As I finished painting this I realised that it made me think of cool drinks - hence the title - make mine a double with lots of ice ha ha

I love Pak Choy but for some reason it is expensive to buy, so after buying the last lot I decided to try growing my own,I just peeled off the ends and as you can see stuck a couple of toothpicks in the base to let it dangle over the water. I wasn't really expecting much but after a few days little rootlets began to grow - yay

After about a week I took the chance and potted it up, as the roots were still tiny we added a little miniature greenhouse or

plastic bag as they are otherwise known and here it is, a lovely healthy green and growing fast.

I'd been struggling with the first version of this painting for a while and had decided it was a total fail which of course happens sometimes, so after reading this great thread on Creative Spark Forum I decided to have a go at the 'eyes wide closed technique', which as the name suggests means closing your eyes and drawing with your tool of choice, with one or both hands and then finishing by painting.

I slapped on some white acrylic, stuck my headphones on, music on shuffle, cos i like to be surprised and respond to the different tempos, laid the canvas on the floor and using both hands, eyes closed started to draw

Here are the pencil marks

A close up after starting with acrylic

The final painting

I'm actually quite pleased with it, it's a fun piece, I enjoyed the whole process and although I usually add pencil or charcoal marks after painting,I think I'll use this method again.

A little 30x30 acrylic and charcoal using the same palette that I used for the previous painting. I may started a series using these colours, they seem to reflect my surroundings well, and I find them very restful somehow.

Thought you might like to see some of the progress shots from my recent painting. This is 100x100 acrylic and charcoal on canvas. As I've been working on smaller canvases due mainly to space constraints, this large canvas was an absolute gift, one where I  could make large bold strokes and swipes with the knife and a window squeegee at one point, fun stuff. Anyway I just enjoyed the process until an idea began to emerge and then I ran with it.

So here are the beginnings

Then as you can see a change in the piece, taking out most of the brighter colours and starting to paint something altogether more muted

I got stuck at this stage for a while as there were a couple of bits I wanted to retain and I couldn't see my way past them

detail shots

Here is the final painting.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the way that I work. I'll try and remember to take more shots as I go along, or who knows maybe one day a video ha ha

This weird little one was started with loads of energy and enthusiasm, the strokes and marks just landed effortlessly onto the canvas, then on the final stretch I sort of lost it. It was on and off the easel for weeks, but all I did was stare, a bit frustrating but painting (at least for me) can be like that. I have now slapped white all over it and it's in the process of becoming something entirely different and hopefully better. We shall see haha

So much gorgeous blossom around at the moment and a huge variety of nesting birds. I've started to identify the different bird calls, thanks to the lack of cars and noise in general and also it must be said a little patience, not something I'm known for hahaha

I now tend to think of this trio of colours as my own lockdown palette. It's actually a re-work of a painting that I was never really convinced of. The original was done when I was housebound for a period of time and these colours have come up again now. Anyway I was running out of canvas and was rummaging in my old work and found the base of this one.I'm quite happy with it now, it reminds me of golden spring evenings

When I can't paint for whatever reason, I try at least to play with digis. Sometimes - thanks in part to the undo function I even manage to produce something I like.

Hope everyone is keeping safe. This has been a fight from start to finish. My mind is constantly wandering, which is not surprising with everything that's going on at the mo, plus my mind tends to wander at the best of times . but painting is usually my safe little world, now it seems that everything is on a tilt and like many people I'm finding it difficult to get a grip. Anyway glad I've managed to finish this little 30x30cm. It looks like I've tried to bring some order here hence the name.

Another minimum palette and pure knifework, which is my fav way of working. I work on the floor for these cos it gives a greater freedom for the sweeping curved strokes which for me are a great part of working with knives, although I must say my bum gets very numb on the floor haha.

Next up is this weird but (to me) interesting painting. I have no idea where this came from. I mean obviously I painted it, I can remember a lot of the brush/knife marks but I seem to have painted instinctively rather than a planned painting and as it's much more figurative than usual it's a bit of a departure. Think I went down a rabbit hole with this one hence the name Alice. It's 50x70cm and it kept me quite engaged for a long period.