Paint by numbers

I have been taking 5 minutes out of each day to illustrate, doing this really made me want to paint, so very, very much. Life is full, we are still in confinement in France, that means my two daughters are home with me, plus we're building a house at the moment, that adds so much to the day to day tasks, then, on top of that there is my ever present grief from losing my beautiful little sister... so, how to find the energy, the time, and the space in our teeny, tiny 29 m2... 

I decided to replace those 5 minutes of daily illustration time with 5 minutes of painting time, then I found a space to leave a few brushes etc. accessible without needing more than half a minute to set up or pack up, easier said than done in such a small home. But I managed, I made it happen and I was so very happy to have a paintbrush back in my hand. It was difficult though, to stop after only a few minutes, I knew it would be, this is the exact reason why I created a sort of mini paint by numbers series for myself, on extra small 10cm round wooden boards, something that I could pick up and put down until the next day and importantly something that didn't take up more than a window sill of space in our tiny home. I made a plan to keep it simple, I made creative decisions in the planning stage and then I just enjoyed having a brush or palette knife in my hand, putting paint onto a surface.

I really think that what I mixed on my palette was much prettier than what I ended up painting, and you know what... that's okay too, it was an exercise in carving out time for art, in anyway possible. I wanted to pour my love into it and I needed it to ba a beautiful, calming experience and I feel like I achieved my goal.

The process got me thinking about how I much prefer totally abstract works, the kind that don't resemble anything from our physical world, instead representing emotions and memories from within. I know I am drawn to abstract more than anything else. Moving forward from this therapeutic experience I realise that I need to make the time somewhere in my week to keep it up, It's heart healing and it's what I need at the moment. It will need to be more than 5 minutes though, so that it can flow out of me in a less planned more organic way.

I do believe that we can make anything happen in our lives, that is if we want it badly enough to break down the barriers we put in front of ourselves, sometimes it just needs to start with baby steps, like a little paint by numbers.

​x Louise.
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