A day in the life of Ros Callander

Woke up at about 5am…birds chirping, sun streaming in through the curtains…I really must get some of those blackout linings. Tried to roll over and get back to sleep…..no use, as thoughts invade my head , I might as well get up. So there I was, 6am…huddled up on the sofa, drinking tea and pondering the day ahead whilst enjoying the quietness of the morning.

7am - The peace and quiet is shattered – Hubby gets up, son gets up, 2 dogs and a cat all up…..and all with their own “food-related” agenda. After feeding the animals, I get dressed and start to get organised for the day ahead. It's a painting day, today. I don't get to paint every day…and sometimes this can be very frustrating when I'm at a crucial point in a painting…..but life gets in the way. However, today is a good day…it's a painting day.

9am – Get son off to school, hubby off to his first appointment, dogs out to “do their business”, and then my time is my own.

9.30am – Make myself a cup of coffee and sit and enjoy 5 minutes silence whilst I think about what I am going to be doing in the studio today. After I finish my coffee, I change into my “painting gear” –paint spattered trousers and top – and head to the studio. I sort out the canvasses I am going to be working on today, and start where I left off yesterday with the painting on the easel. I'm currently working on a collection for an upcoming exhibition and have 3 commissions to do. Plenty to keep me occupied.

The first painting I work on is this one:

baby painting

It's a commission which I have nearly finished…..not too happy about the eyes….they're not quite right…..so I spend an hour or so on them and now they look like this:

baby painting finished and signed

I'm much happier now…..it feels as if it has much more of the essence of the baby, so I sign it and call it finished.

baby portrait on easle

I make another cup of coffee…the first of many which I will no doubt tip down the sink at the end of the day…..resigned to a fate of “ being forgotten as I was so engrossed in my painting”

What shall I do now?

On to a landscape….or should I say Seascape…..another commission………..this time I spend quite a few hours finishing this one off…..stopping only for a quick lunch of cheese sandwich and coffee…….and by the time I'm done, it's time to go and collect my son from school.

Here's the result of the seascape painting – called “Nocturne”

Nocturne painting

…and that's the end of my painting today…..have to spend time doing “Mummy” things for the rest of the evening. Thank you for taking the time to read about my day, hope you have enjoyed it.

You can see more of my work by clicking here

…and that's the end of my painting today…..have to spend time doing “Mummy” things for the rest of the evening.

Update....

Birth of a Studio

Well….it's been coming for some time now…..and I finally got to the point where I cannot share my painting space any more. Till now, I have used the garage as my studio…..it's a double garage, but like most domestic garages, doesn't know what a car is…..it's used mainly for storage, as a walk through to my husband's workshop and as my studio. However, I have now reached the stage where I need a dedicated space of my own. To be honest, I don't know how I've managed to hold out so long…5 years I've been using it…...the light's not much good (although I use daylight strip lighting) and it's freezing every winter. So I have a sound rationale for what I am about to do next…even if it does leave me feeling slightly guilty (well….for all of 10 seconds, anyway)

So, I wait for “the right moment”, i.e. when hubby is relaxed in front of the cricket with a beer in his hand, and I go in for the kill:

“I need my own dedicated painting space…blah, blah, blah…..”

Interrupting cricket is just about the fastest way to get what you want, I find…..and hubby agrees, to shut me up so he can get on with the serious business of watching the game.

So that's it……deal done. Now all I have to do is evict my son from his “chill pad”, formerly known in estate agent's speak as the Family Room. This takes a wee bit more subtlety…..more of a bribery approach……but it works, and finally I have my “premises”

So I start moving sofas etc and end up with a (nearly) clear room. I start putting in some of my equipment…storage shelf, low workbench (home made, of course)…..it does the job…..I like to paint a lot of my pieces horizontally, instead of on the easel…..I find it ergonomically more natural….and I often stand, so this is at just the right height for me. As you can see….I've customised my “cardboard box plinths” with (accidental) paint splashes…but this highlights one problem though…..I'm going to have to do something about those curtains……..

the curtains and painting bench

Scanning round the room, the curtains are not the only things I'm going to have to re-home……

the messy corner

Son's TV/Xbox etc is definitely not staying in that corner……I'm going to put another desk there, to work on my sitting down stuff, like watercolours etc.

Having finished about all I can do for tonight, I head upstairs to go for a shower, only to find the animals taking shelter, away from all the commotion of moving furniture etc (yes, it's two Greyhounds and a hairy moggy).

animals taking shelter