This morning I set out for the workshop to get something. Then my green chair called gently to me. Before I knew it I was sitting with the morning sun on my face....everything very still,  gradually becoming aware of the sounds around me. Bellbirds, tui,kaka, paradise ducks, finches, bumblebees bumbling about. Red and blue salvias glowing, my chooks edged with gold, the paddocks of the farm sparkling with our first frost. I can hear Phil up on the farm shouting "Walk on Tilly you BLOODY DOG!". It's taken me 56 years to realise that it's ok sometimes to stop and do nothing and just absorb the world.
"Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits"Satchel Paige

Thanks everyone for a great workshop- I learnt all kinds of things from you- hope you learnt some from me!

 There comes a time for many artists when they're called on to share their skills with other people. MIne is tomorrow, guiding  a small group of beginner painters in their first encounter with watercolour. We are all both excited and nervous. My job is to teach them techniques, introduce them to materials, and (hopefully)  show them how to construct a painting. What they don't realise is that they will be teaching me too. I'm hoping that their feedback and reactions will teach me to speak confidently, keep the lesson flowing smoothly, and most of all, forget my own ego in the excitement of seeing them discovering their talent. I've spent hours preparing to sit my license test, now it's time to get behind the wheel......