Creativity redefined

So what happened? I gave myself the goal of making a blog entry once a month. This seemed like an achievable goal, and I still believe it is, but somehow it’s now May and I missed two months of entries.

I could feel bad about this, but honestly, it’s been a rough time for art-making. Well, not really for art making, but for self-care, to be sure! I’m now about 7 months pregnant with my second child, in a pandemic, doing toddler care full-time. By the time I put my son to bed, I am exhausted, and the most I can seem to muster as far as willpower is either getting myself fed early enough to watch a show on tv before bed, or to get myself to bed period so I can start it all over again the next day. This is NOT EASY. So, I’m going to give myself a break. Where’s the art? It’s in the doodles I make with my son on his easel. It’s in the cooking we attempt every morning at breakfast. It’s in the stories I tell him about giant purple octopi. I’d like to think my creative skills have just been transferred to a different realm for a time, and that soon enough I’ll be wondering where the years went as I can again spend some time making art. Yes yes, I could do a better job of fitting a sketch in here and there, but there are SO many things I want to fit in “here and there” that sometimes you just can’t do it all. And that’s okay. Can you tell I’m trying to convince myself?

I do have a couple of fun photos to share with you. A few months back I decided it would be fun to make my own birthday presents for a few toddler friends of mine. I used cardboard to draw on with sharpie, and came up with some fun animals. I really enjoyed drawing on the cardboard and how the results felt whimsical and not too precious. Maybe someday I’ll start a line of cardboard animals! On the left is a Bush Baby, and on the right, a Boreal Owl (although it might be a Hawk Owl, I forget!)

One more note: I currently have two pieces of art displayed in the virtual exhibit of “The Art of Nature,” at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. You can view them by clicking here. I will also be participating in their “Maker’s Market” on June 19th from 11 am-3 pm. Come visit all the artists and stop by my table for cards, prints, and original artwork! Hope to see you there. For details about the market, click here.

As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you have a little more time for art-making in your life!