Time has been freed up in my life, totally unexpectedly. If and when this happens, it takes me a while to settle down, to relax and to enjoy it. I have also found that I have been starting to wake at the crack of dawn (and I do consider anything between 5 and 6 am to be the crack....) and madly rushing to get things accomplished. I have been taking part in some long put off cleaning and organizing and sorting and purging. One day last week I was vacuuming my bedroom at 5:50 am....who does that?? Apparently I do, but I really think it was a one time experience. Really.

I am trying to get a grip on my situation and understand what is going on in my subconscious. I think....and this is sheer speculation on my part...that I need to tidy up what has been a very busy life for the last 20 plus years before I can feel free enough to settle down and spend my time creating. I need to sort through the bits and pieces that have gathered and decide what I need to keep and what can be passed along to someone else for their use. As you can imagine, my husband is thrilled and is cheering and smiling with each bag or box that heads out the door. (I expect to see him out measuring the foundation soon to see if the house has risen up any with the weight that has already been removed!) I got a huge hug for deciding to give up the winter coat I wore when we were first married and living in Goose Bay, Labrador. That would be 26 or so years ago, so you see I do tend to keep useful things, until perhaps they are no longer useful. Then I need help breaking the bond I have created and letting them go. 

As I pack up more things, I feel a weight lifting from my shoulders and a freshness to the space we occupy. I have a lot of reasons to downsize and this seems to be as good a time as any to start the process with vigour. And taking breaks here and there to spend a few minutes doing something fun and creative seems to be all the more pleasurable.

One of the things I like to do when I feel the pull to create something and don’t want to start a big project, is to draw simple pencil sketches in my handy dandy 5.5 x 8 inch moleskin. Sometimes I complete a whole sketch, ink it and then slap on some water colours all in one sitting. Other times I just get the pencil work done and leave the ink till later. I seem to complete those two steps most often and leave the painting for later because for some reason, I prefer to use my water colours in the summer on the deck in what I like to call my “summer office”. My summer office is where I can put my feet up under the shade of an umbrella, or under fun dangling solar lights with lots of candles burning and sometimes, a moon and stars to keep me company, and I can paint and dream that summer lasts all year round. 

Continuing to be inspired by the fiddlehead ferns growing off my kitchen deck, I sketched and inked these stylized fiddleheads.

Pencil sketch, inked and water coloured

Pencil sketch, inked and water coloured