My Heart is Full

Keep on trucking

Today I took myself out to the coffee shop and picked out a book
that I had really been wanting to read. I took the book to my table
and started thumbing through it while sipping my americano.

Suddenly I put the book down because I had a strong urge to doodle!

I did the bottom two pieces at the coffee shop. The continuous doodle
was really fun...I turned the paper and did not pause to think about
a design or to second guess myself. When I got home I took a photo
of a beautiful flower in the backyard and layered it over the doodle for
a softer look!

The top two doodles were from last night, with a little additional color
added this morning.

I am learning that it is easy to make art a part of my day and I
do not need to wait for the best supplies or the most spectacular
idea before beginning.

I remain,

** wanting to get outside in the beautiful break from rain and exercise my legs
** listening to the Proclaimers
** feeling rundown from posting almost every day
** having moments of wanting to quit the art challenge
** thinking of The War of Art and creating through the resistance

Loving what is...

** Mozart playing on the computer
** the hum of the dryer
** a pile of clothes on the couch waiting to be folded
** lukewarm coffee leftovers from an afternoon outing with a friend
** wearing a red jacket with my light green shirt...in the holiday spirit!
** looking through magazines for interesting shapes to incorporate into doodles
** warm comments on blog posts: giving and receiving
** dogs stretched out on the floor...relaxed and ready to play at a moments notice
** cat stretched out in front of the fireplace...enjoying the warmth

Regular and holiday

I did not have a vision for this doodle.

However...
as I began it I was thinking of my childhood
and remembering an art project at church where
we closed out eyes and drew a doodle for a period of 10 seconds (no peeking!)
and then colored in the design.
It was always interesting to see
if I would have simple designs or a complex mess of lines.
I did this entire design with my eyes wide open!

I like the black and white version but I wanted to do a holiday version.
I like the red and green accents and now I want to dip a candy cane in hot chocolate!

some days are like that

This is a self-portrait.
Today I felt like I was talked at A LOT.
I was told stories I had no interest in and asked questions I thought were pointless.
I know it was a choice to stay and listen and not assertively say "I need to be where other people are not".

I have found I am quite sensitive to noise and I like to have a lot of control over my environment.

I started a different art project tonight but as I was sitting and listening to classical music,
this drawing was begging to come out!
The bottom drawing is a slightly sweeter self portrait.
It shows me shutting down outside influences by closing my eyes and covering my ears.
In a few minutes I will refill my water and settle into a comfy chair to watch The Middle
and after a few laughs I will feel less crabby.
Or maybe I won't.
Some days are like that....even in Australia!

words to live by

This afternoon I went to the thrift store on a whim to see if I could find any treasures.
I did find a good pair of jeans and I hooded sweatshirt that will be perfect for staying warm around the house.
The thrift store uses cute, curvy price tags and I always think I should reuse them.
While I was watching Dancing With the Stars tonight I decided to write affirmative words on the tags.
I decided on create right away partly because it is the theme for AEDM and also because it is a way I want to live.
I chose embrace both because I like hugs and because it is a good reminder to let go of judgments and love people and things as they are.
I was wondering how to photograph these simple tags and realized I had the perfect frames in front of the fireplace!
These statues seem to represent the words perfectly to me.

Happiness is...

** preparing letters for the mail

A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil;
but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and
small, silly presents every so often -
to save it from drying out completely.
~Pam Brown

it is enough

I had intentions of making some seriously awesome art today, but in the end what I felt like doing was doodling a circle. I sat at the bar in the kitchen and with John Mayer on the playlist and an ice cold cherry coke at my side I drew lines and filled them in and let thoughts of elaborate art leave my mind. I knew my choice today was to complete something simple or do nothing at all. If I had not done something I would have probably been in a funk tonight and eaten mint M&Ms with popcorn (the salty and sweet is delish) to soothe myself!

I posted this piece to Flickr in black and white but wanted to dress it up for my blog. I love playing in Picnik!

This is what 35 looks like

Today I turned 35.
I took myself out for brunch at one of my favorite coffee shops and after eating wrote out a list of things I appreciate about myself.
I came up with 36 things in a period of about 30 minutes.
As I was writing it was interesting to realize that some of the things have been a part of me for most of my life and some things have only recently become a part of my life.
I noticed it is easy to think of things that I want to change about myself and I do it without even concentrating, but taking time to think of things I like about myself takes effort.
I can honestly say it is worth the effort!

I am easy to love

I wanted to experiment with using my non-dominant hand for doodling, so as I sat on the couch watching a Lifetime movie I put my left hand to work and this is what resulted. I also used my left hand for the coloring...I was going to give myself a break because I thought the markers might leak and then "ruin" my doodle because my left hand does not color as quickly as my right. However, I am happy with the way it turned out and I only see a couple smudges!