Making is truly a self regulation tool for me.
So I’ve been turning to ways we can fold art and making into our days.
Davy is finally to that magic age where he can sit at the table with me and draw or stand at the counter and mix sourdough starter. This is the part of motherhood I was most looking forward to so I’m glad he’ll be home and we can have more adventures together.
I make art all the time, but at some point I became scared of drawing. Growing up and in undergrad courses I drew all the time. I never questioned whether I could draw something or if it was any good. I just got on with it.
Then I went a decade or so without drawing.
Now I feel incredibly rusty.
But (rust and all) I sat down at the kitchen table with Davy and joined The Good Ship Illustration’s art club. What I love about drawing is how simple it is. It’s not messy. It’s not stressful. And it’s perfect for parallel play.
Art club was all about continuous line drawing.
I find this way of drawing to be an exercise in seeing.
I used Davy’s Stabilo Woody pencils and the chunky bold lines meant I couldn’t be precious about it.
But also there’s something alive about this way of drawing that my old perfectionist self never tapped into.
Since that day we’ve pulled out our sketchbooks and drawn together most afternoons.
I foresee lots of drawing at the kitchen table in the weeks to come.
Maybe I will remember how to see.
