There was one unintended consequence of last week’s wool washing: lots of steam turning into condensation and making its way into a portfolio leaning in a quiet corner.

On the surface it looked like a disaster, but the loss of some old work taught me something…

I really didn’t care that much.

I’m a very sentimental person, so of course I’ve still got the portfolio that I was carrying around Boston in 1999. Of course I’ve still got some of my secondary school work, even the stuff from before my CXC O Level. It’s amazing that I haven’t got even more of it!

Thankfully, not all of the work in the portfolio was damaged. One set of work that did get damaged was a set of screen prints that were ambitious (6 colours!) and technically proficient, but not very good artworks.

Other victims included some drawings, one of which I used to consider my very best drawing. Amazingly, I didn’t care.

Saying goodbye to old art can be liberating

I’ve written about sunk costs and artwork, and how it applies to saying goodbye to bad art.

A lot of the artwork in my portfolio wasn’t my best; it was just stuff I thought I should keep. Some of it was work that I was proud of, but had moved past. It belonged to a different time and would never have been displayed again anyway.

Getting rid of it made me feel a lot lighter, and made me feel as though my best is actually ahead of me instead of behind me.

Working and working out

There’s still plenty of old artwork around and I’ve been using it to inform the new stuff. My ceramic head has come down from the top of a tall cupboard to live in the studio whilst I model a new wool version on it. I don’t know if it’ll be a faithful portrait but I like the idea of a portrait of a portrait. Maybe I can keep it going – just doing art based on art!

Anyway, I’ve started physiotherapy, and after less than a week, I want nothing more than to stay in bed. The exercises are simple, but they definitely show up how weak I am and how far I have to go. Ste’s been singing “Eye Of The Tiger” to either encourage me or rub it in, depending on how you look at it.

I won’t be staying in bed though… I’m going to give it my best for the next few weeks so I have some progress to show for myself, and so the physio can’t tell me off.

Last week