Tag Archives for Chronic Pain

Be Kind

I was inspired to draw this a few days ago because of an annual mental health campaign. However, I didn’t post it on the day because as I was drawing it, the thought struck me that we need to be mindful of mental health issues – our own and others around us, including the people we care about – every day all year round.

 

 

These are some commonly found versions of this quote:

  • Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle
  • Be kind. For everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about
  • Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.

These quotes are attributed to different people. However, the meaning is clear: we never know what another person might be going through in life. Instead of rushing to judgment or piling on to what may already be difficult circumstances, can’t we be kind to others and ourselves?

 

Love Affair With Lines

I’ve grown to love drawing lines.

I’ve written many times about how relaxing it is and how it can take on a meditative quality because it requires very little thought; but also one’s focus is completely drawn to drawing lines.

When I’m feeling stressed or overwhelmed by pain, grabbing a pen and my art journal/sketchbook and just drawing lines is one of the things I do to calm my thoughts.

If you’re looking for something simple to help you cope with stress, go grab a pen (or pencil) and a piece of paper and focus on nothing but drawing lines for a few minutes. You might even surprise yourself and create some interesting patterns.

I hope this is helpful for even one person.

 

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It’s A String Thing Debut

I’ve been doing the “It’s A String Thing” challenge organized by Adele Bruno on her site Tickled To Tangle on and off for the past few years. However, I have never – until this week – sent one of my completed tiles to Adele for her to post it alongside other participants’ tiles on her site. I felt awkward about the idea that my tile would be judged in comparison to others – especially those that look like mini-masterpieces of art – and that thought kept holding me back. That is no longer the case.

I sent Adele my tile for the last challenge: number 276 in the series. She posted it on her site for the whole world to see it. Judge it. Compare it. Critique it. Like it; or not like it. Whatever anyone might think, I’ve decided not to allow that to be a deterrent to my full participation in the challenge.

Going forward the only constraint that will apply to me sending Adele my tile will be whether it’s finished by the weekly submission deadline. Period. I’m looking forward to reading the lovely observation notes she makes about each tile, especially the notes about what she sees in mine.

To see the tiles from other participants in “It’s A String Thing” challenge #276 you can click the link above or on the image of my tile.

As I explained to Adele, in the accompanying message I sent her with my completed tile: both patterns in this challenge were new to me. Before I could get to work on my tile, I had to teach myself how to draw each of the patterns. So, as I do with each new pattern I learn, I worked them out in my pattern sketchbook. Surprisingly, neither of them was as difficult as they first appeared to me; Sistar specifically, which has quite a few separate elements does require some patience, but wasn’t too hard to figure out.

If you want to try your hand at this challenge, but you’re not familiar with the patterns Adele chose, here are the pages from my pattern sketchbook that detail how I drew each of the patterns.

 

I hope you have some fun creating your own mini-masterpiece!