Tuesday 2nd August - This'n'that

I've spent most of today switching between watercolour painting and practising the first Goldberg Variation.

It works like this: I paint in a wash of colour, but then it has to dry completely before the next step. So, I just turn round,

and get to grips with the next bit of Bach. That distracts me from trying to carry on with the painting too soon. 

I'm messing about with watercolours - something that I keep returning to every couple of years. My mother tried to get me interested in acrylics, but I just didn't like the gloopy feel of the paint. Watercolours have a surprising congruence with playing the harpsichord which I wasn't expecting. It's all about the precision of articulation and phrasing, balancing the tone, leaving clear space between colours and sounds. There's a lot of work to be done on both the painting and playing.

I've tripped across a website where every week they put up a list of ten words to react to;  

The game is to follow each word with whatever comes into you mind first.

If you want to have a go, without being contaminated by my answers, stop reading now, as my responses are below.

I'll just fill in the space with the explanation from the website. You can take it with as much salt as you please.




"Free association is described as a "psychoanalytic procedure in which a person is encouraged to give free rein to his or her thoughts and feelings, verbalizing whatever comes into the mind without monitoring its content". Over time, this technique is supposed to bring forth repressed thoughts and feelings that the person can then work through to gain a better sense of self.

That's an admirable goal, but for the purposes of this exercise, we're hoping to have a little fun with the technique. Each week I'll post ten words to which you can respond to with the first thing that comes to mind.

Rules? There are no rules. There are no right or wrong answers. Don't limit yourself to one word responses; just say everything as it pops into your head."

Here are my replies:

Substandard - Not there yet
Rude - Mechanicals
Equality - not to be grasped at
Smile! - no
Presidential? - Like Trump?
Fish - nor fowl
Cloudy - Rather pleasant little piano piece by Christopher Norton that I'm teaching at the moment called "Cloudy Day"
Wondering - maybe
Thought - deep
Calculator - articulation