hey — been a while! I just finished my last term of undergrad so I like to tell myself that I'll have more time and focus for things like writing. instead of putting something together really big I thought I'd just share with y'all a couple of drawings I made from the month of march. I did a little challenge with my roommates — D said she'd go to the gym twice a week, A and B said they'd both try to exercise every day. My challenge was trying to draw something every day. I think I drew maybe 12 times in march, which wasn't close to every day but it was more than I had drawn for like 3 years combined. little wins!
pretty much it for the month of march. I got the chance to dance a lot and play a lot of live music with my friends in a band this month, so I didn't feel as much of an urge to draw. funny how that works, right?! here's a bjork quote from a reddit ask me anything that I thought was beautiful and accurate:
thank u !!!!!!! i think creativity always lives somewhere in everyone but its nature is quite pranksterish and slippery and everytime u grab its tail its found a nu corner to thrive in . perhaps the trick is not to force it and put it up against a wall and want it to be in a particular area . but rather w a lot of kindness sniff it out and wonder where it has gone to this time around . if its in sauce recipes , writing theatre plays , papermache improv w nephews , discovering nu hiking routes or simply trying to figure out a family members sense of humour . i def dont succeed in this all the time but feel overall things have been more fertile when i trust this creatures instincts and follow it rather than me willfully reforming it into a circus animal colouring by numbers . anyways : as much as youd like to ignore this animal u have to attend it . because if u dont them dark times turn up .....
in other news now that I am back home and away from playing music and dance I have definitely felt this burning desire to draw but I also feel so much resistance to making it a habit. most of the drawings I made in march were very quick things. I don't think I've really put more than an hour into any kind of visual work in the last little bit, which I think is a big reason why it's been hard for me to make anything.
I recently signed up for this very casual korean language exchange because one of my resolutions this year was to learn korean (and to get better at french and chinese…i may or not have bet money on it so that i will accomplish them) and the facilitator was telling me that how many seconds you spend on something is way more important than how many hours. because focus is way more important than how long you are actually sitting down to learn something. distraction is a real, real barrier. and I was like, you know that actually makes a lot of sense. and it's kind of reassuring in its own way. in any case I've had this newsletter for like 8 months now and I've made some drawings, which is a real difference from the last few years, but also still a very tiny step!! I think writing about drawing and not drawing has given me a better sense of accountability to myself. anyway onto the next month!!
here's music for april, curated by me:
a reason life is beautiful
because we've been seeing bunnies out in the yard no matter where we go. because B jacks the passenger seat all the way down when he's taking a nap. because everyone has different, slightly dorky sunglasses for driving. because it's been a while since I've played guitar but my fingertips have firmed up again in no time. because music has never sounded so good.