magsramsay: 30 Day Sketchbook 19 Completed

Well I drew every day as part of the #30daysketchbookchallenge19 , looking forward to receiving the prompt, thinking imaginatively when it really wasn't my thing ( but that's the point of a 'challenge'). Seeing what everybody else was doing on the Facebook page ( nearly 3K participants!) and on Instagram was inspiring and it was great to get feedback. Most of all , I welcomed having something to focus on for 20 to 30 minutes in a challenging few weeks of dealing with aftermath of flooding from the shower ( the workmen were working on all 3 floors , the only place to escape to was the kitchen). With my studio out of use and limited access to computer, I've mainly been using my phone to record my sketches and post on social media.

I've got out of the habit of using my blog as ' reflective journal' but I have returned in effect to the analogue version, eg for EDAM class I've actually been writing in my sketchbook.

There's no way I can catch up with all the blogposts I've been meaning to write, it's more important to concentrate on the here and now, something that drawing everyday has taught me.

Day 19 " Heads, shoulders, (Knees and Toes)"

Day 20 "The Farm"

( Hop poles)

Day 21 "EARTH, fire, air, WATER"

( water stains on the bathroom ceiling captured in earth pigments)

Day 22 " Machinery"

Day 23 "Work"

It's 4 years since I left Kew after 25 years working there and I'm still coming to terms with loss of identity despite the new opportunities I have . Writing all those thoughts and feelings down and covering them with tracing a photograph of me in my lab environment was really therapeutic. It also seemed to touch a nerve with many people, there were around 30 comments sharing their experiences after redundancy/ retirement. I also found a still active film clip of me in the lab from 2012( starting at 3.10 mins) - I've changed a lot since then , not least losing 4 stone in weight.