Reversing irreversibles...

Last Sunday was such a beautiful day, I had the supreme longing to go for a bicycle ride but my husband said, “you better go draw, anyway I have work to do.”

To make matters slightly more banal I had a stiff neck, however I went to draw with a stiff neck. During  pose breaks I marvelled with awe and envy while the model stretched her spine, neck and limbs catlike  in a yoga-like workout.

Then I solicited commiseration from fellow drawers and we discussed diagnoses and cause and strategies for cure and prevention – heat, ibuprofen, tai chi, Pilates, massage, yoga, Alexander technique, and the miraculous reversible irreversibles of aging which is to go for a bicycle ride, or swim or walk and to strictly limit one’s sedentary activity at  a computer just as I am doing right now - this very minute.
Then it was time for the model to resume her pose. 

18"x24" soft pastel on Strathmore

18"x24" charcoal on Manilla

18"x24" compressed charcoal Manilla

18"x24" vine charcoal on Manilla

Tub and post

These two small pieces (oil) are extracted from the time I spent on the second floor of the old post office in Dundas.

Building up

Labour Day – passes in a quiet, unassuming , effortless way. Countless  trips between kitchen and studio, noticing a few, brandy wine,   tomatoes on the vine – not quite ready to eat (understatement) aggressively green for this time of year – well there’s  time.

With my camera I take a few compulsive shots of  a head I’m working on – 'note taking'  I say to myself – before making changes. In the past I never could have done this - perhaps it was a blessing – now it’s become almost a habit. I wonder if this extra step has made me too self conscious. I suspect it has.