WOMANKIND’S ART CHALLENGE 110110 Womankind Communitywasn’t close to finished with what I
wanted to do when the timer sound-
ed. Stomach calm now, I decided to
keep going. Forty-five minutes later,
I had a completed picture and was
trying to talk myself out of a critique
of the results. There’s always tomor-
row. I let it go.
Day two: After twelve hours on
the road, driving from Baltimore to
Detroit, with a traffic back-up and
many stops, I had to force myself to
practise sketching - with the guid-
ance of this wonderful little book I
have. It was the biggest commitment
I could make. I only worked for ten
minutes because I really wanted
a pencil. I’d left my pencil case at
home. So, I was working on a sketch
of a maple leaf that needed serious
erasure therapy. Where is a simple
pencil with an eraser when you need
one? To have put pen to paper at all
was an achievement! To be unable
to change the marks of the pen was
crushing. Oh well, tomorrow is an-
other day.
Day three: Rested, showered,
and dressed, I wandered out to my
brother’s deck with a small wa-
tercolour kit that fits in a pocket.
Surrounded by the sounds of his
early morning neighbourhood and
soothed with a lovely breeze, I de-
cided to paint the scene in front of
me. I chose a point where the deck
rails formed a ninety-degree angle
with a gorgeous maple tree right at
the intersection. The watercolour
kit has eighteen colours and a small,
rather stiff little brush that had a wa-
ter reservoir on one end. The array
of colours made it unnecessary to
mix or blend colours. Though I wish
I had.
Day four: I had plenty of time
to work on some sketches before
my host called me to breakfast. I
decided to work on some sketchingexercises - a continuation from day
two. I discovered that capturing the
defining shapes first makes the draw-
ing process simpler in terms of object
placement, size, and relationship to
other objects on the page. This is
exciting. I am learning how to see
differently and how to translate what
I am seeing into a cohesive picture. I
lost myself in my experimentation. I
could look at each shape to see what
I needed to do in order to recreate
an image. In a way, it’s like retrain-
ing your brain to focus on the parts
rather than the whole, the opposite
of how the brain operates. Time went
by without my noticing.
Day five: The last day of the
challenge was also the last day of
my mini-vacation. I’ve already seen
a pattern begin to emerge. When
I’m home, with all my tools at my
disposal and a wide-open block of
time, I go way past the five minutes
for art and may even work on mul-
tiple projects. However, when I’m
stressed, unusually busy, or distract-
ed, I tend to feel most comfortable
with the practice prompts. It impos-
es a structure I need. Practice isn’t
usually something I enjoy, but just
five minutes of maple leaf drawing
was all I thought I could handle on
day five. My dog and I had hugs and
kisses to catch up on from my time
away from her. I wandered off, for
a while, but decided to do another
drawing practice - butterflies. Just
being able to see the essential shapes
of the subject, its basic lines and un-
derlying structure, is so important.
I’m besotted with the butterflies I
drew in pencil. Perhaps, I’ll never be
comfortable being called an artist.
Perhaps, I will. But I know for sure
that I will be able to come to the
canvas or paper or whatever with
joy in playing with colours, lines,
and shapes. And that’s enough.Day five: I breakfast on a cup of
coffee, a slice of Kringle and a fresh
pear, light candles, practise calming
deep breathing, and reflect on wrap-
ping up the five-day art challenge. It’s
been a week of bringing awareness to
all the forms art can take in our lives,
of finding beauty in unlikely places,
and seeking inner peace in the most
tumultuous political times.Cheryl HazelDay one: I’m always so embar-
rassed when my dearest friends refer
to me as an artist. I’ve always had
the belief that artists, musicians, and
writers have the right to be called
those things - they are creating all
the time. I’ve lacked the commit-
ment and passion to do that. But,
I love art, and I’ve wanted to make
creating art central to my life, espe-
cially now that I’m retiring soon. I’d
been excited about beginning the
challenge all day. I was in the mood
to play with watercolours and had
chosen a photo to recreate. How-
ever, I was hit with a fierce stomach
ache while I was driving home. I
took out my dog Lulu, washed some
dishes, and organised my painting
space and materials. I drank water
and tried to think of anything else
that could relieve the cramping.
But, my resolve was still to paint. I
was ready. The time flew by and IWOMANKIND’S ART CHALLENGE 110 Womankind Community
wasn’t close to finished with what I
wanted to do when the timer sound-
ed. Stomach calm now, I decided to
keep going. Forty-five minutes later,
I had a completed picture and was
trying to talk myself out of a critique
of the results. There’s always tomor-
row. I let it go.
Day two: After twelve hours on
the road, driving from Baltimore to
Detroit, with a traffic back-up and
many stops, I had to force myself to
practise sketching - with the guid-
ance of this wonderful little book I
have. It was the biggest commitment
I could make. I only worked for ten
minutes because I really wanted
a pencil. I’d left my pencil case at
home. So, I was working on a sketch
of a maple leaf that needed serious
erasure therapy. Where is a simple
pencil with an eraser when you need
one? To have put pen to paper at all
was an achievement! To be unable
to change the marks of the pen was
crushing. Oh well, tomorrow is an-
other day.
Day three: Rested, showered,
and dressed, I wandered out to my
brother’s deck with a small wa-
tercolour kit that fits in a pocket.
Surrounded by the sounds of his
early morning neighbourhood and
soothed with a lovely breeze, I de-
cided to paint the scene in front of
me. I chose a point where the deck
rails formed a ninety-degree angle
with a gorgeous maple tree right at
the intersection. The watercolour
kit has eighteen colours and a small,
rather stiff little brush that had a wa-
ter reservoir on one end. The array
of colours made it unnecessary to
mix or blend colours. Though I wish
I had.
Day four: I had plenty of time
to work on some sketches before
my host called me to breakfast. I
decided to work on some sketchingexercises - a continuation from day
two. I discovered that capturing the
defining shapes first makes the draw-
ing process simpler in terms of object
placement, size, and relationship to
other objects on the page. This is
exciting. I am learning how to see
differently and how to translate what
I am seeing into a cohesive picture. I
lost myself in my experimentation. I
could look at each shape to see what
I needed to do in order to recreate
an image. In a way, it’s like retrain-
ing your brain to focus on the parts
rather than the whole, the opposite
of how the brain operates. Time went
by without my noticing.
Day five: The last day of the
challenge was also the last day of
my mini-vacation. I’ve already seen
a pattern begin to emerge. When
I’m home, with all my tools at my
disposal and a wide-open block of
time, I go way past the five minutes
for art and may even work on mul-
tiple projects. However, when I’m
stressed, unusually busy, or distract-
ed, I tend to feel most comfortable
with the practice prompts. It impos-
es a structure I need. Practice isn’t
usually something I enjoy, but just
five minutes of maple leaf drawing
was all I thought I could handle on
day five. My dog and I had hugs and
kisses to catch up on from my time
away from her. I wandered off, for
a while, but decided to do another
drawing practice - butterflies. Just
being able to see the essential shapes
of the subject, its basic lines and un-
derlying structure, is so important.
I’m besotted with the butterflies I
drew in pencil. Perhaps, I’ll never be
comfortable being called an artist.
Perhaps, I will. But I know for sure
that I will be able to come to the
canvas or paper or whatever with
joy in playing with colours, lines,
and shapes. And that’s enough.Day five: I breakfast on a cup of
coffee, a slice of Kringle and a fresh
pear, light candles, practise calming
deep breathing, and reflect on wrap-
ping up the five-day art challenge. It’s
been a week of bringing awareness to
all the forms art can take in our lives,
of finding beauty in unlikely places,
and seeking inner peace in the most
tumultuous political times.
Cheryl HazelDay one: I’m always so embar-
rassed when my dearest friends refer
to me as an artist. I’ve always had
the belief that artists, musicians, and
writers have the right to be called
those things - they are creating all
the time. I’ve lacked the commit-
ment and passion to do that. But,
I love art, and I’ve wanted to make
creating art central to my life, espe-
cially now that I’m retiring soon. I’d
been excited about beginning the
challenge all day. I was in the mood
to play with watercolours and had
chosen a photo to recreate. How-
ever, I was hit with a fierce stomach
ache while I was driving home. I
took out my dog Lulu, washed some
dishes, and organised my painting
space and materials. I drank water
and tried to think of anything else
that could relieve the cramping.
But, my resolve was still to paint. I
was ready. The time flew by and I