March 8: I started painting about 15 years ago. I remember arriving at Mimico Community Centre looking forward to learning the mysteries of putting acrylic on canvas. The instructor, Zaria Manook, was a small man topped with a shock of greying hair that made him look a bit like Einstein. In truth, there was not a lot of instruction; I think Zaria preferred that we learn from experience. But from time to time, he would take the brush away from me and demonstrate a bit of technique. I thought that I was finally becoming reasonably good at painting when I finished an entire painting without Zaria’s “little touches”.
When I moved, I changed classes and found 
a new instructor. John was Greek and the same height as Zaria, but younger and more solidly built. Where Zaria painted icons for the Orthodox church, John was a modernist and his paintings were tremendously complex. Some had the character of enormous tattoos. Again, his instructional technique was hands off, and there was a period where we were trying to understand the other’s capability. In time, he suggested a couple of new techniques that moved my style forward.
Most of my paintings have been landscapes or townscapes, and I could not escape the feeling that I had “been there and done that”. I had pretty well figured out how to get the effect I wanted, and I could punch out a painting an about 3 hours if I wanted. Melinda always hated the fact that they were “all green”, and perhaps she had a point. I have dozens of canvasses stored here and at the house, and most of them are not very good. Following the same path has led me to a place where I am feeling that there is no challenge to it, so I have decided to stop painting. Perhaps not “forever” but certainly “for now”.
For decades, I’ve randomly doodled with pencils. I had thought about taking a sketch pad with me to Europe last summer, but never really got around to it. So I have signed up for a sketching class and will start that in a few weeks. I’m looking forward to something new and different.