Art vs. Craft – also known as Lunacy vs. Common Sense

Plus a helpful video about how to shade with oil

It is 3:12 in the morning. I am wide awake as I often, listening to those radio podcasts which I can’t hear during the day because I prefer silence when I paint glass (or J.S. Bach).

Suddenly, in the middle of the night, I am attacked by a sudden fit of breathless spluttering, a violent seizure.

Practice,

Or "Why You Must Learn to Love your Light Box"

Part 1 – The experiment

Day 1: spent 10 minutes cleaning and painting undercoats on 8 small pieces of glass, then 17 minutes copy-tracing 2 images [just 2!] before deciding other things were “more important” than painting glass. Felt bored and distracted.

Day 2 … Day 3 … Day 4 … Day 5 …

Day 32: began with 60 minutes practice on light-box – thick lines, thin lines, dark lines, light lines, straight lines, squiggles, spirals, signature, various symbols, anything! Was surprised to learn an hour had passed. Then spent two hours painting a complicated roundel from start to finish without a rest. Very focussed. Couldn’t be distracted by “necessity” of other tasks.

Big change in just over a month, yes? That’s what this post is all about. It applies to everyone who doesn’t paint glass every day.

Is that you?