We arrived home to face reality and our schedules, full on. I headed straight back to the office and Kitty, straight back to school with a manic schedule. We didn't really have time to indulge in jet lag and fatigue, right. It's been full systems go. We are tired and we are doing the best we can... and we are finally getting there. Normalcy is starting to return and I am feeling encouraged, that we can cope.

I had one really bad night when I couldn't sleep at all, so I spent my time painting. I am quite desperate to get back into my studio and start working. I'm ready to throw myself into painting. I was reminded after my time in Jenny's studio and in my class at Kara's studio, how much I want to paint and I want to go deeper with my paints and I want to push myself to grow more. I'm feeling so inspired and excited.

Title - "This Place is my Shelter"

It was good to work on this piece and finish my building work, at last. This was my second lesson piece that I started in Saladu. I carried her across America twice and then home. There was something about her captivating me and I was determined to finish her. I left her overnight to dry but when I came through the next morning, there was so much cracking around her buildings. I was feeling overwhelmed by the level of commitment it would take to fix all the cracks. I started scratching out the cracks and smoothing away and filling them in with new clay and I was so relieved to find her in good health the next morning.

I'm ready to paint her.

This is a large piece I'm busy reworking. I needed to fix her face and build it up some more and I spent a bit of time focusing on my bird work. I'm loving her so much and I can't wait to paint her.

I needed to get my blogging of my trip complete, my studio reorganised and my life back up to date before I could allow myself full access to my studio where I can create guilt free.

It's weekend and my 'to-do-list' is clear and I'm ready... And excited.

Have a beautiful weekend and thank you for journeying with me the past few weeks.

Much Love, Jeanne-Marie