Written by One of the things I loved as a kid, that still thrills me as an adult, is looking for shapes in those clouds in the sky, our prompt for today. While I ponder my memories of this act, we will be inexplicably accompanied by this emu. I honestly wasn’t sure what proxy to use for a human imagining things in the sky, so an emu seemed like as good a choice as any. While I was outside on my lunch break at work today, I caught myself staring into the sky quite a lot, searching for all of the hidden things I could find there. It made me happy to know that even as a middle-aged man, clouds have never become just clouds to me. I can still see those bunny ears and that strange turtle there, slowly floating over to bump into that floating vintage telephone (it even has a curly cord!). Looking into the sky for me is always a calvacade of impossible creatures and crazy things. This is precisely why I can never take a meeting outdoors for fear of being hopelessly distracted. Honestly, I can’t always blame clouds as I tend to get hopelessly distracted in meetings all of the time. But staring up into an endless blue and white sea of imagination is always a fabulous thing indeed!
There are just four more days left of World Watercolor Month! Only three for some of you, depending on what part of the globe you inhabit. It’s been a thrilling month this year, filled with more watercolors circling the globe in celebration of the month than both of the previous years combined! Thanks to all of you who have participated in the month, and if you haven’t yet, there’s still time to donate to The Dreaming Zebra Foundation. Or do so by purchasing awesome souvenirs in our shop! I mention this a lot, only because, they will seriously disappear on August 1st and will no longer be available. I get lots of people coming to ask me where they went, so please help me spread the word! Yep, they’ll be gone forever, so if you’ve been eyeing those limited editions pouches or other fun items, get them now! Just a little more than a couple years ago, I was just staring up into the clouds, imagining what it would be like to have the world come together and paint in a spirit of joyous celebration and charity for an entire month. Now I actually know, and it’s totally amazing! I hope you enjoyed the month and thanks so much for making that dream come true!
Looking for shapes in clouds is pretty much how I live most of my life. I stare past what’s actually there and look for something more, something a bit different and unusual. Looking at life literally can become so frustrating. Not everything seems to fit and sometimes, things don’t even seem very wonderful at all. But, when you don those eyes of your inner child, look past the obvious, and take a second glance, the world erupts into glorious color and possibility. Things that once seemed impossible or far too challenging to do, become simple and almost like nothing more than a fun game. If you’ve ever wondered why I show up each and every day, or how on earth I could do so, look no farther than your own inner child. I’m quite confident that she or he and I would get along famously. So please keep right on playing, painting, and drawing with me into August as we start a brand new challenge and adventure (back to drawings and sketches as well for this one, no watercolor required!). Don’t ever stop creating, and never ever let doubt make you pause. If you really want to create a daily art habit, you can totally DO this! It’s really nothing more difficult than pausing to look up, and imagining all of the thousands of possibilities floating by in those brilliant clouds in the sky.
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I always search for animals in the clouds! I also dream of floating on the impossibly soft clouds themselves. Your emu has a great expression – giant birds are the best!
Thanks so much, Sharon! 😃💕Glad you liked this! I hope you found many animals in these clouds! hehe
Nice! Your emu is great! Congrats on leading a bigger than ever WWM!
Thanks so much, Lisa! 😃💕 Congrats all around! It’s wonderful when we all come together to celebrate and make a difference!
I still love cloud watching and I have been enjoying #WorldWatercolorMonth as well. All the beautiful paintings inspire me along my own journey.
And if people are still on the fence about buying the #WorldWatercolorMonth pouches, they should seriously go for it. Mine arrived today and they are beautiful. They will be bringing a smile to my art all year.
Thanks, Sandra! 😃💕 And awww… yay! Thrilled you enjoyed the pouches and thanks so much for supporting The Dreaming Zebra Foundation! (for every 2 purchases in the shop you help 1 child get the art supplies they need so YAY!).
I love your emu in the sky. As I was driving home today, I clearly saw a triceratops hovering over Mt St Helens, the volcano that erupted in 1980. I can only hope it wasn’t an omen. While waiting for that to become clear or not, I’ll keep showing up to paint and read your rambles!
Thanks, Sandra! 😃💕 hehe… let’s hope that wasn’t an omen! Oh my! But yeah… I see equally odd an specific things in those clouds! 😉
I am pleased things have gone well with WWM for you Charlie. You steadfastness to Doodlewash deserves a reward. Clouds to me are generally obstacles to me seeing clearly. I’ve been plowing my own furrow this month (fogive the mixed metaphors) mainly because there has been a break in the clouds and I have been making progress. My painting journey seems to reflect the development of a child – long periods of no growth and then BANG, suddenly I’ve grown three inches. No doubt the clouds will descend again, and I will feel I’m getting nowhere, but I will have grown a bit, and your positivity shows me that the clouds will lift again. Thank you
Thanks, Rod! 😃💕 I really can’t thank you enough for YOUR steadfastness in being a part of Doodlewash! It’s all a grand experiment that we’re building together! And that’s an awesome outlook, and so true! With art… it’s always up and down, but those “BANGS”? That’s exactly why it’s worth showing up each day just to see what happens. 😉
I love your emu. He looks so spellbound by the wonder about him and intent on battling on. Just charming. You’re doing a great job with watercolour month. It has been really lovely reading your posts and getting stuck in to the watercolours, well done.
Thanks, so much, Catherine! 😃💕 Thrilled you enjoyed my dreamy emu and have been enjoying World Watercolor Month! It’s truly a magical time of year. So much beauty to be found and celebrated. I’m loving it as well!
What a great idea. I love all the little shapes in the clouds and the emu is perfect. What a cute expression the emu has. Looking for shapes in rocks is fun too. I found the horse chess piece formed in a boulder at a Virginia state park once. So exciting.
Thanks so much, June! 😃💕 Ooooooohhh! Yes! Shapes in rocks are equally awesome! Love that! hehe… I see all sorts of things there!
There is star gazing and then there is cloud gazing. Having stared into the magical hidden world of clouds for all of my life, I am now teaching my grandchildren to find the joy in the skies. Such a wondrous, fun thing to do on a lazy summer afternoon. Enjoy Charlie! 🙂
Thanks so much, Sheila! 😃💕 And so awesome you’re spreading the love of cloud gazing to future generations! It’s truly the most amazing thing ever!
Love the angle of your portrait!
Thanks so much, Shar! 😃💕 Happy you enjoyed this!
Ha, he’s sooo cool! The emu has landed – or maybe he’s in the process of landing 😉 I’m also as bad indoors as I am out, especially if there’s fancy floral wallpaper; I’m constantly looking for shapes and faces!
Thanks, Jacob! 😃💕Hopefully this emu landed well! LOL Not like the sad end for the rough landing in the game. Yikes! Oh yeah… floral wallpaper will send me into a catatonic state as well. I’m probably only capable of giving my full attention in a white sound-proofed room! lol
An emu aloud – wonderful. He looks like he couldn’t wait to meet you, Charlie. Another terrific story as well.
Thanks so much, Sharon! 😃💕 hehe… I have no idea why, but emus fascinate me! As do clouds, so it seemed like the perfect combination.
I love that painting. Please add it to your shop. I will put it on the wall directly in front of my desk,
knowing that it will brighten the darkest moment and call even the most wayward muse home.
Thanks so much, Sarah! 😃💕So thrilled you liked this one! I’ve made it available in my shop (it’s a bit larger and horizontal so it’s different than the others) – https://doodlewash.com/shop/charlie-shop/watercolor-prints-charlie-oshields/clouds-in-the-sky-emu/
thank you! I placed the order..
Yay! Thank you SO much!! ❤️