My house is 99% put together and lately it has become apparent that free time is starting to come my way again.

Tonight, I sat down and realized the dog was walked, dinner was done, phone calls have been made… and I have some free time.

So I made my way into the studio. After all, Wednesdays were painting night until a few months ago. This might be a good time to start that up again.

I sat down and started on what I’m trying to think of as a warm up project. It’s a rose painting that has been hanging around for about a year.

Then I started on another project that has been hanging around and I recently experimented on.

My original title was “Going”, but I’m thinking about changing it to “Four”.

I wasn’t feeling it. I have so many projects hanging around, and an embarrassingly overdue commission… I shouldn’t start something new. I also feel too lazy to do the prep work.

And I’m a little scared. Everything is in the detail stage. I have trouble there.

I found myself thinking about something fellow painter Ruth Armitage recently posted on her blog.

The temptations and allure of change are great. There are always new techniques, rabbit trails and experiments  that seem more attractive and simpler than delving deep into one’s emotions, memories and psyche.

The challenge is to remain true to oneself, while still keeping open to fresh ideas. To hold onto the strengths and working habits that feed successful work.

This sentiment of not wanting to delve into stuff is resonating with me. I feel scared I won’t be able to do as well as “Shoes and Shadows” again.

But I need to try.

So, I compromised. I didn’t keep working on my current projects, but I started a full sheet (!!) abstract.

Hopefully this will get me going.