Following on from my post about creativity and failure I thought I would share this. You may remember those ugly ducklings and how some of the paler ones have turned into really interesting compositions. Well there were also a few really, really ugly ducklings that were much darker and muddier than I had expected. Not to be defeated I have played with composition using those fabrics and have been very surprised by the results and where it has sent my mind wondering.

At first I thought this was a failure - it doesn't embody the idea of stillness. Instead the darker colours and linear marks reminded of the rocks on Dunure beach on a stormy day. I had been trying to capture the feelings of calm, tranquility, stillness that I felt when I sat on the beach. That feeling of being able to shed all my worries. But here I have a piece that, is somewhat representative of all the anguish, confusion and grief that I have felt this year dealing with my son's mental ill health. Could I create a body of work that represents two divergent emotional states?

I think that maybe I can. Maybe I should be working on Still and Storm?