Ever so slightly.......New
So, it’s been a long time since I blogged for myself. I started last year on a journey to become an Artist and after building some momentum throughout the year, we reached winter and things changed. Christmas came and went, work dropped off and then the new year arrived. For three months I had no consultancy work, which was a worry but that changed in February and work came piling in. We then got the opportunity, one which I never thought I would actually get in my lifetime, to take on and move into our own equestrian property! An absolute dream come true!!
We moved in to our new home at the end of March, which in itself was absolute chaos, and spent the first few months just getting to grips with the reality of the change. The complete shift in focus, the new and wonderful way of life which although incredibly rewarding and something I have always wanted, resulted in my art career taking a back seat and the need to earn taking over for a short time.
However, now that I have gotten to grips with my new life and responsibilities as a yard owner along with the routine of mucking out etc, I find my consultancy work dropping off again and I am in the unique position to be able to make the decision about how I spend my time and how I earn a living.
I spent twelve years working in the recruitment industry in various guises and looking back I was miserable. I felt unrewarded, underappreciated, I worked long hours, was underpaid and spent the majority of my life on that treadmill of getting up early to see to the horse, running around for the rest of the day at the office, then feeling guilty about leaving on time or not working late to go back to the yard to see to my boy and spend some time doing one of the things I love.
I know as a ‘grown up’ there are always things that we have to do that we don’t want to, but I never want to go back to that feeling where I just don’t enjoy what I do, or there is no fire in my belly for the thing I spend most of my time doing to make a living.
My life is very different now to that time all those years ago, I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is go outside and feed the horses, sometimes in my pyjamas, with my little springer spaniel running around at my feet, (occasionally rolling around in something I’d rather he didn’t), then I come in and have coffee, get dressed and then it’s outside to see to the yard. I couldn’t be happier, I never thought I would ever have what I do and to say I am grateful is an understatement.
The other addition to life is an office all to myself! I have a space that is light and airy, windows on three sides of the room, a fantastic area for painting (the only disadvantage being that when the sun shines it’s like sitting in a greenhouse!) where I can have multiple pieces lying around at various stages of completion without the worry of taking over the house with canvases.
So now that life is more settled and I have more time and flexibility than I have ever had, along with the strong desire to paint as much as possible, my quest for world domination (well not quite, a few print sales would be enough) is back on track. You will find me online, updating my blog, making a start vlogging and doing some videos in between painting and I can’t wait to get started!
That said, my starting point has been to update my site, change the name and focus on what I really want to achieve……… I am a work in progress and hopefully the depth and tone will develop over the layers ahead!
