I had a plan.
I was going to spend the whole day there, 9am till 5pm. I was going to arrange things, hang things, sort it all out then sit and work. I’d got lunch, tea bags, music. And chocolate.
It started so well!
Until I plugged in the heater.
Ten minutes later I realised I wasn’t getting any warmer. The heater wasn’t working. So I did the usual things and tried another. Then tried another socket. Then tried another appliance. Oh Bum.
I had blown something. I was the only person there, and I scoured the place. Do you think I could find the fuse box? No.
Anyway, having discovered it was only upstairs sockets that were affected, I put the kettle on downstairs, put my coat and scarf back on and carried on working for a while. It was rubbish. It is impossible for me to stitch with cold hands, so I gave up. I was home early afternoon, trying desperately to get warm for the rest of the day.
I am keen to immerse myself. What I want to do is get there early and work hard until I have to stop. I want to come away feeling tired from doing art all day. I don’t want to clock-watch, I want to go with the flow of ideas, not with the ring of bells, alarms, or anyone else’s need for food and drink or anything. I want to be so selfishly absorbed I forget myself. I want to come to after hours of work, feeling thirsty, hungry and amazed at the time!
I’ll let you know if it ever happens. I can remember doing it as a child, and as a teenager, but rarely since having job and children. I love that feeling, and yearn for it.
