The Flowers are Blooming

 I spent most of yesterday in my back yard planting, weeding and gearing up for spring flowers. It's rare to find a rainless Saturday to tidy up the yard as spring is arriving. Today I am resting from all of the work done yesterday-and it's raining. 

Flowers are the most amazing plants. How incredible it is for a plant to display such vibrant colors in the most beautiful shapes. Not only that, but they produce nectar for our pollinators. To celebrate flowers, I made a 'book' of some of my favorites. This has been a work in progress for several years and today I finally finished it. Please enjoy the short video of my first completed 'book'.

A non-art post about creativity

Growing up, I drew a lot but never thought of myself as any good by other's standards. This internal mindset killed my motivation eventually, and my creative drive lay dormant for many many years. It was that Wine and Paint class April of 2015 that revived it, and I started indulging in visual arts for my own pleasure. After a few years, people encouraged me to sell some of my art, but it appeals to me more to give it away. I've 'sold' a few pieces on commission only charging for supplies and postage to mail it. My time and energy toward the piece is a gift to the recipient and also to myself. 

I'm linking a video that I hope inspires you to pick up a pen and sketch, even if you think you can't draw. This isn't about becoming an artist, but more about indulging in the creative process which is extremely healing. It describes how we can change our perceptions to our world with our eyes and mind. I really like how Ralph Ammer states in this video how his sketching stores memories in his mind and not in his camera. What a powerful concept in today's world of smart phones and social media.

How drawing helps you think

Starting a new sketch with Cece

Just flowers

Sometimes you just need to color, and flowers to me are the most fun to draw and color. These fill up a folded panoramic journal and are flowers I intend on growing this season. After winter, I'm pretty flower crazy, it's all I think about. Until they sprout life in my garden, I will just have to draw them instead.