I've just spent the last few hours going through some old photos, reminiscing about how quickly the last ten years have passed... all the major milestones we've gone through as a family... Looking at the little imp who turned into a pixie who's now turned into a little 'tween... just an amazing journey!

Whilst I was going through Kaitie's pictures, I found several that I'd forgotten about... they were of my very first attempts at a return to my art... from July of 2004. Back then, I didn't know if I'd be able to do anything at all like what I wanted to do... I only knew that my 40th year was drawing to a close, and I felt a strong need to reflect on what my life had become. I knew that I'd done some of what I'd wanted to do, and that some of the things that I'd thought I wanted to do had become silly and superfluous... but there was that creative bug that I'd been ignoring for the past 20 years that needed to be let out... needed to be expressed. I needed to do something about it... but... how?? and more importantly... what??

What a difference these few years has made! From subjects that were barely recognizable as human, results that made me laugh out loud at the time of their creation, to images that I feel remotely proud of... from clumsy attempts at paint application, with drawing mistakes that I couldn't quite get a handle on, just knew something was wrong... to less clumsy attempts at paint application with drawing mistakes that are plain for me to see, although I still struggle to correct them! :D

It's a journey, I have to keep reminding myself of that!