Still not 100% after that general anaesthetic. I eased my way back to work this week with half days to start and then extended them for as long as I could. Anyway, I’m now at about 85% or so.

I have still been diverting myself with artistic and craft pursuits though, and I posted a few items on Instagram. I just haven’t found the energy to blog, until now. And even now, it’s a bit of a struggle.

The WIP of the title is Work In Progress because there’s one thing in particular I’ve been working on that is taking a while to develop. Sometimes I can get frustrated and impatient with things like that but not with this one because I think it’ll be quite interesting in the end, and the time spent in getting it right will have been time well spent and worthwhile.

Here’s some teaser pics …

Otherwise, I’ve been at those avocado seeds with a sharp knife. Lidl sell small avocados in a bag. They’re a nice size to eat and they tend to ripen more evenly than the larger ones. The stones are small though and so carving them is a challenge.

Still …

I came in to some cylindrical boxes recently and I thought they might look good decorated. I had an idea of a mandala expanding into intertwined branches of leaves. Something like this …

So I painted the boxes …

… and today, I tried out the idea on the smallest box … (it looks better in real life) …

Earlier in the week I had a go at a linocut bee. I was doing well, proceeding slowly and carefully, until I came to the wings. I didn’t have a plan for the wings. I didn’t want them to look solid but I wasn’t sure how to do that. So, without really thinking it through, I just started carving out the insides of the wings. I was getting tired at this point and impatient and I carved out a crucial bit of one of the wings. Lesson learned. Plan it out. Go slow. Don’t get impatient. If you get tired, stop. I managed to stick the bit on again but it doesn’t look right. Anyway, I’ll do a better one next time.

Buzzy week ahead.