I made a complete pause from all things drawing. The last two months I was completely busy caring for my cat Paula. The chemotherapy which was supposed to bring the Leukemia to a remission had to be stopped, because the side effects were so heavy that they almost killed her. She went through a severe crisis in which I cared for her 24 hours a day, organizing her infusions and feeding her by syringe. She recovered from the crisis, she is still weak, but she lives. I just hope that she’s ok, from one day to the next. Her illness is not curable, there may only be a slight chance that it will progress only slowly and that she’ll be with me for some more days, weeks or months. Nobody knows. But her health has stabilized by now, and my life which had been turned upside down by my constant care for her, is gradually getting back to normal. There were other urgent commitments (tax declaration! a research proposal!) to which I had to give priority after we had overcome the crisis, but finally it seems like everything is on its way and I will be able to reserve some time regularly from now on to continue with coursework.
I’m actually very much looking forward to this part of the course, “Observation in Nature” because I like natural things. I did find the time to plant some greenery on the balcony, some bought and others grown from seeds, and these will make nice objects to draw.
Also, I reflected on whether I wanted another cat after Paula, and the answer was yes. Besides Paula, I have two more cats, they are both male, and any new cat in the family would have to be quite self-confident because the male cats can be a bit intimidating at times. By some lucky circumstances, I found the right cat to complete the team. I called her Gina and she’s with us since a week. So it’s me and four cats in our household, for some time to come. I would like to benefit from the opportunity and draw all of them for the course.