Gazing at the water, my mind wandered off to how I’d layer the colours of the ripples on watercolour. I’d start with an ochre base before blending it to meet a pale green, layering over viridian highlights and Payne’s gray shadows. If you do any form of art, you might know about the infamous messy middle: where what you’re crafting looks nothing like what you’ve envisioned, only because you are halfway through. Many give up at that point (I know I have), when what you really need to do is throw yourself into the mess, pin your faith in the process and keep working at it. It’s easy for me to forget that stumbling through the messy middle is the only way to come out at the other end with a possibly beautiful, finished piece.

— when was the last time you stood in moving water? · shiying