“I didn’t know you were a painter,” is something that people say to me quite often, in tones varying from mild surprise to a kind of indignation, as if I had been concealing this behavioural flaw, sneaking around furtively messing with brushes, and now they have caught me out. I’m never quite sure how to answer – Yes, but my smock is at the cleaners? I’ve been working undercover? Did you never wonder why so many of my work clothes have paint on them? Don’t worry, I don’t think it’s contagious?
So yes, my first instinct is flippancy, but it does make me wonder – what is it about me that makes them think that it is so unlikely?
Another one that comes up quite often is “I don’t know where you find the time,” but that’s easy to answer: skimp on the housework.
Mostly painting