Caroline Shotton
We’re normally woken up around 6am by our son, Sam and after breakfast I normally do the household chores before taking him to nursery so I have no distractions during the day. I love working from home and even though the washing machine’s often whirring away in the corner of my studio, I don’t envy my husband’s daily commute.
I try to exercise every day and I’ll either go for a run or take the dog for a long walk. I find it really exhilarating and I can gather my thoughts before starting work around 9.30.
I usually collate my reference material and prepare my canvasses the night before a studio day, applying texture, working out rough compositions and applying block colour. This means they are dry the following morning and I know I have the whole day ahead to work on the intricate areas.
I was a choral scholar at college and classical music has always been of great inspiration to my work and to this day I can’t paint without it. I often lose track of time when painting only to prompted back to reality when it’s time to change a CD or make another cup of tea as the last one’s been forgotten and left to go cold. I stop painting around 5 to pick Sam up and after he’s gone to bed I often go back in the studio and review my paintings with fresh eyes and prepare my canvasses for the next day. I look forward to my husband coming home to see my work as he’s (usually) a good critic. I have to discipline myself not to go back the studio after dinner otherwise I would probably paint all night. I’m normally tempted out when I hear him opening a bottle of wine though.
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