Finding New possibilities in the Shadows

I painted outside again the other day. At first I was a bit annoyed that the trees were casting shadows on my artwork, which changed the colours and the dark/ light values, making it difficult for me to assess how the work was developing. I was starting to think that maybe I should give up the cool outdoor breeze and calming bird soundtrack and go and paint inside instead. But then I got curious about what might happen if, instead of resisting reality, I used it to find new possibilities? What if I could use the sun and trees to help me with the next step in my art-making?

So I moved the canvas around to allow the tree shadows to fall on different areas of the canvas, so that I could consider where the addition of dark values might enhance the composition…

Seeing dark colour values added to the artworks in these different compositions helped me to get unstuck and decide where I wanted to paint in some darker values, and I LOVE the dappled shapes that tree shade makes! That inspired me to play with some new shapes and textures in my paint work.

Which of these compositions do you like best?

Is it art or is it life?

• Are you in a situation where something is in your environment that feels like an obstruction to your way forward?
• Are there any ways in which your loss and grief, or chronic illness and disability has enabled you to see things with a different perspective or visualise possibilities that folks who haven’t had those experiences haven’t been able to?
• How might it be possible to find some value or usefulness in that “obstruction” or “interruption”, rather than wishing it wasn’t there? What difference would that make?
• Are there ways in which your chronic illness, disabilities, or losses have brought possibilities into your life that you think you might never have imagined or taken hold of, had you not had those chronic illlness, disability, or loss experiences?