A chill in the air

Weather

The weather turned wild yesterday and it's starting to feel like the time of year when sitting typing stories indoors seems like a good idea. I missed my first run (albeit short for now) after 20 days straight, but since it was torrential rain with a bit of thunder and lightning it seemed wise to skip it. Today it's pretty windy again but sunny - for now - but who knows later? Going to try going out mid afternoon runs instead of evening when not at the office. I can see better where I'm going (some parts of the park path are very dark) and don't tighten up my calves for fear of hitting a hole or a bump and pranging my ankle again. It's been okay really - still not fully mobile in deep squat but I recognise the sticking point from my gymnastics days after another ankle injury. It seemed to sort itself over time with just normal training so the thing is just to keep exercising it.

Words

This has been a writing week more than a sculpting one. Pulled out a dozen or so short pieces I have notes on and think I've found the theme for what I'll mainly cover, but the first one will be longer and slightly off topic. It's much too many words at the moment so I have to get my head round it all and drag it back under control.

The act of writing is great when you're just flinging out words and ideas and coming up with new things that should go in, but the work starts when you have to confirm facts, check for duplication, move around parts which are out of order or where you've just gone into one area more than it really warrants. That takes up far more time than the actual drafting but it's a meaty challenge all the same.

Keeping firmly on the topic at hand can be a challenge when there are so many strands branching off. I have to remind myself what they key focus or 'takeaway' is and haul my attention back there. I never had problems at uni reaching the word count - I always used the +10% we had as leeway. Most of my classmates hated writing essays but for me it was one of the best parts of the courses and even a deadly dull topic became a thing to be wrestled with and beaten into submission.

Working out

No, not that kind of working out. Though time to start expanding training to include weights and stretching. Spent ages figuring out how to get autumn girl to sit or lie on my piece of old wood. It's got a dip and a lumpy area so took a bit of experimenting to fathom how best to position limbs. She's now been put in her pose, save for one arm position, which I haven't decided on yet. It's still headless and in early wrap stage so looks super weird right now (hence no image)! I have a plan for finishing off the base which isn't fully formed yet but could work.

The base of the street dancer needs finishing off too and I've repainted the hair in white but I think it needs a new hairstyle to carry off the final colour. Once that's done she'll be sealed off and ready for show.

Maybe I'll take her to the gallery and get some feedback. The opening hours are now back to normal since the open evening but I didn't realise when I went round on Sunday - closed, and closed Mondays too. Here's a pic of a painting whose colours I loved and my little collection above. Yeah, my photography skills suck! Too much in a rush to frame things well.