Let's go way back into the halls of a Junior High School in the wilds of Wyoming. I took one art class in seventh, or maybe it was eighth grade. One, yes just one. I honestly can't tell you why I didn't do more as I went into High School, but I didn't, High School is where I fell in love with photography, a story for another day. I doodled on the side always but found other ways to express my creativity and left drawing behind.
Fast forward to somewhere around two years ago, I picked up
this book about zentangling. I pulled out a sketch pad and dug out a few nice pens from my art stash, along with a fountain pen from Hubby's stash. While I did do quite a bit of doodling and playing, but never really caught the zentangle fever. The book ended up on a shelf in my studio. I was never going to be a zentangle guru. It did, however, inspire me to start drawing again.
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| Playing with pattern ideas |
The spark really began to glow when I created the "P" that I've used as a logo in some of my other ventures. I drew a few things here and there, mostly pen and ink and mostly to pass time in front of the TV. I drew a few monograms and some pieces for some special people in my life. In spite of the fire I felt was starting, I still kept it under cover not wanting to put myself out there too far.
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| The "P" |
Jump to this last winter when I was listening to an episode of
Adventures in Arting, I learned about something called
InkTober. Of course, I learned about it after the month of October was over, but it's been rolling around in my brain ever since. If you don't know what
InkTober is, it's a drawing challenge where you create an ink drawing every day for the month of October. Pretty simple and straightforward, with no specifics beyond pen and ink.
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| The Paper Air Plane |
With this desire to try
InkTober this year, over the past month, maybe the month and a half, I've picked my pens back up and am getting myself back into the swing of drawing. I've been using the hashtag #justdrawdontjudge. Just Draw Don't Judge is a serious reminder for me, to shut the internal critic up. I have a talent, one that's all my own, and I want to use it. To share it with the world and tie it into my everyday life.
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| Work in progress |
In sharing my creations over the past few weeks, I've been working more and more on opening myself up to sharing my creativity and art with others. So much more rewarding than locking it up and holding it as my best-kept secret. Dragging my drawing around with me is so much easier than packing any of my other creative projects around with me. I have a pen and a small notebook in my bag all the time and I can always make a plan to take a sketchbook and pens with me whenever we take a gaunt somewhere.
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| Sketching in the woods this Summer. |
I splurged a couple of weeks ago and bought a few art supplies, including some watercolor postcards. Love them! You can find them
here. When the package came in the mail I couldn't wait to get home and play. Work first, then play...sigh.
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| My new supplies |
Once I got to rip open my new pack of watercolor postcards I knew I had to add my favorite color medium distress inks, and I set about creating my first postcard. Hand-lettering, inks, stamping, and embossing. Good, now stretch my wings.
The second creation, all pen, and ink with distress ink background. Love. The beauty of creating these postcards is the ability to set them free almost immediately. Both of these beauties have gone on to their new homes.
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| The "B" |
I really feel like I'm finding myself with each brave step I take toward living as an artist. Yes, I said living as an artist, and those are big words for me. I'm finding there are people in my life who've seen this part of me all along and support all that I am doing and the person I am embracing and growing into with my artwork. Embracing my creativity is really helping me walk my own path, rather than struggling in a world that stifles me.
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