See that snowman mug Raccoon is offering to Fox? Well, I drink out of it nearly everyday. Not at the end of the day; I need it to start my day. My nice hot cuppa coffee — latte style please with plenty of milky froth. I look forward to the cup every morning when I sit down first thing with my bullet journal (I hold myself accountable for every half hour of the day) and then my regular journal where I take the time to self- reflect. I’ve been doing this for almost five decades. The journaling…not the holding myself accountable…that’s new! And that’s why you are reading this post. Because now I get stuff done; thanks to the bullet journal. I highly recommend.
The current project that I am now developing is tentatively titled: Fox and Raccoon; A Christmas Story. It didn’t start out that way; it started out a few years back in the spring when everyone and everything becomes “twitterpatted” ~ myself included. It then came to a standstill when I couldn’t figure out where they were going with this twisted relationship of theirs…it got complicated…and so they got filed away in the cabinet. Banished from the brain.
This winter I decided to revive them and put them both in a different setting. Change their design and change some of their personality traits…change the story line. The magical element of Christmas might just do them both some good…and besides that; I kinda miss the bear and Christmas stories..and so here we go with another wintery tale…
I’m still having a lot of fun converting my cut-paper style to digital and have really embraced this new change. Winter has always been a time for reflection, new goals and plans for the months that lie ahead. Even here in California; we have to accept some degree of hibernation in order to be more innovative and progressive. It’s a more natural way of being to follow seasons. This is the time for planning; but soon it will be time for a lot more of doing…come spring and summer..and hopefully all that work will be harvested in the fall and then back to more planning for next year. Add to that during this period of time with Covid and Lockdown; just about a year now; I have been able to grasp the silver lining in all it’s endless isolation and frustration…and found a way to be grateful for it; hard as it may be. I’m reinventing myself and my characters as well as my goals and my intentions.
There is a lot of change headed my way this coming summer, but I look forward to those changes with great anticipation and grateful to be evolving with my art and the stories I want to tell. It’s another chapter that is for sure. The journey continues after all…what secrets will be revealed I wonder…for right now; we have been living in the belly of the whale, in the dark, in the great unknown for quite a long time.
theresa Smythe Arts 