You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens. – Mandy Hale

This weeks project was one I started at the very end of my pregnancy. It was the first time I’d painted in a long while and I finally had some spare time (oh how spare time takes on such a different meaning these days) waiting for baby C to arrive. It was inspired by an artwork I pinned to my creative inspiration board, created by the artist Sally Kelly.  It was her use of colour in this piece that caught my eye.

I’d never had a great deal of success in the past when attempting to paint an abstract piece of art. I always became too caught up in the detail and I’d generally give up. Perhaps being so heavily pregnant at the time allowed me to relax (I didn’t want to deliver Baby C early, covered in paint) and go with it; I was also more patient. At the time I couldn’t quite decide if I’d finished the piece, so it had stayed in storage until this week.

After my first weeks project, I enjoyed creating the patterns so much I wanted to incorporate some of these into my abstract piece and finish it. So after staring at it all week I finally took a deep breath and made the marks. I didn’t let myself think too much about it, I just did it. It completely changed the outcome of my work but I’m really happy with the end result.

An unexpected surprise.

For this piece I worked with acrylic paint, imitation gold leaf and acrylic (posca) paint pens. I don’t know exactly what the canvas is as I recycled a pre-stretched print on a timber frame however it feels like a polyethylene.

Next week I’ll be playing with watersoluble graphite pencils and watercolour. Until then… happy painting and don’t forget to breathe.

Have you had any unexpected surprises lately?