Alongside printmaking I am exploring painting and have signed up to Gabriella Buckingham's 'Experimental Still Life' course, which is online and self-paced. I've found it to be packed with inspiration for colour and composition which can be applied to printmaking as well as painting.

Practice practice practice! As an incentive joined in the twice-yearly Strada Easel challenge to paint form life every day for a month and post the resulting paintings on Instagram. So, during September 2024 I painted small still lifes on scrap cardboard. This coincided with the weeks I was visiting my Mum to sit by her and watch her long life come to an end.

At first the paintings seemed like a chore …



… they became a daily habit …



… the ceramic vessels and flowers were like characters on a stage, spending time with these small scenes was like therapy …



… the daily painting, especially the monochrome hurried ones, became a necessity.



I'd like to say I've continued the habit, I haven't. But I am beginning to miss it and I will do it again.