The Ache of Advent

Here it is...that ache so familiar...a longing for something other, right here at the beginning of December. It comes to me in the early hours just as the sky outside my studio window begins to glow. It comes as I pull out decorations, some as old as my husband and I have been married, 34 … Continue reading The Ache of Advent

Endings & Beginnings

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. How some things end and other things begin. How an ending here makes way for a beginning there. Like how my sketchbooks, whose filled final pages give way to a fresh new book in which to pour lines and colors over the coming days and weeks. Like … Continue reading Endings & Beginnings

Christmas in the Spinning House

'Tis Christmas in the Spinning House the best time of the year... The bins are filled with fleeces and the workers full of cheer! *** They spin from dawn to dusk as shorter days it be Then 'round a roaring fire books and cocoa at their knees. *** On Christmas Eve they beg her to … Continue reading Christmas in the Spinning House

If I Could Be A Tree

If I could be a tree I would a willow be To wave at all I see And shelter those with me. *** Or perhaps I’d be an oak To dangle tire and rope. In kid-laughter I’d soak And wear an autumn cloak. *** But oh a birch to be In ruffled finery Graceful limbs … Continue reading If I Could Be A Tree

Drawings Beget Drawings

Perhaps it’s a law of Physics...but it is a reality I’ve noticed time and time again, that when you set your pen to paper and make a drawing, three others are begging to be drawn! You draw the tree and in doing so you notice daffodils are blooming a full month early! And one must, … Continue reading Drawings Beget Drawings

The Space Between

There is a delicious space between one’s head and the page. Sometimes I am not so aware of it as I begin to draw. But several drawings of late have me pondering this place where connections are made, lines speak like words, life informs lines, and vice versa. Certainly no one would see this expansive … Continue reading The Space Between

Discoveries

It is likely something I’ve known all along, but there are times when I am hit with a realization that feels new, like a discovery I haven’t ever uncovered before. This week’s daily drawings of trees gave fresh insight into the differences between drawing from life ( or even from a photo I’ve taken) and … Continue reading Discoveries

Focus

It is a truth, which I’ve experienced numerous times, that when help is needed, help is offered. This happens in a variety of ways, on so many levels in both my personal life and my creative life, which I see more and more are intricately entwined and cannot be separated from one another. For months … Continue reading Focus

New Year Eyes

”There are eyes in pencils and pens.” This quote by John Piper, found in a book I’m re-reading for the umpteenth time, echoes down a long hallway of years of drawing and writing. I know this to be true...how I see so much better when I’m wearing my pens. A bic pen for writing daily … Continue reading New Year Eyes

Attention

In the middle of November I started to draw what was happening in my head. Well, it wasn’t only in my head. Some of the ideas that flutter around in my head come through my hands, or at least get started to see if they want to be fully birthed. Not all of the ideas … Continue reading Attention