Few people know I like to paint these days. Painting is something I have always done for as long as I can remember. Something I have done in my down-time, when stressed, injured or happy and inspired.
Life gets in the way sometimes, there are times where I go months or the better part of a year without picking up a pencil or paint brush. But painting is always something I return to.
As we all know it has been a tough time in the world over the last 10 months or so. I know, I have struggled a lot. As a creative person I have done better than others. My introverted self was in bliss at times. On the flip side, I found myself so unmotivated and uninspired. One may have thought with all the spare time I would have been creating all the time.
The truth is, I just couldn’t. When I paint, I like to paint about things with meaning and usually my paintings have some sort of underlying happy tone. I couldn’t find my happy or any meaning.
Until one day in October last year, I just thought to myself, I can’t keep not painting, I need to paint and maybe it will cheer me up, maybe I will feel productive.
I decided it was time to start a new sketchbook, to collect ideas. I wanted to paint about something I could get excited about. With so much uncertainty it was hard to get excited about anything. I was just about to go into my first summer in six years, so as a warm up and to have a little bit of a theme to get colours flowing on the page, I painted a sun.
The sun is about as happy as one can get, symbolically.
So there I was pencil in-hand drawing curves and waves to colour-in on watercolour paper. The colours started to flow and I started to paint as a tribute to summer, reminding myself of some of the things I love about the hot Aussie summer. Vibrant, happy colours hit the page in the moments I have put aside to paint.
As the visuals to accompany my words, it is obvious I didn’t just paint one variation of sunshine. Maybe I have gone insane being back in the summer heat of Perth in Western Australia. But my own insanity is keeping me sane… well sometimes, when I put a paintbrush in my hand.
Here is to surviving what has been one of the strangest times in history. If you have managed to read this far, I hope this little post brings some cheer and you have at least enjoyed the pictures.
Rouchelle x
All images and artwork by Rouchelle Gilmore
Rouchelle Gilmore 
Your post is fabulous 😀👍
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I just loved reading this, it made me feel emotional and happy as I have lived through this with you and watched the struggle and the tears and smiles. Keep going and putting colour on the pages the brighter the better. Love Mum XXX
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The Sun paintings bring happiness to the for. Your bright flowing style always lifts my spirits to see expressed in your art. One thing I learnt as a counsellor in my years when that was my profession is that when we feel happy and strong we act that way but the reverse is also true. When we do the things we do when happy and strong the feeling comes too. Call it muscle memory if you like. I love your work. 💜
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