An Impatient Heart, a Pencil and some Watercolour

This week is a bit of a whirlwind.  

So I've taken to my old routine of working in my studio late into the wee hours again.  

Those blissful hours when everyone is asleep and all is quiet. 

 I sleep less and I don't watch television - that is what frees up my time when days become hectic.  

If I don't make time to do something creative everyday - music, mixed media, writing, whatever -  it feels like I haven't eaten for days.  I become grumpy.  I feel caged.

It is a hunger that never goes away.  

At best, it only fades temporarily after some creative time.

So I've been looking forward to doing this week-long online illustration workshop with the uber-talented Danielle Donaldson for months now.  It started on Monday.  

And it is the ideal accompaniment to another online workshop I'm currently doing called 

"Writing Storybooks for Children".  

In this week's course, Danielle gives guidance on how to develop your own characters 

and then illustrate them.

You absolutely have to see Danielle's work!  Click here - danielledonaldson.com

I was so thrilled that the first thing we had to do in the workshop was to make our own "storybook" out of watercolour paper.  I'm a bookmaker, so I jumped at the opportunity!  

And then I started playing around with ideas for little characters based on Danielle's wonderfully inspiring class notes and videos.  

This little one reminded me that everything happens for a reason.  

I get frustrated with having to scratch around for little nuggets of time 

to make the creative stuff happen and grow small dreams into big reality. 

 "All in good Time",  she knowingly says - while she carries a tiny potted plant on her head.  

She knows about nurturing new growth.

My impatient heart needed reminding.

Go to jeanneoliver.ning.com to read more about this online course 

and other wonderful and inspiring offerings. 

Danielle's workshop was live this week, but you can enrol anytime plus you get lifetime access.

Legacy

My Mermaid Circus handmade journal is slowly filling up. Just finished another page last night. I have a deadline, you see! 30 August is drawing closer, and with it follows our spring here in the South - on 1 September. 3 more pages to go and I'm there! My little girl whirls into my studio every couple of days now and then she asks to see the mermaids. Everytime, she carefully puts down the tiny book on the sofa and turns every page very carefully with her little 30 month-old fingers. She takes in every page, every detail. And while she stands there I can see glimpses of her adult self paging through this book when perhaps I'm not there anymore, somewhere in the future.

I want her to remember, to feel my love - a secure foundation that will provide the impetus behind her determined steps as she makes her own positive imprint on the world with passion and with confidence.

I'm leaving her my story. Illustrated testimonies of what perseverance, prayer and love can do. The beliefs and values that I live by, and how these remain a steady vehicle that carry me through the rollercoaster of day-to-day human emotions and trivialities.

I'm not just creating journals, I'm leaving a legacy.