Author: Meg

Easily amused, never bored and constantly distracted. My creative pursuits include writing, drawing, painting and photography.

Painting (34) Skellig Islands At Sunset

~ Meg ~ 26 Comments

When you first start painting, you tend to save every attempt. As you improve your skills, you start to reuse canvases with substandard work in order to be thrifty. Sometimes when you reuse a canvas, the texture of the underpainting shows through. That isn’t always so bad, a little texture can enhance a painting. But sometimes, it ends up right in the middle of an otherwise perfect sky… That is unfortunately what happened with this one. Which is a shame because otherwise I think it turned out pretty good. Here are the Skellig Islands at Sunset on a recycled canvas. If you can’t spot the blemish, ignore everything I just said!

Painting (33) Bright Poppies, Dark Field

~ Meg ~ 23 Comments

Poppies have become a favorite subject to paint. I’d love to plant them in my garden [if I’m ever able to get out to a garden center this year] but in the meantime, I can at least adorn my walls with them. It’s said the poppies grew more abundantly on the soil where the soldiers fell on the Western Front during the Great War. So while they are a symbol of remembrance, they also remind us of how the earth heals itself. From the ravished earth springs forth new life. We see how nature is taking a deep breath while we have lowered our impact on it. The air is fresher, the waterways are cleaner and the birds seem to be singing more loudly. A bright spot, if you will, during this dark time. Here are my Bright Poppies in a Dark Field:

The Irony Of Isolation

~ Meg ~ 38 Comments

As a rather contented introvert, being isolated should not be such an ordeal. I’m used to not talking to anyone all day long until my husband comes home from work. And yes, we’ve made some new friends here and enjoy an occasional get-together. But my daily life is fairly solitary. Besides exercise and household chores, my routine consists of writing, researching, editing, and possibly art projects. However, in a strange twist of fate, isolation has completely disrupted this quiet existence.

Since we’ve been in lockdown for the last couple of weeks, I swear I have spent more time writing and answering messages, emails, and talking over WhatsApp and FaceTime than I ever have. We all feel the need to get in touch. It might be out of genuine concern, boredom or perhaps that dreadful feeling of I might never get to see you again if one of us gets sick. It’s probably a combination of all those things. I’ve never been a Facebook person but I find myself scrolling through it all the time now. I have joined local groups so I can find out what’s going on here in the village. This is not me!!!

It is not surprising that ‘people’ people [extroverts] are in constant contact. I get that they need to be connected to feel energised and fulfilled. But someone like me doesn’t normally need that kind of interaction. It also doesn’t make me a bad person or cool, aloof or uncaring. It just means I cope differently. I find peace and quiet rejuvenating. Isolation should be a piece of cake. Should be. Why am I losing my mind?

These are unprecedented circumstances. Even though I’m reaching corona fatigue, I still feel the need to pay attention, to wait hopefully for that good news to come. Until a return to normalcy [whatever that’s going to look like] we all need to talk, to vent, to connect and make sure everyone in our circle is doing ok. Even us introverts, apparently. I should be great at self isolation. But I’m not. How ironic.