Daily Doodle # 4: Idleness Feeds the Imagination

Doodling fits those short empty time slots in the day.  No goals.  No accomplishments.  Just being in the moment with pen in hand.

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”
— John Lubbock, The Uses of Life

Daily doodle: Hokusai’s Great Wave on the Plains

The Grace of the Crocus Blossom

“A single crocus blossom ought to be enough to convince our heart that springtime, no matter how predictable, is somehow a gift, gratuitous, gratis, a grace.”
— David Steindl-Rast

Crocus Chrysanthus by George Maw, from The Art of Botanical Illustration by Wilfrid Blunt and William T. Stearn

“Beside the porch step
the crocus prepares an exaltation
of purple, but for the moment
holds its tongue. . . .”
— Jane Kenyon, from “Mud Season”

An exaltation of purple

Crocuses

Crow with crocuses

 

In Praise of Idleness Drawings 87 – 95

 

Fuchsia

Trumpet flowers

Leaf

Calla lilies

Trees

Great blue heron

Face

Crow

Hands

The end

It was a rush to the finish, but I did complete this project by the end of the year as I had hoped.  Time for new projects in 2017.

 

Happy New Year!

In Praise of Idleness Drawings 82 – 84

Snoozing cat

Crow

Snow goose

It’s Just After 9 a.m. and Already I Feel Behind

Christmas crow

It’s just after 9 a.m. and already I feel behind.  As soon as I finish this quick post, I will head out for a round of grocery shopping and errands.  Once back home, I will need to clean the house a bit and do laundry and begin cooking for holiday meals, but what I really want to do is read with pencil in hand, sketch a few more pages in my Idleness book, paint something with color, and work on a few blog posts.

I’m not exercising and moving enough.  I have too many finished projects.  Aargh!

This is the time to remember what has helped me in the past.  To slow waaaaay down.  To take each moment as it comes.  To let go of the idea of packing all these things into one day.  Not possible!  Do a few things well instead.

 

In Praise of Idleness Drawings 61 – 63

Crow

Crow

Crow

In Praise of Idleness Drawing 45

Crows

In Praise of Idleness Drawings 42 and 43

Crow

Crow

In Praise of Idleness Drawing 27

Crow

In Praise of Idleness Drawings 24 and 25

Young crow

Crow