Loved reading this, and I love that reclaiming of a children’s book 🩷 The preciousness of art supplies is a huge barrier to being loose and creating art for our own enjoyment (both the process and looking at it after).
I find that some are better at starting and some are better at finishing. I have trouble getting started but then feel almost driven to finish a project. Last December I took up the challenge to do a month long study of the color blue. For me, having a start and finish date, as well as a finite yet infinite challenge set me on a path of finding it easier to keep going, playing with color, texture,light,shadow. I bought a small packet of lovely raw edge papers. If I like my piece ,I put it in my journal. If not, I put it in the pile to be reviewed or altered or discarded later.
Susan, that's such a great point - I hadn't even considered the finishing side of things, but I think you're absolutely right!
I love the sound of your month-long study of blue - that sounds absolutely awesome - and as for your idea of putting the pieces you like straight into your journal but keeping those to one side which you might alter later, well, that's brilliant! 🤩
What a lovely thoughtful essay about your art process! I love getting glimpses of how people approach their work, their art and the world. It’s endlessly fascinating. I can’t wait to see what you create from this new way of capturing what you see.
Oh this was so wonderful!!! (Thanks for the mention, too. ❤️). I just subscribed to Start Bay Notebooks, have Dare to Sketch on hold at my library, love the mentions of the other sketcher Substackers (some I already follow and adore), LOVE all of the bicycle sketches - this post was so full of skitching bounty! You've inspired and encouraged me to reach higher with my pen and I'm cheering you on in all your skitching endeavors. Go, RH, and thank you! Your post hit just at the right moment in my Saturday morning. Magnificent.
I've painted with coffee, and love the idea, too and was nudged by your writing about Peter. I've also painted with tea, painted blueberries with blueberry juice, and so on. There are so many things I want to try. You're welcome, btw. I've had such a lovely Saturday and so happy that reading your post was smack dab at the beginning of it. 😁
Blueberries painted with blueberry juice is such a beautiful circular journey of art, Mary - how brilliant! Like painting coffee beans WITH coffee - oooooh, I’m going to raid the larder tomorrow and see what can be used to paint ITSELF - you’re giving me all sorts of ideas now!
So happy to hear about your lovely Saturday! Ours was great - we spent some time doing a local art trail and came across so much inspiration in both 2D- and 3D formats. I love things like that. https://aoh.org.uk
I have always considered your altered-book art journal to be THE most perfect example of "artistic arty arting" but could not express it until you gave me the this perfect three-word description. I LOVE that little book, both for its format and its whimsical, nostalgic content. I don't know why it touches me so, but it makes my heart ache. I appreciate your clarification of what "struggling artist" means - yes, it has nothing to do with finances, but with finding ones "voice" in a visual way. Beautiful. It made me laugh that you posted "The Blank Page" on the same morning I posted "Woolgathering: Facing the Empty White Page". Exquisite photos, and especially liked the idea of small multiple squares of sketches. That appeals to me.
‘Artistic arty arting’ is the future of art, Sharron - and you’re so kind - thank you!
I’ve been looking forward to reading your Saturday posts - I’ve been out today (enjoying a local ‘Open Houses’ art trail) but I love how we have the same posting day and that I was going to get to read your latest this evening! I’m heading for my Substack inbox shortly - I’m intrigued!
Bravo!!!!! What a wonderful newsletter!!! Hooray!!!! I'm honored to have my own sketchbook work mentioned in your post. And I'm delighted to read that the Dare To Sketch book is helpful to your own arting!!!! Yippee!!!! I use the word "arting" too... during my breakfast sketchbook sessions I'm arting and eating as in my wife says "are you at a place in arting that you're ready for eating?" 🤣🤣 Hugs of solidarity with you my brave soul sister of the blank page!!! 💚💚💚💚💚💚
Awww Sue, thank you! And hurrah - great minds think alike - 'arting' is such a great word! It features frequently on my to-do lists, and always makes me giggle when it does! Hugs back atcha!
Gorgeous views. Of course you needed to sketch. I enjoyed learning about all the choices of blank booklets. I love living vicariously thru your hand as I have an essential tremor and can barely print my name without running off the page.
I have a tremor, too, in my left drawing hand. There are a few ways I can draw a straight line, but only a few. The rest of my lines bob and weave depending on how my hand is living independently in the moment, detached from my brain.
Any meds work? Not for me. No money put into research either. (In the US.) The excuse is that it's hereditary. My dad has it. Both his hands shake now. He's 90.
I haven't tried meds, talked to my nurse practitioner about the potential for Parkinson's, and she ruled that out but said there are neurological tests that can be done to rule out or confirm what the issue might be. It's funny, she asked if the tremor goes away when I drink alcohol (I don't drink!) and if the tremor *does* go away with alcohol, then it's not Parkinson's. My tremor has stabilized so I just deal with it, and it mostly comes out in my handwriting, drawing, or holding some objects in my left hand. I'm curious about it, more than anything, and watch it while thinking, "how can that be my hand?" No one else in my immediate family has this. It could be nerve damage, too, from working outdoors for 10 years with shovels, heavy digging (I was a garden designer). We'll see. Happy to make your acquaintance, btw. 😊
Nice to meet you too, Mary. I’m Carissa. I used to drink alcohol and my hand still shook. ET is sometimes misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s. Nerve damage makes sense esp since no one in your family has/had it.
I can’t give myself a manicure anymore. Hubby once did it for me. Hehe.
Thanks, Carissa! Oh gosh, that must present a challenge in so many ways, particularly when it comes to writing. I used to do most of my writing longhand, but recently I’ve been turning to my computer at an earlier stage of my process because I seem to have rather less time at the moment. Do you find typing to be a problem, or do you use dictation software? I’d be really interested to know! 😘
All my writing is done on the laptop. I can lean my wrists against the desk which helps stabilize but I do make oodles of letter-mistakes. Autocorrect helps-- sometimes. I miss longhand. If the shaking progresses I will try dictation. Hopefully it will stay as is or improve. I try to be optimistic. Docs think it's a vagus nerve issue. They offer some sort of focused ultrasound for super bad cases. One time I had a stomach ache and read that ingesting baking soda mixed in water could help. Well, it didn't help my stomach pain but for 10 minutes my hand was perfectly still! It stopped shaking! It was glorious. I videotaped it.
Oh wow, Carissa - that's an amazing discovery about the baking soda! Might you be on to something new in the medical field? Researchers need to be researching this stuff!
I asked my dad who also has ET and is a retired pathologist. He shrugged. Big pharma is lured by billions. No money, no research. Even a homeopathic company would need major funds to create a tincture. If someone like Jeff Bezos had ET there would be funding.
This is such a lovely read, Rebecca and one of those topic that will never stop talking about. I’m familiar with some of the people you have mentioned but it’s always nice to discover new artist and resources, thanks for sharing 🌷
I agree with you that a small sketchbook can really help kickstart a new notebook or sketchbook, that’s the size that helps me stay consistent. But I also find that starting a challenge whether it’s just a couple of days or for a month can really help break away from the fear of the blank page. I’ve been doing a personal flower challenge this month and about to share a 5-day flower challenge here. For one of the reasons of inspiring others to just doddle away without fear.
The photo of you with the sketchbook is beautiful and I love the background! Ans I have to ask, is that your van?
Thank you so much, Susan! And thank you too for the reminder about your challenge - I'm looking forward to participating! I'm hoping it'll clear away some of those 'fearful cobwebs' of mine.... 😊
I've passed your feedback on to Jim about his snap of me with the sketchbook, how lovely. And yes, that's our van - we love it! It's a VW T5 Transporter. Jim bought it with his work in mind, and that turned out to be just a few days before the country locked down in March 2020. 'Oh great!' we thought, with heavy irony. 'We can't even GO anywhere in it!'
However, in the last four years we have been all over the country in it (not all in one go: lots of separate, short trips) to all sorts of locations for work, and it's absolutely wonderful. 😊
Great to hear it, Rebecca! Let’s put those fearful cobwebs away foe now ☺️I have to remind myself it’s a creative gathering and let’s just have fun, instead of making something perfect.
And yes, Jim needs to know we appreciate his efforts and the van looks awesome 🤩 so great to hear you’ve been enjoying the van life. We also go away just about every weekend but I asked if we could start home because I was a bit tired from the last long weekend of travelling in France and Germany. So spoiled, I know!!!
Why is it plugged into something? Is that for heating, lighting and cooking? Or is it attached to one of those old-fashioned remote control things that children used to use to make toy cars move?
We like to book pitches with EHU (electric hook-up), which means when we plug in our big orange cable to the electricity point it provides power to the leisure battery, which in turn powers the van’s ‘habitation’ side of things - so, the fridge, the lights, the plug sockets, the heater. All of things work when the cable ISN’T plugged in…. but only until the leisure battery runs out of juice. If we’re travelling from site to site and we end up on one with no EHU, well, that’s fine - but for the next night we’ll try for somewhere WITH EHU, as for longer than two nights without mains power the battery is flagging. We cook with gas, not electricity - but when we’ve got hook-up we use an electric kettle instead of using the hob kettle in order to save time.
These pics at the end are unworldly! You're so lucky to have Cornwall (and other parts of England) so accessible i.e. without a trans Atlantic flight involved! Everything you say here (as I know you will know) can also be applied to the writing process, even down to the thrill of finding just the right pen, a new notebook etc. It can be intimidating though, so I love the way you break it down and "de-fang" the fear aspect.
Please keep on keeping on - it really is important. P.S. I LOVE those button sketches!
Cornwall is extraordinary - it seems to always take days to get there (okay, it doesn’t - but it’s certainly an all-day drive from where we live in the far south-eastern corner of the country), but once you’re there, well, it’s wonderful!
Thanks for mentioning my post about Tammy’s Index-Card-a-Day Challenge. I think that “seconds” shelf is intriguing. Love seeing the work you did filling the grids, too. I hope you always scratch the itch to draw. And this: “I have a long-standing desire to be able to capture a moment; to have the confidence to whip out a sketchbook from my back pocket, throw caution to the wind and just draw.” — What is there to lose? I hope you draw for you.
I’m kind of regretting not taking a picture of the beautifully-displayed gorgeous sketchbooks that weren’t in the ‘Seconds’ area - I have done Seawhite of Brighton a huge disservice! 🫣
Heck, I’m gonna do it. Just draw, I mean. Thank you for the encouragement! 😘
I loved this post so much Rebecca. You are so talented. WOW! Please feel free to sketch on our write togethers as well. :) Or maybe you already do? I loev the quote at the end...beautiful. xox
Another wonderful post. Reading it while still in bed on a chilly Monday morning. Love your art, love your recommendations, love the commenters. We keep on learning more about each other. Mary and Clarissa with their tremors!! How lucky I am to be as well as I am. And yes, I’m still doing my little daily art pieces and sharing them with my sister by text each evening - a great way to include a little Me Time in both our days. Sending heaps of hugs and best wishes. 🤗🤗😘😘💕💕
Any artistic talent I once had is now so untended that I can barely find it among the weeds and overgrowth. That said, my mother took a painting class for the first time in her late 80s, so I suppose it's never too late! Having a look at your process, at Amy's, Mary's, Sue's, Melanie's -- it's all quite captivating. I am tucking it away for someday, and delighting in the experience of others' work. I don't care on which surface you make it happen. Just please don't stop!
Oh, how lovely, Elizabeth - and you're right, it’s never too late! I love the weeds and overgrowth analogy - because even in my garden, where out the back it’s both very weedy and overgrown, I can reassure myself that that doesn’t have to be a permanent state of affairs!
I applaud your ongoing endeavors in arting and agree that the materials used can affect the level of pressure. I feel intimidated by a beautiful, pristine sketchbook or journal. The work that goes in has to be _worthy_ of those pages somehow! To truly be free to be creative, I love my beat-up notebooks and sketch pads with tear-out pages. Some of my favorite paintings were done on cheap canvas boards cut into pieces for "practice"!
I hear you, Jacquie - the intimidation is real! And art made on the scrappiest of surfaces always turns out the best - I need to remind myself of that every time I pick up a pencil or a brush!
Beat-up notebooks are awesome. I hate starting a new notebook, and love it when the pages of my current volume have become crinkly and dog-eared and feel nice. New books are sterile, somehow!
Loved reading this, and I love that reclaiming of a children’s book 🩷 The preciousness of art supplies is a huge barrier to being loose and creating art for our own enjoyment (both the process and looking at it after).
Awww, thanks, Bryn!
I find that some are better at starting and some are better at finishing. I have trouble getting started but then feel almost driven to finish a project. Last December I took up the challenge to do a month long study of the color blue. For me, having a start and finish date, as well as a finite yet infinite challenge set me on a path of finding it easier to keep going, playing with color, texture,light,shadow. I bought a small packet of lovely raw edge papers. If I like my piece ,I put it in my journal. If not, I put it in the pile to be reviewed or altered or discarded later.
Susan, that's such a great point - I hadn't even considered the finishing side of things, but I think you're absolutely right!
I love the sound of your month-long study of blue - that sounds absolutely awesome - and as for your idea of putting the pieces you like straight into your journal but keeping those to one side which you might alter later, well, that's brilliant! 🤩
What a lovely thoughtful essay about your art process! I love getting glimpses of how people approach their work, their art and the world. It’s endlessly fascinating. I can’t wait to see what you create from this new way of capturing what you see.
Awww thanks, Sabrina - that’s so kind of you!
Oh this was so wonderful!!! (Thanks for the mention, too. ❤️). I just subscribed to Start Bay Notebooks, have Dare to Sketch on hold at my library, love the mentions of the other sketcher Substackers (some I already follow and adore), LOVE all of the bicycle sketches - this post was so full of skitching bounty! You've inspired and encouraged me to reach higher with my pen and I'm cheering you on in all your skitching endeavors. Go, RH, and thank you! Your post hit just at the right moment in my Saturday morning. Magnificent.
Oh Mary, thank you from the bottom of my heart for such a lovely comment!
I’m wondering already if you’re going to make literal BrewTime™️ art by painting with coffee, as Peter from Start Bay Notebooks does! 🤔😁
I've painted with coffee, and love the idea, too and was nudged by your writing about Peter. I've also painted with tea, painted blueberries with blueberry juice, and so on. There are so many things I want to try. You're welcome, btw. I've had such a lovely Saturday and so happy that reading your post was smack dab at the beginning of it. 😁
Blueberries painted with blueberry juice is such a beautiful circular journey of art, Mary - how brilliant! Like painting coffee beans WITH coffee - oooooh, I’m going to raid the larder tomorrow and see what can be used to paint ITSELF - you’re giving me all sorts of ideas now!
So happy to hear about your lovely Saturday! Ours was great - we spent some time doing a local art trail and came across so much inspiration in both 2D- and 3D formats. I love things like that. https://aoh.org.uk
Yes!! What fun: painting pickles with pickle juice, oranges with orange juice, tea with tea, and on and on! The local art trail looks fantastic - I want to go! My Jim and I love that kind of thing. Austin has a similar thing sponsored by Big Medium https://www.bigmedium.org/: Austin Studio Tours East https://www.bigmedium.org/east and Austin Studio Tours West. https://www.austintexas.org/austin-insider-blog/post/east-austin-studio-tour/
Oh wow wow wow - pickles painted with pickle juice! YESSSSSSS! 🥒
The challenge with painting with food stuffs is they can begin to smell after awhile . . .
I have always considered your altered-book art journal to be THE most perfect example of "artistic arty arting" but could not express it until you gave me the this perfect three-word description. I LOVE that little book, both for its format and its whimsical, nostalgic content. I don't know why it touches me so, but it makes my heart ache. I appreciate your clarification of what "struggling artist" means - yes, it has nothing to do with finances, but with finding ones "voice" in a visual way. Beautiful. It made me laugh that you posted "The Blank Page" on the same morning I posted "Woolgathering: Facing the Empty White Page". Exquisite photos, and especially liked the idea of small multiple squares of sketches. That appeals to me.
‘Artistic arty arting’ is the future of art, Sharron - and you’re so kind - thank you!
I’ve been looking forward to reading your Saturday posts - I’ve been out today (enjoying a local ‘Open Houses’ art trail) but I love how we have the same posting day and that I was going to get to read your latest this evening! I’m heading for my Substack inbox shortly - I’m intrigued!
Bravo!!!!! What a wonderful newsletter!!! Hooray!!!! I'm honored to have my own sketchbook work mentioned in your post. And I'm delighted to read that the Dare To Sketch book is helpful to your own arting!!!! Yippee!!!! I use the word "arting" too... during my breakfast sketchbook sessions I'm arting and eating as in my wife says "are you at a place in arting that you're ready for eating?" 🤣🤣 Hugs of solidarity with you my brave soul sister of the blank page!!! 💚💚💚💚💚💚
Awww Sue, thank you! And hurrah - great minds think alike - 'arting' is such a great word! It features frequently on my to-do lists, and always makes me giggle when it does! Hugs back atcha!
💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
Gorgeous views. Of course you needed to sketch. I enjoyed learning about all the choices of blank booklets. I love living vicariously thru your hand as I have an essential tremor and can barely print my name without running off the page.
I have a tremor, too, in my left drawing hand. There are a few ways I can draw a straight line, but only a few. The rest of my lines bob and weave depending on how my hand is living independently in the moment, detached from my brain.
I love your art so much, Mary - and I love it even more now! 😊
❤️ It's my secret weapon. I cherish it.
🙌
Any meds work? Not for me. No money put into research either. (In the US.) The excuse is that it's hereditary. My dad has it. Both his hands shake now. He's 90.
I haven't tried meds, talked to my nurse practitioner about the potential for Parkinson's, and she ruled that out but said there are neurological tests that can be done to rule out or confirm what the issue might be. It's funny, she asked if the tremor goes away when I drink alcohol (I don't drink!) and if the tremor *does* go away with alcohol, then it's not Parkinson's. My tremor has stabilized so I just deal with it, and it mostly comes out in my handwriting, drawing, or holding some objects in my left hand. I'm curious about it, more than anything, and watch it while thinking, "how can that be my hand?" No one else in my immediate family has this. It could be nerve damage, too, from working outdoors for 10 years with shovels, heavy digging (I was a garden designer). We'll see. Happy to make your acquaintance, btw. 😊
Nice to meet you too, Mary. I’m Carissa. I used to drink alcohol and my hand still shook. ET is sometimes misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s. Nerve damage makes sense esp since no one in your family has/had it.
I can’t give myself a manicure anymore. Hubby once did it for me. Hehe.
Thanks, Carissa! Oh gosh, that must present a challenge in so many ways, particularly when it comes to writing. I used to do most of my writing longhand, but recently I’ve been turning to my computer at an earlier stage of my process because I seem to have rather less time at the moment. Do you find typing to be a problem, or do you use dictation software? I’d be really interested to know! 😘
All my writing is done on the laptop. I can lean my wrists against the desk which helps stabilize but I do make oodles of letter-mistakes. Autocorrect helps-- sometimes. I miss longhand. If the shaking progresses I will try dictation. Hopefully it will stay as is or improve. I try to be optimistic. Docs think it's a vagus nerve issue. They offer some sort of focused ultrasound for super bad cases. One time I had a stomach ache and read that ingesting baking soda mixed in water could help. Well, it didn't help my stomach pain but for 10 minutes my hand was perfectly still! It stopped shaking! It was glorious. I videotaped it.
Oh wow, Carissa - that's an amazing discovery about the baking soda! Might you be on to something new in the medical field? Researchers need to be researching this stuff!
I asked my dad who also has ET and is a retired pathologist. He shrugged. Big pharma is lured by billions. No money, no research. Even a homeopathic company would need major funds to create a tincture. If someone like Jeff Bezos had ET there would be funding.
It’s a money ‘game’ - not that that’s the right word! - for sure. 😕
This is such a lovely read, Rebecca and one of those topic that will never stop talking about. I’m familiar with some of the people you have mentioned but it’s always nice to discover new artist and resources, thanks for sharing 🌷
I agree with you that a small sketchbook can really help kickstart a new notebook or sketchbook, that’s the size that helps me stay consistent. But I also find that starting a challenge whether it’s just a couple of days or for a month can really help break away from the fear of the blank page. I’ve been doing a personal flower challenge this month and about to share a 5-day flower challenge here. For one of the reasons of inspiring others to just doddle away without fear.
The photo of you with the sketchbook is beautiful and I love the background! Ans I have to ask, is that your van?
Thank you so much, Susan! And thank you too for the reminder about your challenge - I'm looking forward to participating! I'm hoping it'll clear away some of those 'fearful cobwebs' of mine.... 😊
I've passed your feedback on to Jim about his snap of me with the sketchbook, how lovely. And yes, that's our van - we love it! It's a VW T5 Transporter. Jim bought it with his work in mind, and that turned out to be just a few days before the country locked down in March 2020. 'Oh great!' we thought, with heavy irony. 'We can't even GO anywhere in it!'
However, in the last four years we have been all over the country in it (not all in one go: lots of separate, short trips) to all sorts of locations for work, and it's absolutely wonderful. 😊
Great to hear it, Rebecca! Let’s put those fearful cobwebs away foe now ☺️I have to remind myself it’s a creative gathering and let’s just have fun, instead of making something perfect.
And yes, Jim needs to know we appreciate his efforts and the van looks awesome 🤩 so great to hear you’ve been enjoying the van life. We also go away just about every weekend but I asked if we could start home because I was a bit tired from the last long weekend of travelling in France and Germany. So spoiled, I know!!!
Yes!
And it’s true that ‘home’ time is just as important as ‘away’ time - it’s lovely to appreciate both! 😊
Why is it plugged into something? Is that for heating, lighting and cooking? Or is it attached to one of those old-fashioned remote control things that children used to use to make toy cars move?
🤣
We like to book pitches with EHU (electric hook-up), which means when we plug in our big orange cable to the electricity point it provides power to the leisure battery, which in turn powers the van’s ‘habitation’ side of things - so, the fridge, the lights, the plug sockets, the heater. All of things work when the cable ISN’T plugged in…. but only until the leisure battery runs out of juice. If we’re travelling from site to site and we end up on one with no EHU, well, that’s fine - but for the next night we’ll try for somewhere WITH EHU, as for longer than two nights without mains power the battery is flagging. We cook with gas, not electricity - but when we’ve got hook-up we use an electric kettle instead of using the hob kettle in order to save time.
Thanks for the explanation. I thought it was something like that
These pics at the end are unworldly! You're so lucky to have Cornwall (and other parts of England) so accessible i.e. without a trans Atlantic flight involved! Everything you say here (as I know you will know) can also be applied to the writing process, even down to the thrill of finding just the right pen, a new notebook etc. It can be intimidating though, so I love the way you break it down and "de-fang" the fear aspect.
Please keep on keeping on - it really is important. P.S. I LOVE those button sketches!
Thanks so much, Sue!
Cornwall is extraordinary - it seems to always take days to get there (okay, it doesn’t - but it’s certainly an all-day drive from where we live in the far south-eastern corner of the country), but once you’re there, well, it’s wonderful!
I loved drawing those buttons - in fact, they were the starting point for my very first Art & Treasures post! https://rebeccaholden.substack.com/p/45-the-button-tin
Garrrgh I adore your art. More please 😊😊😊
🤣 at your ‘Garrrgh’ - I need to adopt that word and use it for everything! And thank you so much - you’re very kind. 😘
Thanks for mentioning my post about Tammy’s Index-Card-a-Day Challenge. I think that “seconds” shelf is intriguing. Love seeing the work you did filling the grids, too. I hope you always scratch the itch to draw. And this: “I have a long-standing desire to be able to capture a moment; to have the confidence to whip out a sketchbook from my back pocket, throw caution to the wind and just draw.” — What is there to lose? I hope you draw for you.
Awwww, thanks, Amy!
I’m kind of regretting not taking a picture of the beautifully-displayed gorgeous sketchbooks that weren’t in the ‘Seconds’ area - I have done Seawhite of Brighton a huge disservice! 🫣
Heck, I’m gonna do it. Just draw, I mean. Thank you for the encouragement! 😘
Love those tiny sketches. You are mighty talented, Rebecca!
And you’re mighty kind, Punit! Thank you!
I loved this post so much Rebecca. You are so talented. WOW! Please feel free to sketch on our write togethers as well. :) Or maybe you already do? I loev the quote at the end...beautiful. xox
Thank you, Julie! 😊 And LOL - yes, sometimes I do draw during the Write Together!
YAY!
Another wonderful post. Reading it while still in bed on a chilly Monday morning. Love your art, love your recommendations, love the commenters. We keep on learning more about each other. Mary and Clarissa with their tremors!! How lucky I am to be as well as I am. And yes, I’m still doing my little daily art pieces and sharing them with my sister by text each evening - a great way to include a little Me Time in both our days. Sending heaps of hugs and best wishes. 🤗🤗😘😘💕💕
You’re so kind, Beth - thank you!
It’s chilly here, too - we had a few warm days last week, but today (arguably ‘early summer’ over here, but pffffffffff 🙄) is chilly, grey and WET.
I love how you and your sister have a mutual art practice - that’s so rewarding! 🖌️
Any artistic talent I once had is now so untended that I can barely find it among the weeds and overgrowth. That said, my mother took a painting class for the first time in her late 80s, so I suppose it's never too late! Having a look at your process, at Amy's, Mary's, Sue's, Melanie's -- it's all quite captivating. I am tucking it away for someday, and delighting in the experience of others' work. I don't care on which surface you make it happen. Just please don't stop!
Oh, how lovely, Elizabeth - and you're right, it’s never too late! I love the weeds and overgrowth analogy - because even in my garden, where out the back it’s both very weedy and overgrown, I can reassure myself that that doesn’t have to be a permanent state of affairs!
Thank you so much for your encouragement! 😘
Thank you for yours!
😊
I applaud your ongoing endeavors in arting and agree that the materials used can affect the level of pressure. I feel intimidated by a beautiful, pristine sketchbook or journal. The work that goes in has to be _worthy_ of those pages somehow! To truly be free to be creative, I love my beat-up notebooks and sketch pads with tear-out pages. Some of my favorite paintings were done on cheap canvas boards cut into pieces for "practice"!
I hear you, Jacquie - the intimidation is real! And art made on the scrappiest of surfaces always turns out the best - I need to remind myself of that every time I pick up a pencil or a brush!
Beat-up notebooks are awesome. I hate starting a new notebook, and love it when the pages of my current volume have become crinkly and dog-eared and feel nice. New books are sterile, somehow!