Nothing special…

This is ‘just’ a Farish OBA. Tooling about twenty years old, nothing special. A present to myself for my birthday, weathered and created in my hand. More, though, this is therapy…

I started in the usual manner, even today, with several of these in my collection opening the box has a childlike energy… a pleasant distraction. Later a gentle twist with the tip of a craft knife blade and the Farish couplings were removed and she was placed ‘on stage’ for the first time. A day or so later I airbrush her with Humbrol 28, just a mist layer to fade the brown before more weathering. The airbrush is old, it is familiar, it feels comfortable to use and the process of mixing the paint through to tidying things up is a series of predictable steps. Another few days pass and out comes my old steel rule to prise open some Humbrol tinlets once more, the usual 98/33, old friends. We catch up as I stir their contents before decanting some paint on a make shift palette that tells its own stories… a favourite brush and some white spirit, and I’m working once more, absorbed in the process and calm. 

For beyond the bench is real life, and that as many of us know is not easy. Here, in my own space I can control my world and things only happen because of me - comfortable, perhaps cluttered but familiar, peaceful, a retreat. My models, my layouts, my tools and my books. Mine, and not an ounce of anything or anyone else. Safe.

This hobby then, a combination of mindful practice and retreat. 

This hobby, not just the output - but perhaps more importantly, the process, the practice… the result is just an opportunity to engage with the artist. We all have a story to share.

Until next time, more soon…

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