Weekly Mind Sketch

Beautiful trunks - that's what I saw today.   I looked at this group of Redwood trees and the trunks kind of came alive to me - they looked like a tight-knit family huddled together so strong and vibrant  I love the reds and oranges that hug Redwood tree trunks. I didn't want to draw in the tops of the trees with their green pine needles as it didn't seem important to the overall feeling of this picture. Families should all try to be like this group of Redwoods - strong and connected together throughout the years.  I know many families that don't have a strong connection - I see broken relationships or no relationship at all due to one or both parties involved.  This is so sad.  Again, I am reminded of a previous post where I talked about forgiveness - how hard forgiveness can be.  I can only imagine how hard forgiveness must be in broken family relationships like this, yet how IMPORTANT forgiveness is in trying to reconcile these bad relations...

Martin Luther King day is today, and I just read how this is only the 25th anniversary with a holiday in Martin Luther King Jr.'s honor.  Hard to believe we've only celebrated this holiday for 25 years.  It reminds me how it really wasn't that long ago that equal opportunities were not very prevalent.  We should all take a moment to remember how far we've come in this road to equal opportunities.  I read this morning that President Obama  gave a speech about Martin Luther King Jr. and he mentioned: "I encourage every American to observe this holiday in honor of Dr. King's selfless legacy by volunteering in their own communities and by dedicating time each day to bettering the lives of those around us".  Great thing to remember, as we could all do more to bettering the lives of those around us in our own communities - me included. As I sat this morning, I looked out and saw lots of fog, and I decided to try and capture the beautiful softness tha...

Today was very cold and as I sat this morning eating breakfast, I saw this image outside the window - very beautiful flower and branches.  As I was drawing this, I saw a hummingbird and a few bees pollinating the flower.  As cold as it was, the flower brings forth a warmth in the midst of winter! Then I began to think about something my daughter said to me as she went to sleep last night - how everything in life is a cycle, even things like businesses, and stuffed animals.  Her thought was that everything starts "flat" like a stuffed animal that hasn't been filled yet, and then it gets filled up, and becomes "alive".  Then she said eventually the stuffed animal loses it's filling, and eventually becomes flat again.  Then she brought forth another analogy of the cycle of life.  She said a business is the same as the stuffed animal;  it starts out with only 1 or 2 employees and not a lot of work to do (i.e. "flat"). Then the business starts...

Here is a chalk pastel sketch I did today to start my blog out on a nice note this year.  I was inspired by the Impressionist exhibit at the de Young museum last month and decided to try drawing an old-fashioned looking picture of my niece. I wanted to capture her sweet expression, and also give the picture a strong, yet childlike feel with its color and sketchy feel.  I don't know if I'm loving pastel drawing, but it was definitely fun and kind of messy to use.  When I saw the image of my niece, I thought of a little girl from the early 1900's sitting in a rocking chair - it just had that kind of feel. As I start out the New Year I am grateful for my family, friends, and hope to continue my resolutions of doing my art on a regular basis, and also hope to stick to my other resolution to forgive others (and myself) more often. Forgiveness is hard to do, but when it's done you feel so much better.  Since I've started forgiving more, I have felt a change in oth...