I’m not really paranoid, but there are occasions on which it does feel that the world is trying to foil my attempts to be an artist.
Just as I am getting into my stride again, and producing work, I am besieged by demands on my time which take me away from it. We have committed ourselves to moving house, and tomorrow will be visited by a potential purchaser. Almost the entire day has been taken up with preparation for the event, in particular making sure that the garden is reasonably tidy, and making good a defect in the wallpaper in one of the bedrooms. All I have succeeded in doing on the art front is varnishing one of my pieces, and photographing it for inclusion in my log-book.
I have just been watching a TV programme about Frances Hodgkins* and I have been blown away by her sheer determination and productivity.
How (if ever) is it going to be possible to restore artistic productivity to a central place in my life?
- Frances Hodgkins (1870-1947). Born in New Zealand, but eventually settled in England, making a career initially as a textile designer before turning full-time to painting. She spent the last 15 years of her life in Purbeck. Her major focuses on landscape subjects.