March 19th 2020. Thursday. I am at my mums and looking out into the overgrown garden, which I have sketched and weeded many times. I’ve made a start on the patio, digging out the dandelions between the paving slabs with an old metal file.

These are strange times with the corona virus causing mayhem in our day to day lives, but mum sits in her chair, oblivious, dozing, letting the cares of the world go by.

I am wondering where the last few months have gone, but as the days become longer and lighter I remember the struggle through the dark winter days, sometimes gratefully broken by a break in the clouds and a bit of sun peeping through.

During this time I cut down my big canvas stretcher and re made it to a more managable size. It had originally had the ‘Summit Garden’ painting on it, or at least my attempts at it, before I gave up on it and painted the ‘Heart Leaved Birches’ over the top.

The Summit Garden, oil on canvas, in progress, landscape layout.

The canvas turned to potrait and the beginning of the ‘Heart Leaved Birches’ being painted over the top.

You can still see glimpses of the Summit Garden in the path.

The ‘Heart Leaved Birches’ painting was taken off the canvas stretcher and carefully rolled up, it took me several goes to get it to fit into the middle of a piece of carpet tubing in order to take it to it’s new home in Brooklyn with Zoey and Jacob. I remember Jacob and little Bennie standing waiting patiently for me at the airport hand in hand. So heartbreaking that the next time I went, Jacob was not there. Happily for the painting, it has found a new home with Zoey and the boys in Florida.

Back at home the canvas stretcher stood empty for a while, until I decided to remake it a bit smaller.

Stretching the new canvas.

Bright white gesso primer, all ready!

Start of the new painting, working from the concertina sketchbook.

Changing colours, working from two different sketchbook pages at the same time!

We will see how it turns out eventually!