I remember how self conscious I was the first time I wore a mask. I had used a thin scarf previously, but when it looked like masks were here to stay then I made some out of spare material I had lying around.

I thought that if I matched masks with my outfit then I could pretend it was a fashion accessory.

I made some pretty ones ,but I will never forget the lady with the silver sparkly one. That seemed to be a celebration of mask wearing.

I’ve always felt that mask wearing in Pisticci is a sign that we are taking care of each other.

So tonight I went to meet some clients who were looking for my house.

They weren’t far away and we laughed as I told them I lived just around the corner. We chatted as we walked down my street.

As we reached my house I looked to see if they were wearing masks as I hadn’t noticed .

I was surprised to realise that although we had been speaking I really couldn’t remember if they had masks or not. ( we were outside so it was not mandatory.)

But , when I looked , they did, all of them.

Inside my house while we looked at paintings and discussed sizes etc I wasn’t conscious of masks making any particular difference.

(Other than me not wearing glasses as nothing I do stops them steaming up. I can see enough to get by though. )

I don’t understand all the fuss about masks as it feels to me as if we are being given an opportunity to do something good, that is protect each other. And once you get used to it you don’t notice them any longer.

Unless they are shiny silver.

Most of today I spent working on 3 portraits. They are quite small and my plan is to 80% finish them all tomorrow and then start another two on Thursday.

I also bought a bright pink granny trolley to help transport paintings to the Christmas Market . Today I used it to transport 5 litres of my favourite sweet primitive wine.

It’s been another cold windy day

Wine time now.

Cheers 🍷🍷