I thought that today I would give you a bit of an insight into my creative process - yes there is a process, which may come as a surprise to those of you who are aware of my lack of organisational skills in general!

I paint mainly from photographs at the moment, although all of my Greek paintings were painted from real life.  I paint from photographs because it is convenient and not effected by the weather - I can paint from photographs at any time of the day and I can paint subjects and places that are not easily accessible.  I also like the freedom of having time to complete a painting, to revisit it over several days and to make changes and additions as  I need.

This is the photograph that I used as inspiration for my last piece.

And this is the finished product. As you can see it shows only a scant resemblance to the photo, but that's kind of my style - when I first started painting someone said to me that photos are for accuracy - paintings are about impressions and feelings. I stick by that because I know that accuracy is not my thing. I changed some of the foreground around, mainly because I couldn't get the lines of the boats to look right, but also because I wanted to draw the eye more to the castle in the background and the sweep of the perspective.

Colour is my thing, though - I like to use vibrant colours that capture something of the feeling of a place - again they are not accurate to the picture but they are what I see when I look at or think about the place I am painting.  

So there you have it, that's how I went from photo to painting in this case, that's my creative process.

I painted this picture over the weekend. When I had finished it I was really unhappy with it and was ready to paint over it and use the canvas again. It's pretty much like that with all the paintings and drawings that I do. When I look at them I immediately see the imperfections, the lines that are in the wrong places, the lack of precision.

It's only been looking back at it in the last day or two that I've started to like it a little. Stepping away and looking at it with a different eye a few days later has helped me to appreciate it - although I am sure it is not the best piece I have painted to date.

I think I can often be like that in life as well. When I'm caught up in the routine if life I see the imperfections in myself and the things that have gone wrong. It's only looking back with the benefit of a sense of perspective that I am able to see what I have achieved and the difference that I have made.
I probably need to learn to take a step back more often and change my viewpoint.

At the moment I am taking a drawing and painting class. This has been great so far and I am learning new things each week.  Tonight we tried out some techniques for painting involving using different household products (yes I thought it was strange to start with).  I was pretty impressed with some of the results though. Have a look and see what you think