into a different medium also, as the Norfolk landscapes are intended to be in watercolour.) I must not get into the frame of mind suggested by that song by Sting, “Seven days is all she wrote, a kind of ultimatum note ….” The song is about prevarication, if you don’t know it.
No! I’ll see August out with my head in Italy. This is interesting, isn’t it? It seems that you have to plan inspiration, which is not what artists are supposed to do.