NICOLA YOUNG

I was watching BBC News this morning and they had a feature on the reopening of shops and bars serving outdoors.  The reporter was presenting from Newcastle city centre and it was great to see people enjoying being out and about again.  We may not be back to anything near normal, but things are certainly looking up!

In the Studio this Weekend

This is how I felt about painting last week and this weekend.  Since I started CVP I’ve struggled to just relax into painting.  I wasn’t particularly worried about it as I’ve been learning so much but last week it felt like I turned a corner.  We are starting a series of painting and the homework was to start boards with play.  With my last playboards I was really stiff; probably the thought of having to share work when it’s at that really ugly stage.  But this weekend I found the whole thing quite addictive.  I started with the intention of working on four boards. Four felt manageable, especially as we have been challenged to keep them at the same stage.  This means if I only have a couple of hours to paint I get half an hour a board, give or take.

Having completed my four on Saturday I woke up Sunday with an urge to paint a few more.  So now I have a whole host of boards to choose from.  So many in fact I had to buy some plate racks to store them!

The boards are all at a very early stage.  Some I don’t like ….

but others are starting to show promise.  Or at least have some interesting sections that may turn into something.

I’ve taken photos of each of them so whilst I’m working (day job) I can flick through and have a think about where to take them.  Not sure how much of these first few layers will show through in the end paintings but I’m looking forward to catching up on the teaching videos and a few more days in the studio.