It is really good to be working again after such a long layoff. Starting work, however, is far from easy, as I’ve found on previous occasions. The idea has been identified. The medium in which I want to work has been chosen. The canvas has been under-painted and the idea sketched. Even so, I am experiencing this terrible feeling of reluctance to actually comment myself to painting.
I’ve been here before. Many years ago I had the good fortune to be granted tuition sessions with Graeme Willson, and I will always remember a remark he made, when I was expressing difficulty in getting going with a new project. “Your difficulty is,” he said, “that you are afraid to fail.” He hit the nail on the head, and I now recognise this as a recurring feature my work. There is only one solution, and that is to dive in, hoping for the best, knowing that there will be mistakes, but pressing ahead anyway.
Everything is set up for me to start work tomorrow. “Feel the fear”, as they say, “and do it anyway.”