A few years ago, like just about everyone else on the planet, I started colouring. Yes, according to social media experts, I had regressed depressingly back to my childhood where apparently I have daddy issues, or something. According to artists everywhere else, I was being lazy and not truly my creative self by colouring someone else’s work regardless of the fact that’s sort of the point of colouring books. Finally, according to psychotherapists the world over, I was being mindful and relaxing my brain.

Well, I’ll go with the last of those because I actually do find it relaxing. As with all of my hobbies (like sculpting and jewellery-making and digital art), colouring can be intricate work taking lots of concentration and focus. I find that that focus on one single thing for as many hours as it takes before my fingers start to go numb (they do, it’s hilarious) is actually a blessed release from the near constant noise in my brain. That and I like making pretty pictures and learning new skills.

As usual, any time I start a new hobby, I jump in head first and buy ALL THE THINGS.

Most people buy what they need; maybe a few expensive items, maybe a handful of artist quality pencils.

Not me.

What is this pithy 12 pencil set you speak of?! I shall have ALL the pencils.

Seriously, the 132 Prismacolor Premier set was not enough. I sold that set and bought the 150 set because I needed ALL the colours.

(And then I sold that set too because Prismacolor Premiers are the crappiest pencils ever. But more on that later.)

So once I had all the pencils, I needed all the books. Cue a collection of over 130 colouring books that followed swiftly after. And that collection is still growing, though I have slowed down and now mainly focus on books by particular artists.

And then came the water colours, the blending mediums, the special erasers and sharpeners, the cases, the gesso…

You get me.

So now I colour. The thing I particularly love about colouring is that I can do it in a relatively small space and it’s not such a big deal to pack up and move if I need to, unlike jewellery-making and some of my messier hobbies.

And so, finally, this blog will be what I have always thought of making it – a showcase of my creative endeavours with maybe a few rambles in between. Gone are the days where my longer rambles are worth anything to anyone.

(Don’t worry, if you used to read Renlish and there was something you particularly wanted to read again, just let me know. I have everything saved in drafts.)