I am a late and clumsy arrival to the world of art. Indeed, what I do is probably art in the loosest possible sense! I don’t pretend they are great works and my early efforts are as amateurish as amateurish can be. They do, however, satisfy a creative impulse. The urge to go and make something with your own hands, express yourself a little. The same impulse that drives me to write this blog, I think.
So where did this come from? I’ll try to give some background.
Things Lost
This is not a post about MS but its role in setting me the creative path needs to be acknowledged. My physio knew that I was a little fed up as cycling was becoming more challenging. Still possible, still fun. Especially in Nice with an E-Bike! But the grand achievements of the past are no longer feasible and with an E-Bike? It is not quite the same. My legs cannot keep the grinding force needed for a mountain or a classic. This meant a huge gap for me, where I realised just how important cycling is.
Not only for exercise but for seeing and feeling so many special moments. Looking down from the highest mountain to seeing the most brutally red of sunrises. This had gone and I am struggling with that a little, regardless of the potential assistance of an E-Bike.
A Suggestion
At this point I need to say my physio specialises in neurological conditions so, amongst all the balancing exercises and reflexes and similar torture, there are also conversations about how MS is impacting me. Understanding conversations. Cycling comes up a lot in these conversations. The world getting smaller.
It was then that my physio suggested a creative outlet. I had mentioned that I enjoy writing and had also started to go to galleries again after a long break due to walking issues. Now with my leg support, things were possible. The question from my physio was simple. “You like looking at paintings. Why not try?”
Indeed. Why not?
Into Practice
But where to start? So this is where I am lucky. As ever. I never do things alone these days and the friend who had accompanied me to a couple of galleries is also a painter. Would they mind giving me a bit of guidance? They certainly did not! Add to that lending me their acrylics and I had a great start. Not to forget, they are quite fun!
Our first session revealed how much I needed to learn. We had no targets. My friend had learnt to paint in stern discipline and, whilst that discipline gave them a very sound basis, they liked the freedom to paint what they wanted. Still, even with that freedom, there was control, pace. The background was built slowly and, toward the end of the day, work started on the primary subject of the painting.
In the same time I produced two paintings. Less painting, more slapping brushes against a canvas. As for the subjects? I had images in my mind. I really did! But what actually materialised? Well, not bad. Not brilliant but not bad. A mooring post in a blue sea and wheat against a sunset. Well, that’s what I was trying.
The Second Attempt
My next effort was slower, more measured. Following my tutor’s example I built the layers of the picture slowly and also, again at their suggestion, based this on a photograph. It was a good three or four long sessions, one outside in the sun but mostly indoors.
I was fussier, perhaps. Trying to capture the darkness of the clouds from the original picture, which had been taken whilst riding through the tulip fields of Flevoland during my training to climb Mont Ventoux in 2016. At that stage I was focused on all-weather training so those eerily dark clouds had just dumped a load of hailstones on me! The contrast of the vivid colours from the tulip field is what caught my eye.
A lot more effort. Was it successful? Well, let’s be honest. It is pretty amateur! I struggled to keep my hands straight whilst painting the windmills and that is reflected in the end result. It is important to keep a sense of perspective. I am not going to create masterworks instantly. But I enjoyed it. There is a sense of achievement, of producing something with my own hands. That is a nice feeling even if it is, well, a little clumsy.
Learning Patience
I am working on a couple of other paintings now and learning the value of patience, something my friend/tutor has explained to me… patiently! Unlike my original one day wonders, these are being built slowly. This painting will be a beach scene, based on a photo from some years ago taken at Ouddorp Strand, not far from Rotterdam. I am not sure if I can do much more with it. Perhaps it is finished. I have a better feeling about this one than my other efforts.
The slow building of an image, using my increasingly inept hands, is satisfying. A bit like the long pause when cycling, taking in the world around me, it gives me a feeling of peace, rest. I may keep tinkering with it. Or maybe I won’t. Perhaps a look in a couple of days will help me decide. With eyes that are a little different, a little older.
The Creative Feeling
The next painting? Perhaps something abstract? I am not entirely sure but I am under no pressure. No rush. I am not going to paint masterpieces and that is not the target. All I know is that this creative spark is giving me a little something. This is not going to replace physical activity that I can still do and enjoy. Just a bit less. So why not paint? Take what I have seen and interpret it on the canvas. It can be seen as looking with a different pair of eyes, making more of a slightly smaller world and taking a little more from it. Just don’t hold your breath for the grand masterpiece! That’s not the point.