Why I can't walk the dog everyday....

Hey there, have you needed to come up with the best excuse not to walk your dog? This morning I thought of it. You know how your dog is so excited by all of the smells and sounds, if yours is like Arlo then he has to sniff all of the bushes, leave a little spray on many of them after thorough examination, he is uber excited every time a bike rider passes or there is a different scent in the air (this morning someone was having their septic tank pumped out - he was much more drawn to that smell than I was). His senses are on overload!

You know what I realised this morning, when I go walking, my senses are also on overload. I am captured by the shadows cast onto the cement path by the strappy grasses, the different shapes of the leaves. I zone right in and notice quickly whether the leaf groupings come out from the same point like on the banksia flower, or are staggered up the branches - shooting off in singles or as pairs. I notice the change of colour on a flower or leaf where part of it is in sunlight and part in shade. A poisoned weed that has died captures me for the beauty of its shape as it dangles it head still filled with white tufts. I pick some weeds to bring home to paint and can't help but pick up the random acorn or dead seed pod off the ground to bring home and examine further.

I can't help but photograph these things for later reference, wishing I had a photographic memory. They are not great photos, or paintable subject reference but they remind me of the things I noticed and wanted to think about later.

I wonder as I walk - are others who are non-artists noticing all of these subtleties and the beauty in the world around them or is it mostly for those of us using our well trained (or emerging) artist's eyes? We look at the sky and think `Would I best capture that with cobalt or cerulean blue? Would it just need a touch of yellow added?' Hence the walk takes me much longer to get to the destination and back, so that is my excuse for not walking daily! Feel free to borrow it anytime you like - too much sensory overload for the artist within me.