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Writer's pictureAlanda Calmus

So Much to Do, So Little Time!

“To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan and not quite enough time.” Leonard Bernstein

“So much to do, so little time!”

I feel like I’ve said that before. It’s almost becoming a mantra for my life.

I’ve taken on a lot of commitments this years and, I’ve got to be honest, it’s hard to keep up. At times I feel really overwhelmed.

At the moment I am just tackling one task at a time and trying not to think too far ahead.

I did complete my jigsaw, so that’s something, haha.


I decided not to start another one just yet because I am rather preoccupied but if I find myself needing a bit of mindless distraction I’ve got a really tricky one to do next.

What have I been up to?

Well, needless to say I have been painting like a woman possessed for my upcoming show in Elgin Library Gallery which will open to the public on Saturday 8th July for two weeks.


Preview Invite

If you’d like to attend the preview evening please get in touch and I’ll send you the details.

I will be there, a little giddy from the excitement of putting it all together on my own since all my usual helpers are indisposed. If you come along and I seem a little wired/weird, that is why; it’s been a long day and I’m fried. Lol.

Speaking of working towards the exhibition I have nearly completed a new piece. It feels like it may be a step towards where I see my work heading.

I’m still wrestling with it but time will tell if this will be the start of the next stage of evolution for my work.

You may have seen the video from my last newsletter which showed me finding this hare in a chaotic canvas of paint. This is some of the painting in progress.

There’s still some work to do. It will probably end up at Art Aboyne rather than my library exhibition since it is of a different style.

As usual I liked it better when it was still rough and now that I’ve resolved the shapes, my challenge is to bring back some of the looseness if possible.

It’s Sod’s law when the curse of the overworking artist strikes!

If you missed the video, here it is again. I moved the position of one of the ears in the end to make a better composition.


Next steps

I received a large order of frames the other day so this weekend I’m framing everything that I have finished so far in order to have a better idea of how much more I need to do. It will also clear a bit of space in my studio which is always a boost.

Getting everything framed takes some of the pressure off later on but also sends me into a bit of a flap about how little time I have left to get ready.

Art in the Waiting Room

My online exhibition with Art in the Waiting Room for Camphill Wellbeing is now live and I have sold my first painting and one of my favourites, the Stargazing Fox!

These pieces will be available until 10th July. Here is a little video showing what I have in there. It makes me cringe to watch myself but I know that you guys like to see the fallible human at work.

This exhibition shows the only pastel pieces and traditional art I have left so this is an opportunity to pick up the last of their kind from me.

If anyone wants to see any of these pieces in person, please contact me to arrange a visit. They always look their best in real life. The same can’t be said of me, hee hee!



Reminder

The Big Hop Trail in aid of CLAN Cancer Support will be going live on the 2nd July. My giant painted hare sculpture will be at Lochter Activity Centre in Old Meldrum. I can’t wait to start sharing photos of the finished piece.

Until Next Time

That’s all for now, folks. Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of “I wish I had a proper job!” with your host Alanda “Glutton for Punishment” Calmus.

Thank you for continuing to follow my work. As always, I hope you’re enjoying these newsletters.

Please share with others who might be interested and if you haven’t already signed up to receive emails from me you can do so at the bottom of the page.

With love and gratitude

Alanda xx

Painting of the week

This week’s painting is one from a while ago that I recently reworked. It’s my 50x70cm framed oil painting of an osprey with its fishy dinner. I renamed it from “Osprey with Fish” (rather dull) to “The Takeaway”.

There was a huge amount of work involved in painting those wing feathers, I can tell you!

This one is available from Art in the Waiting Room by downloading the reservation form from the link above.


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