Is Your Life A Juggle?
It is never an easy task juggling life as a mother and an artist. Both are very demanding tasks and if not well balanced; one area definitely takes a back seat.
Acrylic Impasto Painting Of A Flower Bed © Nkolika Anyabolu
There is never a perfect way to balance the two areas out. The basic secret behind it all is to look within oneself and strike a balance that is unique to different people depending on how busy one is.
As a working mum of 3, life can be very very hectic. With an endless list of school-home works to get through, after-school activities to remember to get to (and on time!), school plays to prepare for, meetings to attend, endless chores to carry out at home;
"THERE IS HARDLY EVER ENOUGH TIME TO PUT MY FEET UP AND RELAX LET ALONE PAINT" [Tweet this]
But what should women/mothers like me do...don't bother having a life of your own? Forget about having a hobby? Or just simply persevere? If like me you find a particular hobby calming and soothing, it would be difficult not to appreciate the onerous task involved in juggling life and all that it throws at you.
I FIND I AM AT PEACE WHEN I PAINT
[Tweet this]
It may be at the end of a long week filled with several failed attempts at resuscitation along with having to tell families of patients; their loved one is nearing the end of their sojourn on earth.
Or after a long day of rushing around like a headless chicken chasing after my kids in a bid to get them ready for school on time, while in the process suffering a few trips over small toys and finally getting to the car only to remember the car keys were still in my drawer upstairs.
On such days, being able to do the one thing that involves only me and my heart is very calming.
Some people say life gets less busy as children get older, but I must admit in all honesty; I had a lot more time for other things when my kids were a lot younger. So I am yet to see how it gets less busy. Probably when they fly the nest!!
What do you have to juggle in your life? How are you able to achieve a balance that is right for you?
All the best
Nkoli
A Painting surface or support is the surface on which paint is applied and it depends on the kind of painting media (i: e paint) you have chosen to use. There are different types of painting surfaces or supports that can be used for painting e: g canvas, hard board, paper or even a wall.
Acrylic paint is very beautiful but can be very annoying and frustrating to use. Somehow when I was starting off in my world of painting I thought acrylic paint could be applied to any surface (I do not know where I got that notion!), but I soon discovered it is not true.
Watercolour is a very clean medium to use. It is not as messy as Oil or Acrylic and there are no solvents to work with thus making it very safe and child friendly too.
This video was shot while in my painting studio creating a painting of a Field of Daisies with Acrylics. Hope you enjoy it.
This is a video showing the progress I made when I was creating an Acrylic painting of an African village. It was painted on canvas board.
This video shows me at work creating a Flower bed painting with Acrylics. This is a speed painting from the beginning to the end. Hope you enjoy it.
I was delighted to have been invited by The Caribbean and African Health Network (CAHN) to be part of their regular Health Hour. The Health Hour raises awareness about prevention, early detection, effective self-care and self-management.
I delivered a webinar to the members of the Igbo Community in Dorset. This was aimed at addressing Covid myths and misconceptions, and improving Covid vaccine uptake amongst people from the Igbo Community.
At the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management National Conference, I got the opportunity to present my research project looking at the diversity amongst appraisers and appraisees within the Wessex Appraisal Service.
Webinar on GMC Issues amongst IMGs and how to address them. Organized by the University of Nigeria Medical Alumni
This is the 3rd and final part of the landscape painting. In this video I demonstrate how I paint a beautiful foreground with Acrylic paint. Simple Steps with details of colours you would need.
Painting of a bed of Tulips using Acrylic Paint. It is a speed painting from the beginning to the end. For this painting, I used both a brush and a palette knife for the petals of the Tulips.
According to Prostate Cancer UK, 1 in 4 black men in the UK will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. This is double the 1 in 8 risks faced by all men. Awareness of cancer signs is lower in those who are male, younger, and from BAME or low socioeconomic groups. 4 in 5 people (85%) are affected financially by a cancer diagnosis.
It was an honour to collaborate with Michaelene Holder-March Dr. (Honoris Causa) RN, RM, LLB (Hons)MSc IAEM, FCMi, FInstAM, FInstLM, Prof. (Dr.) Sanjay Gandhi, Tricia Zenisa George, and Dr John Bolodeoku in making a contribution to the NICE COVID-19 Rapid guideline on behalf of the BAME Health Collaborative.
Acrylic painting of flowers using the impasto technique. Very quick and satisfying. The impasto technique helps create an almost 3D effect in your paintings. Perfect for anyone who wants to paint quickly or anyone who wants to learn how to paint with a palette knife.
As a member of a small but thriving Igbo community in Dorset, I have volunteered my time to hopefully make a valuable contribution towards tackling the issues highlighted in these studies which found awareness and help-seeking behaviour to be low across all minority ethnic groups, with the lowest awareness in the Black African group.
This is research addressing questions about protected characteristics with honesty and transparency. The aim was to produce an equality and diversity factsheet that would help to inform Wessex Appraisal Services. We know that the healthcare profession tends to attract diversity and the findings from this research show doctors in Dorset and Hampshire are more ethnically diverse (23%) compared to the population (4.4%) as well as Nationally (13%). We hope that through these results doctors would be able to recognise they have shared characteristics thus they are not alone.