Painting...and reflection on collaboration -The Other Mother Project

 Made some progress with this.. it's still a game of how far to go, what to leave.

Started another. I've brought some more wood canvas and acrylic to use as bases.This one was a bit of a mixed up process. I didn't seal the charcoal, I rubbed away the initial (different photo referenced) drawing...but its charcoal and thinners with oil so I should still be able to seal it.. I may build up the olive green in oil too on this one as the acyrylics a bit thick and layered (in the wrong ways) I need to thin the acrylic to get the effects I want.

The acrylic paint itself..is making more sense in terms of transparency.  Maybe this is something that I was subconciously aware of when I was painting as it does make sense as I'm testing out different colours.

 I'm finding practice paintings where I just leet myself do something (anything/ bad paintings without references) a nice way to warm up/ stay loose/ get crappy or experimental marks down that I can use on other paintings. 

I'm trying to keep a painting momentum going.

Have thought a lot about the Other Mother Project..and looking back at my expectations, I realise that the outcome is very different.  Rather than explore working together further - this has stopped at the conversation stage for me. I'd expected our interests to almost dovetail but actually, we have very different lens's on the same line of enquiry. The fashion angle and feeling like you need a badge to be recognised as the other mother, didn't fit with my line of enquiry. 

I felt like "the other mother" because I was the kid on the school run, the kid in the hospital bed, etc, and for all the decisions that I've made, and how I've approached things. Not because I am a lesbian or have adopted children of a separate race to myself. It's solidified that I'm interested in the banal, the psychological, and the historical relevance of the witch archetype to our contemporary lives. I really don't care what people wear and what labels they adopt.