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Glad to See Summer Go

watercolor sketch of two dogsI may be the only person who is glad to know that Summer is behind us and Fall is in full swing. Summer is my least favourite season.
She gets an unfair knock from me though because she heightens my struggle between artwork and ranch work. She heightens my resistance to doing artwork and throws in an extra dose of guilt whenever I’m not outdoors getting something done.

Any artwork accomplished in the summer is hard fought. I’ve been letting myself swing between felting and painting and not worrying which should be a priority because if I’m in the studio it’s a win. I’ve taken a dive into water color painting as something new to learn and be challenged with, and because I know I want to do something similar to drawing again. I am intrigued with watercolor painting even with all the beginner struggles I am having, particularly with painting white subjects like sheep and guardian dogs. And doing paintings outside of the sketchbook, which the one below is, is still very novel and tentative.

watercolor practice

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Begin Again Before You Feel Empty

How it can be so difficult to put words, or brush strokes, or pencil marks, onto a blank page is a mystery to me. Taking the action to start any activity of relevance in one’s life is one thing that does not seem to get easier with practice.

It is certainly true for me that the hardest thing to do is put the first words down, or lay the first fibres out, or make the first pencil mark on that too-clean, pristine white page. Doesn’t matter what activity it is, the starting point is a hangup. Even though I’ve conquered thousands of previous starts this is still the case.  And the level of difficulty with starting looms ever larger whenever I leave a significant gap between writing one article, or making one piece of art, and the next. Left in the gap, the resistance grows thicker and heavier until the idea of making anything at all is shrouded in doubt and purposeful forgetting. Even if I manage to do other writing, starting the project that has been lying in wait is a near impossibility.

Starts are so obscure. They are indistinct and vague and they are subject to certain deletion or remaking. They mirror real life a little too much, and like life, they require courageous rising up every single time in every single day.

wool sheep eating grassesThis brief reflecting brings me around to sheep of all creatures, and to a solution that sounds a little like heaven to me. I know it works for them… when you do get going, just go ahead and graze, do not stop until satiated, and always begin again well before you feel empty. I believe the last part is key. If life would cooperate with such a schedule I’d be a happy camper indeed.

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Pace of Nature

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

wool sheep at rest

This photo was taken at 6:47 in the morning.
It was still cool out, the ewes had already taken in a belly full of grazing. When the day is shaping up to be a hot one they’ll rise soon and mosey their way to shade, unless there’s a good breeze blowing. They seem to appreciate a breeze that is strong enough to keep the flies and mosquitoes away.

Sheep just might be one of the most patient creatures.  In the heat of the summer there is little to do but wait out the day and then feed in the coolness of the evening and very early morning.

I have let slip my habit of pausing to watch them as frequently as I used to. I have been letting the pull of other tasks and desires take over. I have been dismissive of the ordinary, every day checking of sheep; treating it like a task I have to do instead of a task I get to do.

One does not have to pause for long for the quiet mood of these meditative creatures to seep in and be a needed reminder. But if the only thing these creatures represent is production and numbers then all the time in the world will not suffice.

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