Keeping track

I suppose I am thinking of these first few posts as an introduction – writing to understand this impulse to blog. Or at least posing the question.

I do love to trace seasonal cycles in my work, and this seems yet another way. I have often set goals to observe with drawings and words – a day, a week, a flower a week for a year, or the garden for a summer. In his book “Wintergreen,” Robert Pyle reminds that when we write (drawing works also), we capture time. If you write about a day, it can’t “get away.” He also says a reason to write, about the place where we live, is to share.

A long time ago I painted still lifes one year – learning to do watercolor by including Winslow Homer paintings from a calendar. Out the window and on the tabletop were the changing trees and flowers of my setting, but Homer’s paintings, his skill and technique challenged and sustained me each month.

He helped me be accountable and I learned new things – hopes for the blog as well. It will be personal – in the sense of being about what has caught my attention, what’s worked for me, what’s of moment to one person, but include plenty of references to the wider world of creative people. The bibliography page in the sidebar will keep track of books mentioned – I hope there will be lots.