The creative urge gets us all whether we are artists or mothers or gardeners or in my case all three. I am now a grandmother rather than just a mother and so it is one step removed - all the joy and none of the daily grind that makes up living!
Art is another matter. A recent graduate from Duncan of Jordanstone, I felt wiped out when I finished and somewhat lost. Fortunately I had set myself a project which I worked on periodically at the DCA print room and in the privacy of my home during the winter when I have time. (In the summer I am immersed in the garden and all that it entails.) Last year I started painting again and used the leisure class at Angus college to do so because there really isn't a suitable space at home. It has the added advantage of supervision - a critical eye and comments from the tutor - which I feel I need. I'm still experimenting and finding my way. When I did learn to paint, my tutors used watercolour and pastel, so my experience in oils and acrylics was poor. Oils I love, but they take so long to dry that I get impatient. Acrylics are faster, but have other problems. On the other hand they do lend themselves to texture. How am I getting on? So far so good and I'm working away trying to get ready for AOS (Angus Open Studios) at the end of May.
By April I will be so busy in the garden that I won't have time to paint. The garden is a living work of art, constantly evolving, and I am creating slowly but surely an orchard - much to my husband's consternation. I now have twenty fruiting trees including two cobnuts. It's a mixture of raised beds for vegetables and a chaotic profusion of flowers designed to support birds, bees and other beneficial insects. Some is a bit haphazard but where it gets too much I shift plants and rearrange them to suit my tastes. I can't say it is weed free - it's not, but it is a beautiful space and inspires my art.
