This morning I’ve been thinking about how the creative process sometimes works during a day.

Let me just preface this by saying that yesterday was the third twelve hour working day on the trot. Not really ideal, and not intentional. Circumstances and a shortage of examiners meant that I had to step into the breach so to speak. Navan on Tuesday, Ennis on Wednesday and Newbridge yesterday. So, by yesterday evening, I was very tired.

However, I am determined to keep this creativity resolution, whatever else is going on in my life. So here’s how it went yesterday.

In the morning on the way to work, I took a few photos of some lovely cherry blossom trees on Hillside drive. I had spotted them the day before and, knowing that they can disappear pretty quickly, with a strong wind or a rainy day, I thought I’d better get some pics.

At lunchtime, I thought about them and also thought about Easter, and that thought also mixed with another thought based on a decorated egg I saw on Pinterest. So I sketched out an idea for an egg in an egg cup (a very simple one I bought recently in Sostrene Grene), where the design starts with the egg cup and follows up the egg shell. Grass/leaves at the base and then some flowers against a blue sky. I thought cherry blossoms, And then I thought tulips and I sketched a few of them.

Then, when I got to Newbridge, I had a few minutes in the car park and I had a look at some photos of tulips and I sketched a couple in a notebook I keep in the car.

In a coffee break during the exam (apart from drawing a sort of mandala) I sketched another tulip, better this time.

When I got home, after a few relaxing strums, I painted a tulip, just to get used to the shape and the brush strokes and the shading and highlights. Nothing special, but serviceable.

Then I painted some tuna tins: just background colours for further decoration some other time. The small one you can just see in the background used to be the snow scene (the disappointing one).

And that was the day, or at least the creative process part of the day. Well, kind of. I got a delivery from Amazon. A few laptop accessories but also this.

Yes, cue much hilarity in my office. I’m going to make Labneh.

And I had also ordered a data card for my GoPro video camera. Tom borrowed mine and I suppose he might as well keep it now. I have some ideas for videos that may have to wait until I have some more time, but it’s good to know that I have the camera ready to go if I need it.

Better now.