I've Done What?

It's been very stop-start here. As have the blogs. Spectacular family crises, flu, and then stress migraines. Oh, it has been lovely.

Every time I tried to paint, or draw, or even read, I ended up with a migraine and felt like I was going to scream (if I could stand to) or vomit (if I couldn't avoid it). So, airships still unfinished, an intriguing book still sitting there, taunting me, portraits half done (couldn't get a likeness for toffee - I suppose a splitting skull is not conducive to really looking at people).

Oddly enough I could draw mandalas. Must use a different part of my brain. Go figure.

In the past things have gone okay, or well, and then the wheels have come off and I have lost momentum, or got too caught up, or just given up. Strangley, it hasn't happened this time. Everything that went on did slow me down for a while, and I had to give all my attention to what was happening in the family. But that has abated for the time being and so I am grabbing what time I can.

And the result of that is a new exhibition. This is actually my first solo exhibition. Yes, it's in a cafe, but so what? There's plenty of foot traffic, the owners are nice so I know I am not going to be ripped off or treated like crap, and it's in Sydney, so hopefully there are more people willing to get out their wallets. Gallery Cafe, 74 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills. Great food, excellent coffee. Go there.

Tangle - Errantry, Megan Hitchens, 2014, black ink and graphite on heavy cotton paper

I have put in the Zentangles again because I can produce them quickly and relatively cheaply, which means the artworks can be priced affordably. With luck at least some of them will sell. I have to take two last works down tomorrow (larger scales oils, just for something different - a nude and a still life. They'll be hung separately from the others).

This feels slightly odd - me getting myself organised to do this on my own. My mum put me on to the cafe. It is one of her regular haunts and she knew they were looking for something new. But it was up to me to ring and talk about my work, sort it all out and get everything down there. I ended up with 48 hours to get everything finished, framed and delivered. So I am thoroughly exhausted, but in a good way. I hung most of it on Friday (we ran out of hooks), and Mark, one of the proprietors of the cafe, said he would finish it off on the weekend - see? nice people (there were only five more to go and I showed him how I wanted them). So there you are, I curated the thing too. All on my own. That doesn't sound much, but it is a big thing for me. I am used to working with others. What happens in childhood can continue to shape us as adults, but only if we don't acknowledge it, or if we let it. All my childhood I was told to not make a fuss, not draw attention, so it is strange to be the star of my own show. And a little unsettling.

But the really big thing is that I have broken a lifelong habit. I haven't let life overwhelm me yet again. I haven't waited for someone or something else to come up so I can tag along. I haven't given up. I haven't let things slide.

This time I have actually got something done.