Warm, Round Morning

Dear Reader,

Some days it’s hard to paint, especially if I’ve had a small break. If I’m not painting every day I easily lose momentum. I wake in the morning feeling the effort to get my paints together and face the world to paint outside. I, like many painters suffer a performance anxiety when it comes to painting in public. I’m filled with thoughts like ‘I don’t know what I’m doing, can I just fake it? Should I bother? What if my painting is a failure? Then I check the weather to see if it will help me with an excuse. It’s crazy because I know this as a repeated experience. I’ve discovered a strategy through these difficult moments.

Firstly, I try to pack the night before because I know I’m slow in the early morning. I read something about painting before going to bed. I prepare my mindset. I start the morning with the intention to paint and don’t check my emails or look at Facebook. When I walk out of the door, I have my camera around my neck, sketchbook in hand, pencil in pocket and backpack on. Usually I have a destination checked out and planned. This preparation is so important as I set my intention and eliminate as many excuses as possible. I’ve tracked the procrastinator in me to work this out and I’ve learned that I hold belief systems that are somewhat unconscious and limiting.

I begin my expedition by looking and photographing things until my interest kicks in and I challenge myself to draw. Eventually the desire to use colour becomes urgent. As people walk past, I feel a little self-conscious while setting up my paints. They pretend that nothing unusual is happening as I cross my nervous edge. Once I start to paint, everyone disappears and I am lost in paint land.

My concentration is momentarily broken by a curious sniffing dog at my feet. It’s human calls it and waves. ‘Nice morning for a paint out!’

I reply; ‘Best studio I could ever have!’

People are really friendly. Once I was painting a tree from the roadside and the farmer drove up in his tractor for a chat. He shared his family history of the property and his love for the tree. In my performance anxiety, I forget the many interesting meetings that happen. I wouldn’t have these experiences if I wasn’t out there painting. I remember it’s my love of painting and people and stories that takes me out into world adventures.

The painting above was painted on one of these adventures in the Adelaide Parklands. It’s titled:

‘Warm, Round Morning’. It’s an oil painting on primed 300gm Fabriano paper.

19cm x 19cm (7 1/2″ x 7 1/2″) and is available on my website here http://lynnlobo.com/product/warm-round-morning/

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