Rain and Life's Rhythms

 

Its raining today. Everything in me wants to sit with a nice cup of tea and draw while listening to the raindrops tap dancing outside. I am not unique with this thought. I've heard it so many times from others. The rain calls us to be still, to slow down, to be calm.  The birds outside are tucked away somewhere under large tree leaves or the eaves of a house.  Even the dogs and cats inside are more sleepy today.  

Of course slowing down isn't what we do.  We curse the rain or we choose to ignore it as we bustle around trying to get 36 hours squeezed out of 24.  I've been thinking a lot lately about the rhythms of life and how we press so hard against them.  It would seem to me that paying better attention to the patterns set by the Creator might be the wiser route to go.  That isn't an easy task in our culture.  

Our lists for "to do" are longer than our arms, and then just a few moments spent on popular social media is enough to remind you that whatever you might have gotten done today, surely you are behind what everyone else is accomplishing.   

I propose that we proclaim a respite from those dreaded lists and try, at least a little bit, to listen more to the rhythms of nature.  I propose at least one hour of each day be set aside to live life rather than run the list.  I imagine this will be life altering and life giving.  I'm going to try it.  I dare you to join me.

Wind and Honey Creations
Creative Pencils - Online Drawing Lessonshttp://creativepencils.com

Work By My Students

Wind and Honey Creations

Artful Gathering 2012 - Session Two

This summer Artful Gathering will blossom into not one but two wonderful sessions of classes, workshops, and creative fun. I have already shared with you what I will be teaching in session one. In session two I will be giving a workshop on an animal portrait. The subject will be a beautiful Barn Owl. And we will accomplish this portrait using a simple graphite pencil and a touch of Derwent graphitint pencil. This owl portrait was fun to create and will be even more fun to teach I will walk you through one step at a time. You will love drawing him. This workshop entitled A Portrait of Beauty and Wisdom and it is an intermediate to advanced class.

Wind and Honey Creations

Dancing Swan, Finally Finished

A while back I posted the unfinished version of this Dancing Swan.  At the time I thought I would finish her in the next few days.  However, I've had several curves thrown into my schedule since then.  But she has been gracious and patient as she waited beside the drawing table.  I did hear her feet tapping a few times.  But I don't think that was impatience.  Rather, I think she was longing to get up and dance to the music I was playing that day.  I hope you enjoy her.

Wind and Honey Creations

Learning to Draw with Wonderful Pencils

This fat little bluebird is the drawing I will be teaching in The Artful Gathering 2011 this summer.  The class is entitled An Enchanting Bluebird.  He was drawn and shaded with a Derwent Graphic pencil and then the color was added with both Derwent Inktense and Derwent Watercolor pencils.  Derwent has left their competition in the dust in recent years as they have repeatedly introduced new and wonderful lines of high quality art pencils.  There seems to be no end to what they imagine you can do with a pencil.  You will find that the Inktense are no exception to this.  The colors are intense and beautiful.  And the possibilities are wide.  I hope you will join me for this Artful Gathering class.  You'll see what I mean about these pencils.  Prepare yourself to fall in love with them!

This little girl and her friend the swan were also done in a combination of Derwent Inktense and Watercolor pencils.

Wind and Honey Creations