I'm going to try getting myself in the habit of blogging at least once a week, slowly increasing as my schedule and abilities allow. Getting back into the habit is not easy. Breaking it was much, much simpler.
There's a lot of life-stuff still happening. I feel like I have finally unwound from my year-long wandering in the darkness of the soul. I've blossomed. It really is astounding how much I'm come alive since the move or, rather, how dead I had become inside. For starters, I've been painting up a storm!
One of the projects I had planned for forever has begun; and entire booklet of tiny watercolours in honour of the Year of the Tiger. So far, I've only completed two, having started the third on the weekend. Still, I'm really pleased with how they've turned out. Watercolour is an unfamiliar medium for me, so it's been a bit of a learning curve... and a test of my non-existent patience, but the out come has been worth it. I present to you, two tiger snoots:
Then I'll be moving onto the eyes... or maybe the toe beans. Toe beans are so cute!
I'm planning another watercolour series that I'm keen on getting started on, but I am waiting until I have a little more experience with the medium... and I will be buying different watercolours. The ones I'm using now are those paints that are a palette of dry pigments, and I'd like to try a slightly wetter version. Each piece in the new series is going to be vaguely monochrome, so I can spend the time to save up for the paints.
Maybe I'll even sell a piece one of these days, and I'll be able to buy a bunch of new paints all at once!
A girl can dream.
I've also nearly finished my first painting on canvas in well over a year. There are a couple of things I need to fix up before I post any pics of that, though. Painting on canvas again has been absolutely wonderful, by the way. Without anyone but the cat to worry about, I'm able to play my music and paint. My most recent session, I stood at the canvas and danced as I painted. It was such a wonderful, joyful experience. I have missed painting so much.
I don't have any inspiration for more canvas paintings, but I have no doubt it'll happen. In the meantime, I have my ideas for watercolours to look forward to.
By the by, if you're interested in my art stuff, and couldn't be arsed with the rest of my nonsense, I have a Facebook page just for my art. If you're on Facebook, feel free to give it a like/follow. I put my art on there... and also on Instagram and TikTok. And DeviantArt.
As I stumble my way to normalcy, I have once again enrolled in martial arts with Wutan Canada. I have been teaching the whole way through, but after stress-induced symptoms that matched Covid (but never came up positive on the tests), which developed into a complete inability to function whatsoever (yay depression!), I had let it drop in the session before last. Then, last session, I had a move to deal with, and I still wasn't quite right once the move happened, so I didn't go at all.
The first class for the summer session is tonight.
Perhaps I would have found myself sooner if I had gone last session, what with training being such a rock for me in the past, but I really didn't feel up to it in any way. One accidental slip or annoying peer away, and I might have lost my mind for real. As it is now, I'm stupidly excited to return to training. I'm practically vibrating with anticipation.
Teaching is not the same as training, and I've rarely gotten the opportunity to punch and kick stuff while teaching, so I'm really keen to get going again.
I'm still holding out hope that one day soon I might be able to acquire a permanent place for us to train, so that we can avoid the bouncing between locations, and can concentrate on building a great body of students. I mean, we already have great people, but I want to share it with as many people as possible.

I hope you're all well and thriving.
Thanks for sticking with me all this time!
Until next week, then.
Ciao!