And that was it for me, you know, whenever it was eight, ten years ago, and I just thought, I just want to see what this art thing can do.

And it would have been so easy at that point to say, I don't know what it's going to take for me I don't know what I have to give to it

I'll just spend this time with my family instead and look what I'd have missed out on. Hello and welcome everybody back to art juice.

Hello and welcome everybody back to Artise this is honest generous and humorous

conversations that will feed your creative soul and get you thinking with me

Alice Sheridan and me Louise Fletcher and today we're going to be having a chat just about stretching yourself in your

practice I always like to think of things in seasons that's an idea that I've taken on board that has really helped me cope with the sort of natural ebbs and flows of the creative life. So we thought that would be a nice thing to have a bit of a chat about today. But first of all, how has the week been for you? I've had a fun, fun, fun week.

Well, you may as well start then because you've probably got a lot more to say than me.

Well, since we last met I have had not one but two away trips with friends.

That's good.

Which have both been absolutely beautiful

in very, very separate ways.

One I called a non-arty art retreat.

We did do some art, but we also did a lot of walking, chatting, laughing, silliness, and it was just beautiful so that was really a thing for me and the second was I've just had a couple of days away.

Again, you see, we say it was business,

but there was some toenail painting,

cocktail drinking, laughing, walking, chatting,

dropping things that are non-essential.

You know, it wasn't work, but they contribute in very different ways.

So, you know, that was very special, both of them very fulfilling in different ways.

So it's been lovely, I feel like, totally grounded in life.

Oh, that's so good. It's funny because I saw that trip on Instagram and it couldn't be more different from the

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