Elizabeth February 22nd, 2009

Today we had nowhere we needed to be, and it was bliss.

For some reason Tim and I badly needed this weekend. Tim spoiled me with croissants and pastries on Saturday morning, and we spent much of the day hanging out on the couch together playing video games. Later on we gave the dog a haircut and took him to the park, and spent the rest of the evening playing a board game and eating cheese and olives. We even ducked down to the local for a beer, which is pretty indulgent for us. It was fun to just hang out.

We had intended to get up and go to the Camberwell markets this morning, but it just didn’t happen. Bed was too comfy, we slept too late, and besides – we had everything we needed in the pantry to make pancakes! We watched the nationally-televised “National Day of Mourning” ceremony, cringed as Princess Anne referred to her sister as “The Queen of Australia” and devoured our pancakes with lemon juice and icing sugar. Markets schmarkets.

I’m not sure why, but immediately after the service I got off the couch, dragged my easel and an enormous canvas into the living room, and began to paint. It’s been a seriously long time since I’ve painted anything, let alone anything good, so I’m not really sure what came over me. All I know is that I worked at this piece for hours on end today without losing momentum.

It felt good. I ditched the brushes early on and did most of it with my hands. I built textures. I mixed the sawdust from our poor old tree into the paint and slathered it on thick. I painted a design from a single line – two people hand in hand.

Half a day later, there’s still more to be done. I think the rest will involve book pages and gesso, but I’m not sure yet. I like the way it evolved into something completely different from my original plan, and that I had to throw myself into it – body and soul. Once the paint dried I found myself chipping away at the textures, pulling more white from the bottom layers and scraping off lines of dark paint.

I found it all very therapeutic – better than a punching bag! It really makes me wonder how much negative energy I’ve been lugging around with me over the past few weeks.

Plenty, I suspect.

More photos to come as it grows…

• Art , Life
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