Putting The Computer Away - Eventually

My plan, once the studio has finally moved and been set up properly, is a simple one.

Put the computer away and get back to sculpture and paint.

That’s it. That’s the grand plan.

Hands back into the materials, no screen glow, no endless tabs. Just making.

The only trouble is, each day that passes seems to quietly push all that hard-won knowledge back into my head, looking for a box to pack itself away in. You know the feeling. If you don’t use it, it starts to tidy itself up and hide.

So I’ve realised I need the opposite of packing away. I need a constant update. A gentle, daily reminder of how stuff is done. Not a course, not a lecture - just someone pottering along in the background, keeping those little brain pathways open while I get on with the heavy lifting of moving a studio.

Art teaching has come a long way from when I was younger.

I’m thinking of those old Saturday morning art programmes. That curly-haired fella with the big smiley face and the coveralls. You know the one. Big grin, big ideas, made it all look so easy. We loved him at the time, and fair play to him, he got a lot of us started.

Now though? It’s a different world. You open YouTube and there is a myriad of art-related tutorials, studio tours, tips, full builds, the lot. More than anyone could ever watch. I have several I peruse regularly, just dipping in and out depending on what I’m wrestling with.

But have I found one I can really bounce off? One I can leave running?Today’s recommendation is chrisstephenart on utube, no review merely ti let you know he is a watercolor tutor with a pleasant presentation manner, check him out for your own review.

What I like about him is this: I can happily have the narrator, the artist himself, just twittering away in the background while I’m sorting, packing, making lists, making tea. I’m not glued to the screen. I’m quietly absorbing the odd hint or tip as he goes.

And as he works, in my mind I’m already there with him. Pretty water landscapes forming. The way a wash moves, the way a tree line just appears with a couple of well-placed marks. It’s reassuring. It reminds me that the hands remember, even when the head is busy elsewhere.

So the computer will be put away. But not quite yet.

For now, it gets to stay on as my little studio radio - a friendly voice in the corner, keeping the paint warm until I’m ready to pick it up again

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