It's a Dog's Life

Here is my Cleo, in here usual spot on the sofa (we tried to keep her off it, but eventually just gave up... she is nothing if not persistent). I've been drawing with pencil lately... I tried to do an ink sketch of her but it didn't work that well. I'll try again when I've gotten into the habit of drawing regularly.

Life has been incredibly busy this week. My son, who is graduating from high school (I feel so old all of the sudden), had his prom on Tuesday. There was a bit of running around for that, and work has suddenly gotten so busy it's impossible to keep ahead of the deadlines. I haven't set foot into my studio since last Sunday... and that depresses me. I committed to everyday creativity a couple years ago, as a way to give me something that is uniquely my own. I've been able to stick to it all this time, yet the last week I've felt my motivation drop to an all time low (well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, seeing as I did spend a few years not even picking up a pencil... I'm not that bad yet).

100 Happy Days project... I'm on week 4. I've been posting mainly
on Instagram and Twitter. If you're interested, you can follow along there.

Could be I'm just tired.... apart from the actual creating, there is all the stuff that goes along with it. First comes finding a place to put the finished pieces. When I started, my walls were empty. Easy. Now... well, every wall is full (some more than what is visually pleasing), I have stacks of canvases in every closet, a few hanging in galleries, and even some at a local business that had some empty wall space. Then I have to do the business part... updating my inventory lists and portfolio, contacting galleries, applying for shows, entering competitions. Social media... just try not to get sucked in. Not as easy as you might think. Soooooo much beautiful work out there. And then there is that albatross that is my website, that I just can't seem to get to (I'm considering just hiring someone. I can't afford it, but at the rate i'm going, it will never get done). AND... apparently, I really do have to get out to social events! It's good for networking, I need to support my friends, and it's probably good for my mental health to talk to someone who is involved with something other than packaging or high school. I feel like a big whiner right now... but sometimes it just feels a little overwheming. All I want to do is sit down with a drink and a book.

My compromise has been to do just that... with my sketchbook. I'm still kind of at a loss as to what to put in it, but as I like to draw, I figured as long as I'm drawing something, it's all good. As my fur-baby always seems to be within my visual line of sight, she was a good place to start. No, I didn't do all of these in the past week... it's been a few weeks, and the first few I did were so bad I can't bring myself to share. I shall call them "exploratory" drawings. I'd like to explore some drawing of her in movement, but in all honesty that is unlikely to happen... it didn't take much for her to realize that if I sat with the book we were going to be there for a bit, and she makes herself comfortable. As you can see.

The advantage of working in book form is that I don't have to find a place to put it. A spot on a shelf is all I need. Maybe focusing on that for a bit will refresh me while I finish up the stack of half-finished canvases taking up space in my studio. And it will give new ideas a chance to percolate.