As a part of Y is for Yellow, a course I am taking with Carla Sonheim, we are working on series creation. I was amazed at how much changed when I started to think in a series. I discovered more about my artistic voice and expanded my experience of working within a medium, in this case watercolours and marker on watercolour paper. I love the adventure this series took me on, an adventure to Wonderfill Forest. I hope you enjoy it too.
Saying Goodbye
Two women on the subway
chatting
One older. One younger.
Both with red hair.
As one exits the train
the other casually says,
“Bye, Mum.”
Words I will never say again.
Drawing intimidates me. In fact, when I go through a list of all the arts I can think of, drawing would top the list as the scariest.
I can so easily cast back to being a little girl gleefully making the most of my crayons, markers and coloured pencils. Hours upon hours were spent drawing trees and ducks and writing my alphabet. We had a little art table at the back of the family room and I can still feel what it was like to sit there, absorbed in creating.
The turning point was whenever it became clear that “representation” was the purpose for art, that if you drew a dog it should look like a dog, by which I mean, really look like a dog. How did you accomplish that? Nobody told me that part! If you were an artist, if you had talent, you would know.
Well, I didn’t know. And so drawing just dropped out of my repertoire. Forever.
Until this year.
If you follow stART: Creating as We Go, you know that my sisters and I are signed up for Life Book. We’re exploring our way through weekly mixed media exercises and recently did Carla Sonheim‘s lesson, which included drawing. At first I felt that old familiar dread. My body tensed up as I thought, “I don’t know how to do this.” But Carla’s exercises were imaginative and playful and I found myself easing in. After all, who was going to see these little drawings anyway?
Then I checked out Lisa Congdon‘s Line Drawing class at Creativebug* and for the first time since I was a little girl I was excited about drawing.
I can do lines and circles and squiggles! In fact, I love doing lines and circles and squiggles! I could do that all day. And this week I did! I spent hours making circles and flowers and stars and having so much fun.
All of this exploration is helping me redefine what “drawing” is and to reclaim the part of it I truly love – the simple pleasure of making lines and shapes and squiggles on the page.
I’m sharing this post as a part of I Made This! If you want to share something you made this week, come on by and join in!
Psst… I’m going to be interviewing Lisa Congdon on Creative Living with Jamie. Be sure to keep an ear out for that!
I am so excited about this new Creative Living Activity here at the studio: I Made This! Every week I’m going to invite you to this loving Show & Tell where we share waht we’ve made and celebrate the creations of others.
This week I ran out of yarn for the blanket I’m crocheting. Ack! It was time to find a new project that I could enjoy while waiting for fresh yarn to arrive. I looked through some crochet magazines I have and also visited Ravelry for inspiration. I was looking for something not too difficult and that I already had appropriate yarn for. I was so excited when I found this free sock pattern. (I keep calling patterns “recipes, lol!)
I consider myself a newbie crocheter and am still learning to read patterns. You can see where I started to get the hang of it. Though this morning as I looked at what other people created I think I got it wrong, The little holes are supposed to move over slightly each time creating the “twist” to these Twisting Lace Socks. I also got stuck at the heel.
That’s okay. It’s all about the learning. Bit by bit I’ll figure it out and if it’s fun, eventually everyone I know will have a new pair of socks!
I’m sharing this post as a part of I Made This! If you want to share something you made this week, come on by and join in!
