I'm not naturally a Type A personality...

But I've become the insufferable sort of person who makes doctor's appointments for essential meds before my script runs out.

Here's how.

Oil painting in my old studio... plenty of room on the table!

I promise this post won't be annoying. I'm not trying to push any agenda. I feel kind of embarrassed that I want to write about organisation. I was not born this way.

I just wanted to write about what goes through my mind when I create artworks.

All I can say is, I guess I'll do that when I want to. I'm in the middle (well, closer to the end) of an oil painting called Water Crystals, and I keep overpainting and overpainting. I should have finished it ages ago. But is isn't what I want it to be, yet!

Water Crystals is what happens when I go walking along the beach, and the water is so perfect and brilliant in the sunshine that I can't help myself but destroy it by kicking up splashes. So I've tried to capture that EXACT MOMENT when the droplets of water are hanging in the air, which to me look like crystals.

I've spoken about my four building blocks already - foundation, administration, imagination and inspiration. You'd be surprised how often I think about them, when I'm trying to build good habits. Empty the dishwasher? Make the bed? Groan, OK. And how about following up on that opportunity on email or paying for insurance? Yup. That's administration.

Imagination is doing the work I love best, the artwork. The actual process... I call it "react and adapt" which is a sexier thing to say than 'trial and error.' I'm self taught and I work it out as I go.

Picture the food pyramid... the one with fruit and veggies on the bottom and chocolate at the top. I guess my four building blocks stack like a pyramid, with inspiration right at the very top.

I kind of prefer to think of them as a cube, though.

Foundation work is boring and administration work is definitely boring.

A stitch in time saves nine.

I've learned from repeated experience if I don't take care of stuff like insurance when it crops up, I have a much larger fire to put out later on. Knowing this only puts extra pressure on me. I can't do anything if I bully myself. So, I've learned how to do things 'imperfectly', I can't believe I just said that. The Flylady helped me a lot. Shine your sink, and things snowball from there! I can't believe I've actually found a way to get myself organised. My life keeps getting better and better.