Artists and depression

You know why most artists seem to have been a bit loopy/depressed? I think they were more productive - art really takes you away from it all!

For instance, I have been off work all week due to an eye infection, which meant I had to wear my HORRID glasses (which made me feel drunk, and I had decreased peripheral vision, which was most annoying). I was so clumsy and bored, I just wanted to get back to work - very frustrating.

I had been putting off painting, as I didn't think it would be feasible with my glasses, but I decided to take the plunge and paint an adder for the Martin Down NNR info board, and was quite pleased with the result.

And at the end of it all, I was feeling so much better too - once you get on a roll, and your arm gets on auto-pilot for the painting, your mind can drift away and think about meaningful things, such as ER and Desperate Housewives!! (OMG - both are SO GOOD at the moment!).

My treatment finished on Friday morning, so in the afternoon I was able to go for a proper walk (rather than the stumbling across the countryside reacting to every buzzing thing attacking me with great whoops and then realising there were other walkers just around the corner...) with my lenses in and then out in the evening to Fordingbridge to celebrate Hayley's 24th (a great night BTW).

And I have just finished another painting, this time of a sub-tropical/temperate rainforest scene from NZ - took longer than expected (usually completed in a few hours - this one stretched over a couple of days), but looks good at the moment.

Though all artists out there will know that what really counts is looking at it the next day...