Painting and Youth!

Painting I just love it! Good job I hear you say as you are an artist! But I realise more than ever that I do love painting its a great way to zone out for a while and I certainly do need to do that occasionally as life lately has been hectic but then when isn't it. I reckon over the years I'd have gone nuts if it wasn't for dabbing away with a paintbrush if I'm ever overwhelmed or sad I shut myself away and paint to take my mind off it if I'm in agony because of my arthritis I paint and soon feel better. But I don't paint just to escape I do it because I love it and that's important.
We should all try and fit something in that we love doing because as I've said many times life is short and one day we will regret spending time doing crap stuff others want us to do. Painting is not the only thing I like doing and this year I've been lucky enough to be able to study and because I'm doing it part time I get to carry on for another year.
Going back to school or rather University has been fun and at times deep! I've been so deep in bloody books I don't know what day it is and as I'm doing history the actual century gets confusing too! But overall its been fun and enlightening meeting new people especially the lovely twenty-somethings who remind me I'm glad not to have to do it all again but also remind me of that fabulous feeling of endless possibilities of where life will take them. They are yet to marry, buy a house, get a job if indeed they want to do any of that because that was what I had to do maybe they don't have to yet because times are different and expectations of what should be done by thirty are different. So I've been listening carefully to their stories and hopes and it has opened my eyes to their struggles and dreams.
I am very aware of my age all of a sudden and realise that no matter how down with the kids I think I am, I'm  just not and can't be because the generation gap is acute what I took for granted when I was young isn't there for our young I had help with my rent due to housing benefit so I could leave home and save for a mortgage houses were cheaper technology didn't exist my phone was down the road in a red box! There's a lot of pressure on the young zero-hours contracts, social media always got to be achieving no financial support from the government its very difficult to get a foothold on adulthood. I wish them all well, to be honest, they are so much more mature than I at that age, the nineties are somewhat of a blur I have to say!
What's this got to do with painting? I don't know really but I suppose I see so many twenty-somethings making a go of social media for their artwork and I think I've probably wasted a lot of my past not doing what I should have been so now I paint when I can, study and generally try and live a full life.
So then what have I been painting well here's two I did this last couple of weeks.

Corner House Chippy Cleethorpes 20 x 20 cm

This painting above marks the beginning of a new obsession The Chip Shop! So let me have any of your favorite chip shops!

Berwick Upon Tweed 16 x 20 inches.

This one above started as a demo at Sutton Colefield Art Group and I've been working on it a while.
Next weekend I will be at Matlock Art Society running a workshop and demoing so contact them if you'd like to come along.
The week after I will be at Stanton in the Peak open gardens 1-5 pm so do come along and spend an afternoon looking at art and gardens.