Living Life In Abundance

For our optional World Watercolor Month prompt of “Abundance,” I of course immediately thought of lots of food as I’m prone to do. Any chance to sketch a bit of food and I’m in! I liked the idea of a successful harvest of vegetables and so I tossed in a happy little pig to share in the abundant joy. Granted, during this period of perpetual quarantine, I’ve had to temper myself a bit to avoid pigging out on things. Indeed, if one is going to pig out, then vegetables are a wonderful choice. While I’d love to say that I’ve been stuffing my face with only vegetables these past few months, that would fail to honor the potato chips and ice cream that have lovingly kept me company. One of the things I love about summer, since I really hate the heat, is getting fresh vegetables. Not only are they quite delicious and healthy, consuming such nutritious things more than justifies my little cravings for a big fat, honking dessert.

Indeed, I have actually curbed most of my eating as summer is my time to shed a few pounds. This is in preparation for winter so I can happily indulge in all of the holiday treats that will soon be heading my way. Philippe starts cooking things so light and healthy that I begin to feel more like I’m eating like a rabbit. But, I do love all of the color on my plate. That said, this has not at all stopped me from constantly mentioning to Philippe that he should bake some cookies. I caught him looking at some new apparatus online recently for making cookies and I was thrilled. He told me it was meant to replace the one he has and I reminded him that he never uses the one he has. So, if this new contraption will provide the necessary inspiration then I insisted that he should get it. Unfortunately, since he’s not given to impulse shopping like I am, it will be some weeks before a thorough decision is made on that front.

Our dog Phineas tends to sleep much of the day these days, but when it’s time for dinner he’s up, alert, and sitting next to the refrigerator. It’s like clockwork, and usually around the correct time, but sometimes it’s up to an hour early. This is no doubt simply because we’ve never purchased a watch for him. I feel a little bad knowing he’ll have to sit there for close to hour until the proper time. Usually, though, he gives up and sulks into the other room, making slow and dramatic steps like a wounded child. This comes with a lot of angry sniffs and I’m rather glad that I can’t understand what he’s saying as I’m not sure it would be entirely appropriate to repeat. Of course, I can totally empathize with his enthusiasm. I too can’t wait for dinner each night as it marks the end of the work day, and sometimes it seems like the moment can’t come soon enough. It’s a lovely time indeed. And I’m once again reminded that you don’t need much in life to be throughly happy. Just enjoying a bite to eat with the ones you love most is truly living life in abundance.

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About the Doodlewash Da Vinci Paint Co.: Hansa Yellow Medium, Quinacridone Red, Opus (Vivid Pink), Vermilion, Cobalt Turquoise, Terra Cotta, and Indigo. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with sepia ink  in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. Want to purchase a print of this doodlewash? Send me a note with a link to this post, and I’ll add it to my shop!

Charlie O'Shields

Creator of Doodlewash, founder of World Watercolor Month (July), World Watercolor Group, and host of the Sketching Stuff Podcast. Sharing watercolor illustrations and stories while proudly featuring talented artists from all over the world!

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