Are You Resigned To A Life Of Quiet Desperation?

The Journey Within & Forever - Collage

I noticed for the first time today how much longer the days are becoming. The icy grip of Winter is moving behind us. Spring is teasing us...a little sunshine here, a little hint of a warm breeze there.  And I am grabbing all of it with both hands delighted with the change.

And change and the Seasons shape who we are and the life we live. A quote I often reflect upon is from Henry David Thoreau's Walden. It reads in part: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." I firmly believe it is true. Being a "grown-up", accepting responsibilities and the life it brings has a seductive way of siphoning any spontaneity and creativity we may have dragged kicking and screaming into our present. 

But there is an escape. Every time we remind ourselves to constantly look at things differently we rekindle the flame of creativity that dwells within us all. As Artists, it is our stock in trade. 

Travel is the genesis of my creativity. It allows me to break free and fulfill the dreams I dream. It is physical travel, or seeing another point of view through a film, or reading about an adventure. Travel opens the door to my bliss. It has, and will continue, to make me who I am. It is the nourishment my Art craves.

The substrate for the collage is a canvas panel. Art paper, magazine paper, handmade paper are woven together and finished with a French stamp.

Are you resigned to a life of quiet desperation? Are you willing to challenge your conventional way of thinking to live a life of great success and great failure? Are you willing to follow your soul, your Muse, to the place that reaffirms your unique and flawless self? I wish you a life fully lived.

Sunflowers...Sunshine in an envelope

Seven Sunflowers

I love sunflowers. I love to plant the seeds and see them grow. I love to drive past fields filled with their golden yellow brilliance. I love the way their heads follow the sun. I love to collect pictures and photos of sunflowers. Vincent van Gogh's Sunflower series has always been an inspiration to me.

But most of all I love to draw sunflowers.

It's been a while since I've sat down to do any drawing. When I was a commercial screen printer, I drew every day. I drew anything from a customer's product to a cat for my mail order catalogue. It was production of the highest degree.

Of course, before those years there was Art School at the York Academy of Arts. Drawing was our foundation. Your work was only as good as the drawing beneath it...whether the finished piece be a painting, a sculpture, a print. This now applies to digital work. A lack of drawing skills is amplified a hundred fold in the digital realm.

And before that I drew because I loved it.

So in a sense, The Doodle Swap Project has brought me full circle.

The Project is similar to trading ATC's but the main focus is doodling/drawing/illustration. The size requirement is the same as an ATC. After registration and the cards are complete, you send them off to the list of names and addresses provided. Mine are ready to go to Alabama, Maryland, Utah, Massachusetts, Washington, and Pennsylvania.

The substrate is a standard ATC card. I used a Ranger's Inkssentials manila card. I drew in pencil. I then used chalk pastels to colour the drawing. The center of the sunflower is Tim Holtz Distress Ink stamped with a piece of fibrefill I found.

As I have had years of production work under my belt, I did each card at the same time...building up the drawings on each card, layer by layer.

I am looking forward to getting my Sunflowers in the mail. I am also looking forward to receiving art in the mail.

Thanks again, Doodle Swap Project. You reminded me how much I really love to draw.