Some lines, some curves

A few years ago

I wanted to learn to draw

SOMETHING . . . .

anything, really!

I didn't have any "natural" drawing talent that I knew of-----

but I wanted some!

I read something that said begin by

drawing

a few lines and curves

EVERY day

So I do

Mostly cartoon style

using a cartoon book as a guide

And lately

some

Zentangles designs

The colorful journal cover at the top

is my "meeting" journal

Isn't it luscious!

I take it to stake conference or workshops

The last batch of meetings it went to was a

singles conference

I did some

lines and curves

along with some notes on the talks

Are we having fun yet?

Vertical Poetry

I have a thing for words .

I love to read, of course. And because I love to have things written down, (and my journal is better than my memory) that requires me to write. So I do.

It used to be excruciating---a dreaded task--- to get myself to write regularly....less so now, after making myself do it for some time now. (That's another post.)

For the last few months I've been doing a little experiment. I call it "vertical poetry." Basically, it's word chunks that I list . . . . . . uh huh. . . . vertically.

My usual writing tends to be pretty wordy. The vertical poetry challenges me - - - -to put down the essence of something in less words than is natural for me.

be still

journal in hand

ponder the day past

notice what emerges inside me

grasp the essence

write phrases

Yea . . . . something like that.

My inspiration is a blog I enjoy. Actually I'm a lurker on her blog (Lodestar). Christie somebody. A grandmother aged woman. She uses that short phrase style a lot. And she uses lots of rich colored crisp photos. Her brevity and the love she pours out for her family draws me to her, and the fact that a grandmother has something to say, among all the young mommy blogs. (I'm consideringing breaking my silence and letting her know she has influenced me.)

Last August, I decided to experiment with that style for a few minutes each time I sit down to write. I kind of like it, as constrast (but certainly not replacing) my other l-o-n-g-e-r writing.

Some of that will be showing up as I go along here. It would be interesting to me to hear a reader's response----if the essence is there for a reader. We'll see.

What writing changes have you noticed for yourself?