on breathing

Often we forget to breathe well. I am as guilty as any one of you might be. But breathing is an essential exercise, not merely the thing that keeps us ticking along. I am learning about how much we can do to improve our wellbeing.

This is the (umpteenth) start of a new, healthy me!

I do a daily challenge which is proving quite useful, for example it might be as simple as "roll your shoulders backwards and forwards five times" or "put away three things".

I am getting back into action (ie, walking better and further) after foot and knee injuries.

I am learning about breathing and nutrition.

I pulled out a photo of my Dad taken in January 2007 when he had just won 6 gold medals and set a heap of records in the Oceania Games. I remembered how my mother got fitter as she got older, not slower. I see a milestone birthday on the horizon.

Time to get moving, I think!

Today I am grateful for fascinating comversation with kindred spirits.

a colour on a map

Tonight my evening meal was cooked by my young Polish guests. It was an Hungarian dish using eggs, peppers, onion and I'm not quite sure what else. It was both flavoursome and delicate, wholesome and light. But when it comes to flavour... the Polish ham that they shared with me at lunch time was a real delicacy! What a treat! (Apologies to the vegetarians out there, but... YUM!)

I am enjoying learning a lot about Poland; it is a country I know very little about other than how much it was devastated and then divided by WWII. Many, many Polish visitors come to Cassino, and one thousand of them lie forever on the slopes of Monte Cassino. But a love of peace, sharing and learning is what is motivating the two who arrived here this morning.

No painting today, but lots of talking, planning and thinking. Often the most telling words slip out almost unnoticed. When we were talking about the post-war changes to the Polish borders (when families were divided by a line that didn't exist before the war) the young man, pointing out former boundaries, said "a 'country' is just a colour on a map". I guess, if you live with family split by an artificial divide, that is so true.

Today I am grateful for gentle visitors.

outdoor painting again

Today, contrary to expectations, it was fine, warm, and eventually sunny. The photo shows folks in jackets down in the shade, but up in our sunny heights we were soon peeling off layers of clothing.

I didn't paint as well as I would have liked, but it was quite a social time which was nice. I am really lucky to be included in this group. I am the grandma of them all I think, there must be a good 10 - 15 or more years down to the next in age. We are an interesting mix of nationalities, although most are Italian graduates from the art academy in Frosinone.
(This photo by Carla, posted on FB).
Some bright and bubbly characters make it a cheerful group. The conversations do test my Italian, but today the two "single by choice" managed to communicate with lots of laughter and discussion about the relative virtues of men and chocolate before the painting began :-) The project we are involved in is aimed at taking live art into the smaller towns in the region.


The effect this frequent outdoor painting is having on my style is that I am becoming much looser with my brushstrokes and quite strongly impressionist. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I will certainly leave things at a point that is less perfect than I used to prefer, but my main critic, my picture framer, sends me home to correct them! As I value his eye I do as I am told, but then not every painting makes it as far as his eye...

Above is today's beginning. I think I will enjoy finishing it.

Today I am grateful for my camera safely returned to absent-minded me.

not finished yet

It's not finished yet, but at least I can see some progress - and anyone who doesn't think there should be a butterfly there doesn't know the subject of the painting :-) I'll probably add two more.

It's a quarter past midnight and the wind has come up. I think that the bad weather "they" promised us "è in arrivo" - I hope that the extra plastic verandah over the dog kennels stays in place, I didn't attach it terribly well.

Today I am grateful for an obliging picture framer.

bonus!

Resolved to get fit a few days ago, so I set out walking today and managed a good walk before the rain came.

Bonus? Put my hand in my famous (infamous) rain jacket pocket and pulled out two paint brushes I had forgotten were there. I'd worn the jacket at an unexpectedly cold outdoor painting event. Almost as good as buying new brushes... score!

Best part of that? Not everybody has paint brushes in their rain jackets, and I like that fact!

The jacket has become my symbol of independence. I bought it in a Kathmandu sale shortly before I left NZ, specifically for over a winter jersey when riding my bicycle here in Italy. It's loose, comfortable, and rolls into a small space when travelling. It's Gore-Tex, Paclite, and it's RED!

A tactless suitor (no, not an Italian) told me to "lose the jacket" because he didn't like it. I kept the jacket, not the suitor :-) Apparently it is the type of jacket that middle aged English women wear when they go walking. All power to the sensible ladies, I say!

Spot the Kiwi... the day the paint brushes went into the pocket :-)

Today I am grateful for energy.

from way back...

It's time I finished this one. I no longer have the photographs of the flowers that I was working from, and I can't remember what some of my lines were for. It will be interesting for me, if not for you, trying to figure out exactly what I am painting in the tangle of flowers and stalks. The figure, at least, is finished. I'll work a little on this between other serious painting efforts. It certainly brightens up my stairwell, and now is bringing spring into my autumn studio. (Mmmmm... I should really be painting autumn I guess!)

Today I am grateful for my big tubs of paint.

no real post today

Sorry, no real post today. I have some deadlines to meet. It's been a bit of a domestic day.

Washed the dishes.
Did some washing.
Touched up a painting.
Walked the dogs.
Paid some bills.

And now I have to do some work.

That's life!

Today I am grateful for exercise in beautiful temperatures.