Learning, improving, making

One of the things I enjoy most is the process of learning. I was at University for a loooong time! And after starting full time/'career focused' work I was always taking evening classes - life drawing, Turkish language, botanical drawing - I loved them! There I would be, sneaking out from my work a little early, huge art folder tucked under my arm, hoping not to see the Director in the lifts. I think it is also one of the things I love about making things - whether it be knitting, drawing, photography...there is always something new to learn, something to improve on.

Opening The Light Garden has actually involved a lot more learning than I expected. Photography for one thing! I thought that, after a long time of loving photography and over a year of taking ridiculous amounts of photos both for the blog and just for myself, that this wouldn't be a huge area of focus for me. But the more I work on it, the more I want to work on it. I plan to post some of what I have learnt in this area soon.

As time (and Yashar!) allows I have also been continually working on improving my drawing skills and my artwork generally. For a very long time I thought that drawing was not something that could be learned - I just thought you could either draw beautifully or you couldn't! I was disheartened. I knew I had the passion but didn't think I would ever be good enough (good enough for what - I'm not sure - mainly for myself I think). But as time passed, and as teachers in my evening classes gave me helpful direction, and with lots of practice I started to realise that my drawing was getting better! There are people that are 'naturally' good at drawing but it also takes many years of work and practice. And so I am continually motivated to learn, to improve and reflect.

Where did all the reflection in the post come from? I was happy with the 'My Own Elephant' print when I first made it, but, after looking at it every day in the shop, I started to itch to rework it. This is the result. One in soft blues, one in lavendery purples, I hope you think it has improved too!