Sacred Life Sunday: Much stronger

my painting from yesterday's art class :o)

the big news this week is i got my foot splint on monday - and it fits perfectly! i wear it for about an hour a day, but it's already feeling quite comfortable. it's improved my walking such a lot, mainly because my ankle feels so supported i can confidently put all my weight on it - london 2012 here i come!!!
physio was on friday and i had a mega session - my physio had a student with her, so he worked on my foot and she worked on my arm! they rounded off the hour with me walking across the gym ON MY OWN - no stick, no nothing!! the only way i could manage with all that frightening space around me was to focus on the tiles directly in front of me... but i did it! that's what the foot splint's given me - confidence - hooray!!!
friday evening, nick and i went to see quantum of solace (thanks to dad staying for the weekend!). i managed to walk from the car - holding nick's arm - to the cinema, then up 10 steps to the auditorium!! sadly the film wasn't all that great - a poor sequel to casino royale - but it was a nice evening out, and no wheelchair!!!
yesterday was art class - no problem with the stairs now!!
i learnt several more techniques - this time i used a water-soluble pen for the drawing. i didn't look at the paper for most of it, but i did place the pen for each leaf. then i applied water to just catch the edges of the lines to apply a thin wash to the background (you can see more detail by clicking on the image to enlarge it). to colour the leaves, i used carte d'arche marvellous water-soluble wax crayons (teesha's favourites!), and water-soluble pencils. christine showed me how to use a light-blue pencil under the green wax crayon, then apply water to blend them. this creates highlights - something i've never been confident with...
i'm pleased with the results - and it's rather a seasonal drawing - especially as much of britain is feeling winds, and some snow, from the arctic this weekend!! BRRRR!!!