I have been away from painting for most of the past month. I taught three cold wax and oil workshops and had two exhibitions, one in Edmonton at Bugera Matheson Gallery and another in Guelph that runs until the end of the month at Renann Isaacs Contemporary Art . I guess that's why I haven't had much time in my studio. Sometimes I need to ease my way back into my studio work by playing. I wrote about Maintaining the Spirit of Play in a post almost exactly two years ago. I guess the same issues continue to circle around and around. A major component of play is surrender. I call it the Art of Surrender because it's difficult to explain and often difficult to accomplish. You know when you've achieved it because you can feel it. It's a huge relief. Surrender literally means to stop fighting. To stop fighting with yourself and the natural flow of life. It's not about inaction, ...