Watching them grapple with new techniques and ways of working has made me reflect on learning as a journey. I have gone on many learning journeys over the years and they have been as varied as the learnings that took place within them. When I was in my 40’s I decided I would learn to play tennis. Most people just pick up a tennis racquet sometime in their childhood or adolescence and start playing. I remember picking up the racquet but the playing part just naturally didn’t follow.
Currently, I’m reading repeatedly artists asking the question: “Are you struggling to work at the moment?” It seems the distractions of the world grappling with the Corona Virus is causing a global creative block. At the same time, people are confined to quarters and looking for something to do to inject some positivity into their lives. So, we have another global problem. Not perhaps quite on the scale of Covid-19, but a problem nonetheless; an urge to be creative and yet a struggle to find the well of creative juices.
One thing I constantly keep in mind is that by adding more paint – even if it’s the wrong colour, doesn’t fix the original problem, or creates another; in the end it will only make the painting better. The surface will get richer, and I will be putting myself right in the place where I can discover something new.
Creative people are risk takers. Right? Wrong!! I have NEVER been a risk taker. I learnt to swim with my big toe bouncing along the bottom of the pool. During athletic sports I always pushed the hurdles over rather than bang my shins against them when attempting to leap over. My attempt at being a cool mum and going on the Scoobydoo ride at Movieworld literally ended in tears. I don’t ride horses. I don’t go near cows. I give swans and geese a wide birth. A critical and full analysis of every possible risk will usually steer me clear of activities involving speed, altitude, extreme temperatures, wildlife, some domestic life and getting my hair wet.
