It’s Leap Day 2024, and that means that almost 17% of the year is gone!
I don’t do New Year’s resolutions, per se, but I do like to have a direction for the year ahead. Writer and podcaster Gretchen Rubin inspired me to so choose a ‘word of the year,’ along with an icon for that word. My word for 2024 is ‘attend,’ and the symbol is an owl.
There are a few definitions of attend, but I’m paying most attention (ahem!) to the root of the word, which means: ‘apply one's mind or energies to.’ My intention is to listen more, observe more, be present and mindful. For me, this takes a lot of conscious effort.
The owl is the embodiment of careful observation and awareness. This drawing of a boreal owl (Aegolius funereus), done by my friend Shelley Hatfield, is pinned up by my computer where I notice it many times a day. And now when I visit thrift shops I’m on the lookout for owls to place around my house as additional reminders to ‘attend.’
Here’s something I observed
The opening of the Ways of the Cross exhibition was very well attended. Each artist took a unique approach to their subject matter, and there were many engaging conversations. Thanks to Cary Brinegar for posting this image, in which I noticed something totally unplanned: the composition of my painting resembles the original Station 9 carving — the cross of light in the background, the goldfinch’s head in a similar position to the Roman numeral IX, and the flower mimicking the position of Jesus’s head. Maybe I stored the image of the original in my head and it influenced me while I worked? It’s a mystery.
If you haven’t yet seen the show, it’s on view until the end of March at Christ Cathedral, 138 S. 8th in Salina. If you’d like a personal tour, let me know in the comments below. I’d be happy to take you to see all the work.
#The100DayProject update
I’m 10 days in to #The100DayProject, only 90 more to go.😳 I’ve changed the rules several times, but I’m still chugging along, drawing people who have a birthday that particular day. They were originally drawn in a 4” x 4” concertina sketchbook, but that proved too restrictive, so they’re bigger now. They’re still contour drawings done in 5 minutes or less — mostly, and some are blind contour (I don’t look at the paper when I draw). I post them daily on Instagram using the hashtags #The100DayProject and #100BirthdaysPHD. Here are the first 10 (two of them were redrawn when I changed the rules). Can you guess who any of these people are?
Wrapping up
That’s how 2024 is proceeding for me — how about you? Do you still make New Year’s resolutions, or do you select words or images that guide your actions? Tell me what works for you in the comment section. I can always benefit from others’ wisdom.🦉