In Your Own Good Time

Winter felt never-ending. From early December on, the storms came with relentless regularity. The first few snowfalls are always a dream. Once April comes, though, the charm of frozen precipitation runs thin. But this morning, I woke up with the windows wide open and the woods outside green and growing. Without noticing exactly when, everything shifted.

It’s funny how life seems one way for so long and then overnight things pivot. I’ve been thinking about that with art. The above piece felt like it was never going to get finished. It’s a scene in a picture book of my own that I’ve been working on in my spare time. I put the story aside a few years back, but decided to look at it again with fresh eyes. There’s a lot that needs changing, but at its core, there’s still something there that I love. So I decided to take one of the sketches and create a final piece.

But there was angst.

I almost threw out the drawing at one point. The pencil rendering felt never-ending. But things slowly started to click into focus. It’s just getting through that, “ugly,” stage in the early part of making anything. I suspect that feeling of uncertainty in the initial moments never really goes away. Perhaps that’s not a bad thing. It gives you a healthy skepticism when it comes to your abilities and for me, that’s not a bad thing.

1. I’m reading The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym at the moment. And I’m about halfway through Chatterton Square.

2. I started cycling again. I move slowly. Going downhill on steep hills causes terror. But a half hour on a bike feels like a reset for my brain. I also (full disclosure) occasionally use it as an excuse for stopping at an ice cream stand. But there’s cognitive perks to biking, too. I’m going to remind myself of this when I’m huffing and puffing up hills.

3. I had a couple deadlines this month and last that had me right out straight. I’m behind on downloads for full subscribers — many apologies! I’ll have that sorted out in the next few days.