Playing Hookey

I confess it, I played hookey today! Instead of working on art, I went skiing. Sometimes, things such as this must be done—a weekday free of office job obligations must be used to take advantage of special lift ticket deals.

I haven’t been skiing in over 10 years, so I was happy to see that my body hadn’t forgotten how to do it!

In fact, this was a harder decision to make than you might think—as I keep saying every Thursday, I covet my one day per week to focus solely on art. But Mike and I had nothing but sunshine out on the slopes, so it seems the playing hookey gods were smiling down on us.

Perhaps, I could also say, I was “filling the well” as Julia Cameron calls the time we spend filling ourselves up away from our art, and in a sense harvesting good things to put back into our art. But really, it was just plain fun, and I’m thankful for it.

Now, I command you (or encourage you kindly) to go forth and play hookey!

I will be back this weekend with some more art! Thank you for your kind comments about my post below!

pb & h

A little more love for you today, dedicated to my fiance Mike, whose love of peanut butter is rivaled only by his love for me (of course):

5 x 7 inches, pen and ink, prints available in my shop

An Inspirational Recipe:

1) toast one slice of your favorite multi-grain bread
2) spread generously with a top notch crunchy peanut butter
3) drizzle the slice with honey
4) ooh and ahh as the warming honey runs all over the place
5) take a bite
6) fall in love
7) repeat

Sunday Morning Walk

I was happy to wake up and see sunlight this morning after a rainy last couple of days. I am getting so spoiled here in California—more than three days without sunshine, and I really start to get disappointed.

So, I was ready to take advantage of the weather this morning, and with even more encouragement from my rambunctious canine Lance (who will pace the house, sighing until I take him out), the two of us set out on a run/walk armed with my pocket-size digital camera.

I had no intention of photographing anything in particular, but unsurprisingly, I turned my camera to the clouds.

What is it about the sky and clouds that makes me so captivated? I think I will soon have to ban this word from my blog due to overuse, but the sky is another infinite landscape, and I think I am bound to photograph it my whole life. It is open and expansive and full of possibilities.

Groupings

Just a little abstract drawing to share with you, that I made while listening to the radio (talk radio, of course) yesterday afternoon.

As I’ve said before, these abstract drawings seem to come from some unknown place, so I have little explanation about the inspiration behind them. They were just fun to do. What could they be?

Whatever they are (perhaps just themselves), they are for sale in my shop now, and might be a lovely beginning to a small abstract art collection.

“Collective,” pen and ink, 6 x 6 inches

“Trio,” pen and ink, 6 x 6 inches

Living Well

I just wanted to let you all know that I just put another set of mini prints/postcards in my shop. I call them the “Living Well” set and they are kind of a greatest hits from my “Saving the World Series”, including a mini version of “Ride Bikes,” “Value Your Time More than Your Money,” “Eat Well & Slowly,” and “Slow Down.” I have to say, printing these up at 3.5 x 5 inches really made them look completely new for me—I think I just love small things.

You can check out all of the pictures in my shop, but here are a couple:

Make Time

For any of you who have been following this blog, you may notice that Thursday is my art day. Basically, it started out with me taking design classes on Wednesdays last Spring, which made it so I worked a four day schedule at my “day job.” When my classes were over, I was supposed to start working five days, but I mustered my courage and asked my boss if I could continue working four days, with a promise to myself to have a whole glorious day to do art. Lucky me—they said yes, and here I am eight months later, still working only four days, with Thursdays having been that special day for about five months now.

The other four days of the week, mostly I wake up grumbling, literally. I am angry at the clock, or the hour of the morning, or my fiance for being in my way as I try to make breakfast. Maybe I’m not that bad—you’ll have to ask Mike, but I am definitely not dancing around the house singing. I’ve never been a morning person (just ask my mom), but going to a job I don’t love, definitely does not make it better.

But on Thursdays, I feel like a different person. I don’t feel dread, I have visibly high spirits as I look out on a day completely set aside for art. Living a Thursday is like living the life I want to live—getting just a little piece of it, enough to energize me to keep plugging along. I never knew how setting aside concrete time to work on my dream would make the dream more visible—this day helps me prove to myself that I can keep going with my goals, that I can trust myself to get work done, and that I can live my dream life, even if just for one day a week.

This brings me to the point of this whole monologue. I think it’s easy to say that there is not enough time to pursue a dream, or I’m too old, or too young, or if I can’t do it fully, I will never succeed. But, it’s just not true. Forgive the bold statement there, but you’re doing yourself a disservice if you are living in that illusion.

You may say, I don’t have a whole day—but all you need is an hour, or a half hour, or ten minutes for that matter. You must start somewhere. You just have to make time.

I’m not just talking about grand visions here, I’m talking about joy and happiness—and wanting more of those things in your life. You don’t have to dislike your job, or want to turn your life upside-down, I’m talking about anyone who wants more time to do the things that bring them joy. It starts with ten minutes—reading a poem on your lunch break, taking the scenic route, visiting the library on your way home, stopping by the craft store after work, drawing while you wait for the bus. These little joys can add up to so much happiness, and before you know it, you may be setting aside whole hours and days just for the pure joy of it.

And with that, I put out an eternal thank you for Thursdays, and for all of the little joys like hot showers, eating good dinners, furry beasts that chew on their claws loudly (as my dog Lance is doing right now), sunshine and colorful socks.

Expansive Thoughts

It is so easy to get caught up in small, cramped thoughts (to name a few: I hate my job, I have do finish all of these things by the end of the day, I will never have enough money).

I recently added the idea of the expansive thought to my bag of tricks to get myself out of mental messes. Instead of dwelling on the small thoughts that put me into a box, I am trying to think of the most wide, expansive thoughts I can. So far, one of my favorites is this:

I think one of the biggest fears for a lot of creative people is that they will one day run out of ideas. I believe this fear is part of the reason behind writer’s block and vast periods of un-creativity that leave us feeling uninspired and unfulfilled. There is this fear that there will be nothing new to say, or that we each have a particular number of ideas, and once they’re used up, that’s it. This keeps people from starting and continuing with creative pursuits, and makes a lot of people think they could never sustain a creative life.

We are all bound to get into a rut once in a while, but I find the idea of infinity to be inspiring. Creativity is like air—it’s just floating all around us, and there are an infinite number of possibilities.

If you would like to hang this idea on your wall, I have some 5 x 7 inch prints of it in my shop.

Heartbursts

I have some more love for you today—I did a series of four miniature drawings I call “heartbursts,” in celebration of the coming Valentine’s Day and love in general. This was a fun way to bring my patterned drawing style together with the holiday theme to make a larger meaning, mainly, the ever-expanding capacities of the heart.

The heart is such a well-used symbol, that it is a challenge to try and make it new. I’m not sure if newness was even my goal, but more I had a goal of creating something fun that brings a little more creativity and joy to this time and place. I hope these drawings lift you up, or fill you up, or brighten your day. They are available in my shop.

“Heartburst One,” 4 x 4 inches, pen and ink

“Heartburst Two,” 4 x 4 inches, pen and ink

“Heartburst Three,” 4 x 4 inches, pen and ink

“Heartburst Four,” 4 x 4 inches, pen and ink

Valentine’s Giveaway!

Yes, you read the title right! I’m doing a Valentine’s Giveaway! I’ve wanted to give something away for quite some time (as I’ve seen on other blogs) but I’ve never done it, until now!

If you read my post below, I finally got myself in gear and made up some Valentine’s cards in plenty of time for the holiday. And now, I’d like to give away a set of 6 Valentine’s Day cards!

How it works: If you want a chance at winning, just leave a comment on this post between now and 4 pm PST, Monday, January 19, 2009. That evening, I will randomly select a comment and email the winner for their mailing address. The winner will get to choose from any of the three Valentine’s card sets in my shop (if you look at the post below, either a set of anatomical heart cards, “you fill me up” cards, or a mixed set with 3 of each).

Since this is for “love day” why don’t you take this chance to mention in your comment someone you’re thankful for having in your life? No pressure, but sometimes it’s fun to put down in writing something we too often don’t say, and inspire the rest of us to appreciate our people more.

I look forward to reading your comments!

To start it off, I am thankful for my mom and dad—they put up with me when I’m being difficult, and I keep finding more things to love about them each year, as I grow into my adulthood and understand more and more who they are.

Love and such

I can’t believe it! I finally got myself in line and actually made something pertaining to a holiday with plenty of time before the actual holiday! Woohoo! Valentine’s Day, here I come!

I know, I know—could you even call Valentine’s Day a holiday? Maybe it is an invented holiday—just an excuse to make us buy more junk. But you have to admit, at it’s base level, the holiday has a good message: tell the people you love that they are important to you.

While we should be doing this everyday, or at least on a regular basis, why not celebrate a day that encourages the giving and sharing of love?

I think perhaps, the holiday has become too focused on romantic love. I believe it should include family and friendship. My fondest memories of Valentine’s Day are from when I was a kid. My parents love the Caribbean, and their idea of the best kind of vacation is relaxing on a sandy beach. So, every winter, up until I was about 10, we went to the Caribbean for two weeks in February. This trip always happened over Valentine’s day, and no matter where we were my dad would trudge across the island looking for three single red roses—one for each of his 3 girls (my mom, me, and my sister).

Most years, my parents still find some way to send me that rose, and it means more to me than any giant bouquet or expensive jewelery could.

So, here’s my first contribution—two cards. You may recognize one of them (the anatomical heart and lungs) from a previous drawing. There will also be some original art on this subject coming soon.

These cards are for sale in sets of 6 over in my shop. Of course, I highly recommend making your own Valentines as well!