The Art & Poetry of Mary Coleman

Today I worked on the arm of the left suited figure. It was particularly tricky. The little bit of glove that’s showing looks wonky but maybe that will improve after I paint in the boy’s sweatshirt and the rest of the yellow suit that surrounds it. Overall I’m not unhappy with this painting so far. It’s getting a little boring as I’m on the second figure of doing the same exact thing, but I’m almost finished with that part of the painting. Two more days and I’ll be done with the PPE. The boy should be a welcome change. Actual cloth and human skin.

A Very Boring Person

I’m pretty low drama. Mostly I sit at home and paint and my main complaint in life is a pervading anxiety and my panic attacks, neither of which make for a good book. My late teens and early 20’s were a little more interesting, I suppose, but not terribly more than anyone else’s youth. After the age of 22, my life would be what others might consider a little dull. I got married and settled down. Probably the best thing for me because previous to that I was a complete mess and married life gave me a stability I had been lacking and a distance from my parents (literally as I moved to New Zealand to be with my husband) who were in a lot of ways a very toxic influence and part of the reason I was so unhappy. My mother less so than my father.

I did strength training for 33 minutes today. It was a rough start to the day. I felt really anxious about both art and exercise and I procrastinated until 9am before I started doing some painting. When I finished that, I went downstairs and worked out. It was easier after I had finished one thing I didn’t want to do to begin another thing I was also avoiding.

I have been taking Ritalin again because I’ve been tolerating it okay lately. The one night of difficult sleep didn’t repeat so I’m back to my low dose in the morning.

To-do-list

1. Up, water plants, get exercise clothes on still can’t brush dog’s teeth due to a cut on my hand
2. Breakfast (eating window closes)
3. Strength train (I don’t wanna)
4. Paint arm and part of torso (I don’t wanna)
5. Meditate
6. Read 5 chapters of books in the afternoon since I’m finding it really hard to do before bed
7. Cook dinner
8. Intermittent fasting during the day, follow calorie goal, 25+g of fiber, 65+g of protein, minimal ultra-processed food, no sugar