I am in a dark place at the moment, a lovely friend has died from cervical cancer, 2 years after her '3 months' death sentence, I thought / hoped she had beaten it..........then another lovely lady tells me she has breast cancer, she is strong, has many friends, and as she says "she is not dead yet!" so I feel so guilty including her in this wave of grief I am feeling, but I do.

I would love for a break in the gloom that is weighing me down, but the sensation of a storm brewing is getting stronger, and I can not shake it off

stretching out in the sun

stretching out in the sun
Originally uploaded by paintistworks

I have some canvas that i have saved for years. i always used to make my own stretchers when I was doing very large ( 6' x 8' ) paintings, and it was always cheaper to buy canvas and stretch them myself. But over the years i have found that I can't store many of my large works and have painted on increasingly smaller canvases, which is depressing as i really enjoy getting down to a big painting, all the marks i can make, really involving myself in the surface. Today i decided that I will use the canvas, it just sits there in the studio reproaching me.........so I have stretched a batch and will prime them later. i love the priming of canvases, all that pure white surface, pristine, full of promise.......even the sound it makes......yep i should get a life :-)