slow blog // January 2016

This is the start of it, the year of slow blogging! I went to Michael's, at the mall, and bought myself a sketch book. I used to use a sketch book in design school all the time, but I hadn't had the money in a while to get myself one. It wasn't a priority. But then I decided to change up how I blog, so it was necessary. 

I went with the cheaper one available. The least-fancy paper. I mean, I want something semi-fancy (not just a Hilroy spiral-bound notebook for three bucks at Walmart) but not so fancy that I feel like I must be precious with what goes onto the page. 

So mid-January, I began! You can click on the photos of the pages to see them bigger, to read what I wrote.

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I drew this yellow metal flower that my friend Mel gave me once, long ago, for a birthday.

I realized that the Sharpie bleeds through the page. 

I tried one page in pencil. But then realized that I really prefer the Sharpie. (I use an Ultra Fine Point.)

I really love the work of Lisa Congdon (as well as her story, and her thoughts) so I signed up for a little online class where she teaches drawing. I've been thinking about illustration a lot lately, and wanting to do it more. This next page below is a continuation of the one above, in thoughts.

The next day I drew again from the little online class:

Then a few days later, at breakfast, I sketched my table, and wrote a bit:

When I finished the book "My Fight/Your Fight" by Ronda Rousey, I photocopied some of the photos I loved the most, and wrote out a few quotes. After my time last year learning how to lift weights, and being at the gym (a habit which is on hiatus at the moment, I think I burnt out a bit on it), reading Ronda's story of all her training and time dedicated to her goals was like, Wow. Intense. 

Lately I've been thinking a lot about intuition. About my gut twinges. About trusting them even when my intellect or my physical body or my ego may say an opposite message. Where do these messages come from? How do I know it's right? I don't know, I just know. This little picture came to me and I had to draw it out:

The organization I work for in my day job, Horizon Achievement Centre, is partnering with the Ashby Legion right now for a Chase the Ace. It's gotten big, and it's taking up lots of time. And I'm not even one of the staff who is heavily involved! 

I finished out the month with a quote from a book I'm reading about light (on Instagram I've got a hashtag project going called #leahloveslight). And, some thoughts on community and how I've been thinking I might have something to say on this topic, even if I'm not sure what it is yet. 

Looking back through the month, I realized that while I had good intentions, I totally didn't keep up with that little online class. That's OK. I just have to remember to cancel my membership to CreativeBug before they charge my credit card... it's only a few dollars, but it's a few dollars I don't have to spare at the moment. 

I'm excited about this documentation method, this writing method. That's a good sign! I like how when I'm writing in it, I don't have to be anywhere near a computer. It's just me and the page. But I still get to share my thoughts online, with you, and have current (ish) content. 

Let me know what you think of this method of blogging! I'd love to hear your thoughts.