I have needed to get back into my own headspace a bit. I feel like I have externalised a lot of my focus over a few months. I tested positive for Covid today, there has been a wave through Sydney, my daughters both caught it. My youngest tested negative today which is good because they can get a few days of work while I am sick.

I have been having some Chinese herbs called Shuang Huang Lian which are making the symptoms milder. I tested negative yesterday and then last night I felt a bit odd and had a mild cough. This morning the cough persisted so I tested and there it was. The symptoms have been more manageable than my first experience with Covid.

The first time I got Covid the cough was uncontrollable for about two days and this time around the cough is barely existent. Also my first experience made me a little dizzy so far I am just a little congested. The Chinese herbs were used successfully in China and for some reason the Australian government didn’t allow it into the country until after the vaccine mandate ceased.

Now this particular herb is everywhere in Asian supermarkets and it is mainly for respiratory ailments, like a really bad flu. It tastes strange but is kind of nice in a way. I will see if it helps overall. My cough has almost disappeared and I am hoping I can get a good night’s sleep. I am keen to get to see some exhibitions, one has opened and the other will open near the end of the month.

The one open now is Kandinsky who I am not very excited about but want to see the show anyway, the other is Louise Bourgeois. I want to see the latter most to see her dark feminine world before my eyes. I always saw her work in reproduction and she had a lot of pull in the art world while alive. I may have seen a couple of works in person but can’t remember if that is the case.

It doesn’t open until November 25th so I will probably take my daughter to see it or a friend who is free. I have been drawing from life but with one friend’s portrait I had to use a photograph as I couldn’t capture a likeness. That is rare for me as normally I get a likeness straight away. I think I need to relax while I have Covid and just forget about art or any external drives. 

After my trip to China I was very driven to paint but my ideas were a bit weak and the wall I painted with Zapgalaxy didn’t tick the box. I suppose you win some and lose some but I might need some fresh ideas. I am also collaborating with a female friend and I am trying to mentor them and our wall was a welcome change. I like seeing people learning, I should have gone into teaching but my circumstances weren’t aligned that way.

Although my style of teaching is hands off, I like to see how the person approaches the techniques, I did teach some techniques in the way I work from dark to light. I think layering is a hard skill to get with spray cans, you need to be able to control the spray in fast bursts that render the subject. Developing fine control takes a few goes to master. I suppose I am a bit flawed in how I work. I am not afraid to get it wrong, but it’s something else when I get it right.