Author: still a dreamer

Jump-starting Creativity after the Holidays-Equine Sketch

/ still a dreamer

penink-colt2The holidays take up a lot of time one way or another, and it’s easy to lose our creative drive as holiday demands drive us in 15 different directions.  Speaking for myself, I need to get back into my drawing and was looking for a way to jump-start my drawing efforts again.  I’m quite sure a variation of this will work just fine with writing as well.

I wanted to make it fun, something I wanted to do, AND relatively painless. So I gave myself a challenge. I gathered up all my calendars from 2008 and a couple for 2009 I’d been mailed as fundraisers and stacked them on my drawing desk. My challenge is to draw one animal – yes, all my calendars are animals – every day AT my drawing desk. That’s an important part.

My drawing desk is in the room with all my art supplies, so if I’m feeling I might not do justice to a wolf in pen and ink, I can always grab my pastels. That’s the obvious. The secondary gain is that once I’m at my drawing desk, where my other current projects lie, it makes it much easier for me to park my butt there and settle into some of the more time-consuming projects I have to do.

I’m no stranger to procrastination, so while I may be wanting to pace the room awhile before settling down to work on some serious illustrations, or finding the opportune time to clear out and dust an entire bookcase shelf by shelf, I’ll already be sitting there in work mode. Tricky, eh?

That’s my plan anyway. Maybe it’ll work for you, too! My own challenge is on, and here’s my first sketch.

New Year’s Resolutions – Wranglers of Dreams

/ still a dreamer

starsinsky

“Shoot for the moon.  Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”  ~Les Brown

It’s New Year’s Day – the day that folks sit down and make resolutions to do or not do the things that will help them be better/do better in the New Year – or at least that’s what the deal is always set out to be. And then ensues the guilt, disappointment and shame of either we or others failing to live up to our New Year’s Resolutions. A real Catch-22.

But what are New Year’s Resolutions, anyway? Sitting down today to do some writing on my children’s books and hopefully, some dummying of one of my stories, I looked at my own thoughts as I approach the New Year. I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions.  It’s already pretty clear where I want to go and what I need to get there; however, making that list can be a real double-edged sword. I’ve chosen not to make it. Here’s why.

New Year’s Resolutions are nothing more than the wranglers of our dreams. They are akin to rounding up those wild and wide-ranging dreams from starry skies and corralling them into a pen where we can number and categorize them. And tame them. The beauty of our dreams lies in their freedom. The beauty IS in who we are and who we can be.

Why not join our starry dreams in the sky and envision ourselves already there? Why not envision ourselves published with children excitedly reading our books rather than making dull lists about what we have to do to get there? The details will take care of themselves. It’s the vision that counts.  Open the paddock gate and let the dreams fly free, far, far away from encumbering lists.

Know that the vision and dreams live within your own heart; that’s where each New Year lies.

The Dollar Christmas Plate

/ still a dreamer

christmasplateHow does one know the Christmas season has begun? Ignoring the fact that the onslaught of marketing for the holidays has now begun shortly after Halloween to make commercialism at an all time high of 7-8 weeks,  what happens in your home that says Christmas will soon be coming?

For me, it’s the bringing forth of two different Christmas dishes – my humble, dollar store plates and my bright red, green and white decorated, coffee mugs.  I’ll admit that perhaps why they are the first manifestation of Christmas is that they are conveniently at hand, as are all my dishes, right there in a kitchen cabinet. But there’s something about putting away my winter mugs and replacing them them with the festive red ones, and putting away my stoneware plates in a lower cabinet, their upper spot now taken with these simple china plates, that gets hopes and dreams to stirring.

No doubt the dollar store plates were made in China, too, (the mugs were made in Germany), so as befits this time of celebration, each year I bless those who made and painted them and thank them for this small joy that marks the beginning of the season for me.

Christmas changes as we grow older … once it was the excitement of opening presents under the tree in the morning; later, coming home from college and seeing family and old friends; then through relationships, perhaps children, and so it goes. Each year becoming a little bit different, offering some slightly different gift. Christmas steadily brings the exchange of warm wishes of family and friends, some who we barely have time to keep up with during the year. Cards are still sent and received, and though sometimes in too much of a rush, we get them out and delight at the treasure in our mailboxes.

Among our gifts may be something thoughtful from someone unexpected, new friends, the comfort and love of old ones, new music that fits us just right, the book that we need to read exactly at this moment in time, a candle scent carrying us back over time … riches, all.  The care, preparation, hopes and dreams of each of our Christmas or holiday seasons always begins with one simple thing … something as simple as a dollar Christmas plate.

Asleep at the Switch

/ still a dreamer

“We are most deeply asleep at the switch when we fancy we control any switches at all.” – Annie Dillard

emergencyswitchIt was my thought to delve into one of my favorite books, “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy” by Sarah Ban Breathnacht, for the month of December. But when I picked up the book and put the placemarker ribbon to the top, the book fell open to November 30th – a sure sign that this is what I was supposed to read. And the quote above was at the top of the day’s reading.

Of course, this was what I was meant to read. We all come through periods when it seems everything goes right – things get done with minimal effort; the results we desire are achieved; and all is well. We feel in control. And then comes a rough patch – a car accident; the furnace isn’t working; the oven dies; the furnace is fixed but the emergency switch is faulty and won’t turn the furnace off if there IS an emergency; the new stove fumes are so toxic they cause a severe allergic reaction; and on and on and on. It seems nothing is in our control.

But there is one thing we can control – our thoughts and our reactions. We will never be in control of all the things that happen around us; that’s just life. Believing we’re in control during the smooth patches becomes an illusion that is easily shattered when life deals out a whole bunch of crap. Learning to be in the moment and accept the things that happen and move through them without fear is a lesson we all can learn and/or practice. And why the book fell open to this page for me.

The switch at the head of the stairs is now fixed. I feel safer, but understand that the switch is no guarantee. It’s an interesting place to be.

Animal Artists and Authors Join for A Cause

/ still a dreamer

Do your gifts tend to have an animal theme? Then stop by and do some holiday shopping and support a great cause! Eight animal artists and authors, including myself, Jeanne Balsam, are participating in Paw Prints – an art and book sale fundraiser to help Animeals.  20% of all our sales will benefit this charity who delivers pet food, supplies, etc. to the homebound, indigent and handicapped, a kind of Meals-on-Wheels for pets. 

The following artists and authors will be participating:

Doris Ettlinger, children’s book illustrator
Andrea Gianchiglia, pet portrait artist
Mark Mueller, wildlife artist
Jerilyn Weber, Equine and pet portrait artist
JoAnn Dahan, dog trainer and author, Kids Training Puppies
Loren Spiotta-DiMare.  author, pet-reference books for adults and picture books for children
Diana Tuorto, Horse Columnist, Today in Hunterdon.  Author, middle-grade horse books for children,
and of course, yours truly, artist, author, and illustrator.

Date: Saturday, Nov. 8th

Time: 1:30 pm – 4 pm

Location: Clinton Community Center, 63 Halstead Street, (next to the Public Library) Clinton, NJ

I will be there with animal themed Christmas cards, blank note cards, prints, etc. Check out some more artists’ and authors’ offerings on the PAW PRINTS flyer.

Hope to see you there!