Though when you are a bit of a scaredy cat, ( I seem to remember that expression being used a lot when I was small….. that and crybaby.) bravery is relative. I am frankly a hero to myself because I am scared of the silliest things so I have a lot of opportunities to be brave.

Today was my second day of mural painting in someone else’s house. And today I didn’t get the key stuck in the lock for 5 minutes. Even opening a strange door can be a perilous activity.

I finished the vase that I had begun yesterday , checked that the figures were the right size and put final highlights on it. Because it appears to be sitting on a shelf it looks very realistic.

Then I had to paint a bush growing out of it . That is paint branches on someone else’s wall. I can write this now as it is done…. but I felt better after I had a little twitter encouragement.

In one of the many art videos I have watched , someone said that your style is the way in which you apply the paint to the canvas . Timid, would have described my style.

I thought it was time for a change and so having drawn all the branches I confidently applied the paint. It was so much more interesting and lively and even realistic without trying to copy every twist and turn. . And 10 times more fun.

4 hours seems to be my optimum time for painting. After that I am in danger of knocking things over or making silly mistakes.

I am enjoying walking to and from ” work”. I am still taking the empty backstreets when I can but it is lovely to be out and Pisticci is very pretty in the sunshine.

Carrying on the bravery theme….which actually began with my bit writing this morning. I arranged something for next week and made a plan to fix something else. I didn’t quite get round to checking my bank account but anything under a month, when I decide I should really look at it , is a success.

So buoyed up by my relative bravery I thought I would try a self portrait on my phone. Just my head this time. ( my kindle is refusing to send images so is no use.)

It is a bit small but just imagine if I got good at it .I could do portraits of friends when I was out or sit in the piazza and draw people then send them the image. I think I need to work on proportions but I spent around 15 minutes doing something vaguely resembling myself. I like the hair.

And now I have a friend coming round to drink wine and chat. We might sit outside. As usual it’s windy but it isn’t cold.

Not a bad day at all. …..