35 years between paintings - oh my!

Sitting at the coffee house early this morning as the sun is rising and a golden orange melon hue is on the east horizon, I look back at this past week and think about how I have fit in my drawing and sketching and realize it is starting - just starting slowly - to fit in a little better to my hectic life style.
On Friday, I actually was able to take a larger block of time and I did a painting sketch of fruit (http://www.flickr.com/photos/katjulin/6526570789/in/photostream). It was in the evening after a long work day, but I felt driven (with some goals that I set for myself that week and would have been disappointed in myself not to accomplish). The painting that I made was of two pears and an embroidered white linen napkin on an oak table (there an odd feeling the next day as I ate one of the pears for a snack, after spending so much time looking at it, turning it, positioning it as an actor in a still life, drawing it, and painting it in color). I had not painted with acrylics for over 35 years, I realized on Saturday. (It's really never too late to start again .) Way toooo long to not do something that gives me a feeling of wonder and joy. I gave the painting to Lyna for her birthday.

Why do we do that? Wait so long to do something, because we do not have time? Or because we think we are not able to do it well, so we can't start until we have more time to practice? It comes down to priorities for our time and that we really do have control of our time. We can plan to fit some things in by taking the time (planning time for it is the key with busy schedules). This week, for the first time since the 1970s, I finally feel the need inside to continue each week, each day with my passion - drawing life, sharing what I see with others through expressing it visually. Once you start, it does become a habit, a ritual that feels right to do as a part of your life.

Also, fitting in something that I rarely do but enjoy, was to go see a movie on the big screen yesterday. Hugo, by Martin Scorsese. It was meaningful with a lot of points to think about woven through the themes in the movie - family, orphans, the feeling of being alone or lonely, hope, danger, magic, adventures, dreams, dreaming while awake, courage, destiny and more. The one that stood out was fixing things, making things work even if it wasn't as we planned or perfect, and perseverence towards our goal (stories are never over, but continue on).

Tuesday eve musings

As I work online at the local coffee house on Main Street, I thought I would take a break to put an entry on my sketching blog. This weekend I was able to fit in several sketches and it felt good and I actually wanted to keep on sketching but needed to move on to other commitments.

I decided to take some time to do an ink sketch of Main Street and even though I have drawn some similar views, I never get tired of drawing the street scene again (http://www.flickr.com/photos/katjulin/6459980939/in/photostream ).

As a real time sketch and not from a photo, it made me look closer at what was going on over time. People came and went, cars did the same as they parked in my view and then moved on. Sketching in real time makes one realize several things - how there are many things that come together that form a scene or experience and how quickly they can disappear. The buildings, though, remain as a setting for more experiences to happen at different times of the day, each with its own specialness and uniqueness to the individual "actors" in it.